''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an 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 ...

, 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 circulated and influential magazines within the American middle class, with fiction, non-fiction, cartoons and features that reached two million homes every week. The magazine declined in readership through the 1960s, and in 1969 ''The Saturday Evening Post'' folded for two years before being revived as a quarterly publication with an emphasis on medical articles in 1971. As of the late 2000s, ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which purchased the magazine in 1982. The magazine was redesigned in 2013.

History

Rise

''The Saturday Evening Post'' was first published in 1821 in the same printing shop at 53 Market Street in Philadelphia where the

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

-founded ''

Pennsylvania Gazette ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' was one of the United States' most prominent newspapers from 1728 until 1800. In the several years leading up to the American Revolution the paper served as a voice for colonial opposition to British colonial rule, ...

'' had been published in the 18th century. While the ''Gazette'' ceased publication in 1800, ten years after Franklin's death, the ''Post'' links its history to the original magazine.

Heyday

The ''Post'' grew to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine in America. The magazine gained prominent status under the leadership of its longtime editor

George Horace Lorimer George Horace Lorimer (October 6, 1867 – October 22, 1937) was an American journalist, editor, author and publisher who worked as the editor of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' from 1899 to 1936. During his time as editor, circulation rose from s ...

(1899–1937). ''The Saturday Evening Post'' published current event articles, editorials, human interest pieces, humor, illustrations, a letter column, poetry (with contributions submitted by readers), single-panel gag

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

s (including '' Hazel'' by

Ted Key Ted Key (born Theodore Keyser; August 25, 1912 – May 3, 2008)
''The New York Times'', May 8, 2008 was a ...

) and stories by the leading writers of the time. It was known for commissioning lavish illustrations and original works of fiction. Illustrations were featured on the cover and embedded in stories and advertising. Some ''Post'' illustrations continue to be reproduced as posters or prints, especially those by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

Decline

The ''Post'' readership began to decline in the late 1950s and 1960s. In general, the decline of general interest magazines was blamed on television, which competed for advertisers and readers' attention. The ''Post'' had problems retaining readers: the public's taste in fiction was changing, and the ''Post''s conservative politics and values appealed to a declining number of people. Content by popular writers became harder to obtain. Prominent authors drifted away to newer magazines offering more money and status. As a result, the ''Post'' published more articles on current events and cut costs by replacing illustrations with photographs for covers and advertisements.

''Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts''

The magazine's publisher,

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 ...

, lost a landmark

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

suit, ''

Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts ''Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts'', 388 U.S. 130 (1967), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court establishing the standard of First Amendment protection against defamation claims brought by private individuals. Background The case involve ...

'' 388 U.S. 130 (1967), resulting from an article, and was ordered to pay U.S.$3,060,000 in

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

to the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

. The ''Post'' article implied that

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Paul "Bear" Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of t ...

and

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140– ...

conspired to fix a game between the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

and the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Both coaches sued Curtis Publishing Co. for defamation, each initially asking for $10 million. Bryant eventually settled for $300,000, while Butts' case went to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, which held that

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

damages may be recoverable (in this instance against a news organization) when the injured party is a non-public official, if the plaintiff can prove that the defendant was guilty of a reckless lack of professional standards when examining allegations for reasonable credibility. (Butts was eventually awarded $460,000.) William Emerson was promoted to editor-in-chief in 1965 and remained in the position until the magazine's demise in 1969.

Closure

In 1968, Martin Ackerman, a specialist in troubled firms, became president of Curtis after lending it $5 million. Although at first he said there were no plans to shut down the magazine, soon he halved its circulation, purportedly in an attempt to increase the quality of the audience, and then subsequently did shut it down. In announcing that the February 8, 1969, issue would be the magazine's last, Curtis executive Martin Ackerman stated that the magazine had lost $5 million in 1968 and would lose a projected $3 million in 1969. In a meeting with employees after the magazine's closure had been announced, Emerson thanked the staff for their professional work and promised "to stay here and see that everyone finds a job". At a March 1969 ''post-mortem'' on the magazine's closing, Emerson stated that ''The Post'' "was a damn good vehicle for advertising" with competitive renewal rates and readership reports and expressed 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 ...

'' called "understandable bitterness" in wishing "that all the one-eyed critics will lose their other eye".

