Helen Valentine (1893–1986) was the founder and editor in chief of
''Seventeen'' and ''Charm ''magazines.
Early life and education
Born Helen Rose Lachman in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
she was the only child of
German Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
immigrants.
[Massoni, Kelle]
Bringing Up "baby": The Birth and Early Development of "Seventeen" Magazine
2007 Her father Gustave was an accountant and her mother Bertha (née Kahn) was a homemaker.
Although she attended temple with her mother and went to Jewish Sunday school, her family also celebrated Christmas.
She graduated from the
Ethical Culture School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facul ...
and
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
.
Career
After school, she worked in the magazine industry.
Beginning as a part-time copy writer for
Lord & Thomas
Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), is one of the largest global advertising agency networks. It is owned by Interpublic Group and was merged in 2006 with Draft Worldwide, adopting the name Draftfcb. In 2014 the company rebranded itself as FCB.
Parent ...
, Valentine was among the first fired from the advertising firm when the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
began.
In 1944, while serving as promotion director for
''Mademoiselle'' magazine at
Walter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' ...
's
Triangle Publications
Triangle Publications Inc. was an American media group based first in Philadelphia, and later in Radnor, Pennsylvania. It was a privately held corporation, with the majority of its stock owned by Walter Annenberg and his sisters. Its holding ...
, she was asked by Annenberg to help revive a movie magazine.
Although the concept of "
teenager
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
" as a distinct demographic segment of the population was a relatively new idea at that time,
Valentine proposed a magazine for teen-age girls.
Noticing the wide popularity of a
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
comic strip by cartoonist
Hilda Terry
Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. The ...
that focused on the trials and tribulations of a typical teenager's life entitled ''
Teena
''Teena'' is a comic strip about a teenage girl, created by Hilda Terry. It ran from July 1, 1944, to 1963, distributed by King Features Syndicate.
The strip evolved from Terry's earlier Sunday feature, ''It's a Girl's Life'', a collection of ...
'' which began running in July 1944, Valentine convinced Annenberg that teenage girls needed a magazine of their own.
Valentine believed that teenage girls were an underserved demographic and had the potential to become an important and lucrative new consumer market segment.
She stated that "it was time to treat children as adults."
The magazine was launched in September 1944
and within eighteen months, ''Seventeen ''had a circulation of a million.
''Seventeen ''is credited with creating a teen market for clothing manufacturers and other industries.
From 1948-1949, Valentine served as president of
Fashion Group International The Fashion Group International (FGI) is a global, non-profit, professional organization founded in 1930 in New York City to benefit the fashion industry. FGI currently has over 5000 members in the fashion industry including apparel, accessories, b ...
, an organization created in the 1930s by a group of business women working in fashion.
In 1950, she accepted a job with
Street & Smith
Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...
to revamp a fading women's magazine called ''
Charm
Charm may refer to:
Social science
* Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others
* Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear
Science and technology
* Charm quark, a type of elementary particle
* Ch ...
'' which she re-configured into the country's first fashion magazine for working women.
Valentine focused on another demographic she believed was not represented by current magazines: married women who work. Charm was eventually merged into
''Glamour'' magazine after being bought by
Conde Nast Publications
Conde may refer to:
Places
United States
* Conde, South Dakota, a city
France
* Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune
Linguistic
''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus'').
It may refer to:
* Count ...
.
One of Valentine's talks, "How to Keep More of the Money You Earn" was published in the second session of the 83rd Congress (1954). because of
Henry M. Jackson
Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and anti- ...
, a senator from
Washington State
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
. This talk contributed to legislation that would grant tax relief to married women who work.
In 1958, Valentine was hired by ''
Good Housekeeping
''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...
'' magazine to write a column, ''Young Wife's World'', where she remained until she retired in 1963.
Personal life
Valentine was married to banker Herbert Valentine (died 1978).
She had two children: Barbara Valentine Hertz and Barry Valentine.
Her granddaughter, Valentine Hertz Kass
was one of the first women producer/directors at
KQED in San Francisco, the first director of the
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, famil ...
IMAX Theater
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
, and the founding director of the American Children's Television Festival. Her great-grandson,
Sam Kass
Samuel David Kass (born 1980) is an American political advisor, chef, and news personality, who served as President Barack Obama's Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy, Executive Director for First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaig ...
, served as
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's Senior Policy Advisor For Nutrition Policy.
Chicago Sun Times: "Sam Kass, White House chef; exclusive interview" by Lynn Sweet
November 8, 2009 Valentine died in 1986 in Miami at her daughter's home.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Helen
1893 births
1986 deaths
American magazine founders
American magazine editors
Women magazine editors
American people of German-Jewish descent
People from Manhattan
Barnard College alumni
Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni
Journalists from New York City