''The American Home'' was a monthly magazine published in the United States from 1928 to 1977. Its subjects included

domestic architecture Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

and

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

."American Home",

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Catalog.

History and profile

''The American Home'' was a continuation of the magazine ''Garden & Home Builder''. It was published by

Nelson Doubleday Nelson Doubleday (June 16, 1889 – January 11, 1949) was a U.S. book publisher and president of Doubleday Company from 1922–1946. His father Frank Nelson Doubleday had founded the business. His son Nelson Doubleday Jr. followed hi ...

of Doubleday, Doran & Company. Ellen Diffin Wangner edited the first issues, October 1928 to March 1929. ''The American Home'' lost money its first four years, and occasionally entire issues were omitted.Flooded Home
, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', April 6, 1936. William Herbert Eaton, its circulation manager, became publisher in 1932. He bought the magazine in 1935, forming American Home Publishing Company, which continued to publish it in New York City until he sold the magazine in 1958 to

Curtis Publishing Company The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''Ladies' Home Jour ...

, its single-copy distributor. Under Eaton, the magazine was refocused toward the

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...

reader, leaving the higher end of the home market to fellow Doubleday magazine ''Country Life'', which Eaton also bought. By 1953, ''The American Home'' had a paid circulation of over 3 million, and reached a peak circulation of 3.7 million in 1962."Charter to Merge Two Publications", ''The New York Times'', Dec. 2, 1977, p. D9. As part of its desire to move out of mass circulation publications, Curtis sold the magazine in 1968 to

Downe Communications Downe Communications was a publishing company founded by Edward Downe, Jr. that produced several popular magazines and provided subscription fulfillment services from 1967 to 1978. Downe was a trained journalist who worked at newspapers before bec ...

. John Mack Carter purchased it in 1973, and it was acquired in late 1975 by the

Charter Company The Charter Company of Jacksonville, Florida was a conglomerate with more than 180 subsidiaries that was in the ''Fortune'' 500 for 11 years beginning in 1974 and ranked 61st in 1984. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in late 1984, e ...

. In 1975

president and chairman

Raymond K. Mason Raymond Knight Mason (February 28, 1927 - January 2, 2020) was an American business leader for nearly sixty years, almost 40 as head of the Charter Company in Jacksonville, Florida. Charter was in the Fortune 500 for 11 years beginning in 1974 a ...

installed

Leda Sanford Leda Sanford, (born October 11, 1933 in Lucca, Italy), is an author, speaker, former publisher, and advertising director. She was the first female publisher of a major national magazine. She became president, publisher and editor-in-chief of the ...

as president, publisher and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

with a mandate to reposition the magazine and stem losses by attracting new readership. Sanford was the first female publisher of a national American

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

. Her goal was to maintain a circulation of 2.5 million and appeal to newly liberated

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

. She said she wanted the magazine to “speak intelligently to the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

-educated and informed woman,” telling the targeted reader how to “run her

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

with flair, beauty and pizzazz.” The publication saw slight gains, but not enough to save what the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' referred to as a “fixture on the American

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

scene.” “Charter to Merge Two Publications,” ''The New York Times,'' Dec. 2, 197

/ref> After several years of losses, and in an era that saw the closure of the mass circulation magazines '' Life (magazine), Life'', '' Look'', and ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', the last issue of ''American Home'', with a cover date of February 1978, was published in late 1977. It was then merged with the Charter magazine ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publication as of January 2019 and now operates an article-comprise ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:American Home, The Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct women's magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1928 Magazines disestablished in 1977 Magazines published in New York City Design magazines

History and profile

See also

References