''The Youth's Companion'' (1827–1929), known in later years as simply ''The Companion—For All the Family'', was an American
children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with ''
The American Boy
''The American Boy'' was a monthly magazine published by The Sprague Publishing Co. of Detroit, Michigan from November 1899 to August 1941. At the time it was the largest magazine for boys, with a circulation of 300,000, and it featured action sto ...
'' in 1929. The ''Companion'' was published in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
by Perry Mason & Co., later renamed "Perry Mason Company" after the founder died. The revised name first appears on the August 9, 1900 issue. From 1892 to 1915 it was based in the
Youth's Companion Building
The Youth's Companion Building is a historic building at 209 Columbus Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. The building is also known as the Pledge of Allegiance Building because the Pledge of Allegiance was written and published there. The building ...
, which is now on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
History
Early issues of the ''Companion'' were centered on religion, having been created, in the words of its first publishers
Nathaniel Willis (father of
Nathaniel Parker Willis
Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...
) and Asa Rand, to encourage "virtue and piety, and ... warn against the ways of transgression". In its early years its circulation did not reach 5,000.
Through the years, publishers included Willis & Rand (Washington St., c. 1831); Olmstead & Co., (School St., c. 1857); and Perry Mason & Co. (Washington St., ca.1868; Temple Place, c. 1873–1888; and
Columbus Ave.; c. 1894).
In the 1890s its content was re-centered on entertainment, and it began to target adults as well as children with pieces contributed by writers such as
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...
,
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
,
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...
,
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
, and
Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
. Another innovation was a medical column for older readers. In consequence, its circulation increased one-hundredfold, with sales peaking in 1893. It was advertised in 1897 as "an Illustrated Family Paper", having, as one person said of it, done "away with childish things". It did, however, retain a children's section, which included short poems and puzzles, and in faith to its beginnings, however, ''The Youth's Companion'' did not mention nor advertise
drug
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
s or
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
, nor did it delve much into politics; when it did, it usually did so in a humorous way.
On September 8, 1892, the magazine published the first copy of the
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...
, written by staff member
Francis Bellamy
Francis Julius Bellamy (May 18, 1855 – August 28, 1931) was an American Christian socialist Baptist minister and author. He is best known for writing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892.
Early life
Francis Julius Bellamy ...
.
From 1893–1907, Johnson Morton (Harvard 1886) served as an editor. In later years the magazine published articles from
Willa Cather
Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and ''My Ántonia''. In 1923, ...
and
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
.
Erle Stanley Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of crime fiction, detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of ...
(1889–1970) was, as a child, very fond of the magazine. When he embarked on his own writing career, Gardner borrowed the name "
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
" for his famous fictional attorney-detective.
Erle Stanley Gardner biographic material by William F. Nolan
/ref>
In the 1947 movie ''Life with Father
''Life with Father'' is a 1939 play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, adapted from a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day. The Broadway production ran for 3,224 performances over 401 weeks to become the l ...
'', which is set in the 1880s, the children of the family mention reading ''The Youth's Companion''.
References
Further reading
* ''Youth's Companion''
v.4-5
(1831).
External links
''The Youth's Companion'' Project''Youth's Companion'' Magazines
finding aid at th
St. Louis Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Youth's Companion
1827 establishments in the United States
1929 disestablishments in the United States
Children's magazines published in the United States
Defunct magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1827
Magazines disestablished in 1929
Magazines published in Boston
Youth magazines