Otto Friedrich Otto Alva Friedrich (born 1929 Boston, Massachusetts; died April 26, 1995 Manhasset, New York), was an American author, and historian. The son of the political theorist, and Harvard professor Carl Joachim Friedrich, Otto Friedrich graduated fro ...

, the magazine's last managing editor, blamed the death of ''The Post'' on Curtis. In his ''Decline and Fall'' (Harper & Row, 1970), an account of the magazine's final years (1962–69), he argued that corporate management was unimaginative and incompetent. Friedrich acknowledges that ''The Post'' faced challenges while the tastes of American readers changed over the course of the 1960s, but he insisted that the magazine maintained a standard of good quality and was appreciated by readers.

Reemergence

In 1970, control of the debilitated Curtis Publishing Company was acquired from the estate of

Cyrus Curtis Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis (June 18, 1850June 7, 1933) was an American publisher of magazines and newspapers, including the '' Ladies' Home Journal'' and ''The Saturday Evening Post''.Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Busines ...

by Indianapolis industrialist

Beurt SerVaas Beurt SerVaas (May 7, 1919 - February 2, 2014) was an American businessman, publisher, and politician. He served as a US Naval Officer in China during World War II, after being recruited by Office of Strategic Services (OSS, now known as the CIA). ...

. SerVaas relaunched the ''Post'' the following year on a quarterly basis as a kind of nostalgia magazine. In early 1982, ownership of the ''Post'' was transferred to the Benjamin Franklin Literary and Medical Society, founded in 1976 by the ''Posts then-editor, Dr. Corena "Cory" SerVaas (wife of Beurt SerVaas). The magazine's core focus was now health and medicine; indeed, the magazine's website originally noted that the "credibility of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' has made it a valuable asset for reaching medical consumers and for helping medical researchers obtain family histories. In the magazine, national health surveys are taken to further current research on topics such as

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and ...

spina bifida Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, men ...

, and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

." Ownership of the magazine was later transferred to the Saturday Evening Post Society; Dr. SerVaas headed both organizations. The range of topics covered in the magazine's articles is now wide, suitable for a general readership. By 1991, Curtis Publishing Company had been renamed Curtis International, a subsidiary of SerVaas Inc., and had become an importer of audiovisual equipment. Today the ''Post'' is published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which claims

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

status. With the January/February 2013 issue, the ''Post'' launched a major makeover of the publication, including a new cover design and efforts to increase the magazine's profile, in response to a general public misbelief that it was no longer in existence. The magazine's new logo is an update of a logo it had used beginning in 1942. As of October 2018, the complete archive of the magazine is available online.

Legacy

The ''Post'' has made significant contributions to American and world culture.

Illustrations

In 1916, ''Saturday Evening Post'' editor

discovered

, then an unknown 22-year-old New York artist. Lorimer promptly purchased two illustrations from Rockwell, using them as covers, and commissioned three more drawings. Rockwell's illustrations of the American family and rural life of a bygone era became icons. During his 50-year career with the ''Post'', Rockwell painted more than 300 covers. The ''Post'' also employed Nebraska artist

John Philip Falter John Philip Falter (February 28, 1910 – May 20, 1982) was an American artist best known for his many cover paintings for ''The Saturday Evening Post''. Early life Born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Falter moved at an early age with his family to F ...

, who became known as "a painter of Americana with an accent of the Middle West," who "brought out some of the homeliness and humor of Middle Western town life and home life." He produced 120 covers for the ''Post'' between 1943 and 1968, ceasing only when the magazine began displaying photographs on its covers. Another prominent artist was

Charles R. Chickering Charles Ransom Chickering (October 7, 1891 – April 29, 1970) was best known as the freelance artist who designed some 77 postage stamps for the U.S. Post Office while working at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC. Lerner, 2010 ...

, a freelance illustrator who went on to design numerous postage stamps for the U.S. Post Office. Other popular cover illustrators include artists George Hughes,

Constantin Alajalov Constantin Alajálov (also Aladjalov) (18 November 1900 — 23 October 1987) was an Armenian-American painter and illustrator. He was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and immigrated to New York City in 1923, becoming a US citizen in 1928. ...

John Clymer John Ford Clymer (January 29, 1907 – November 2, 1989) was an American painter and illustrator known for his nature works featuring the American West. Early life and education Born in Ellensburg, Washington, Clymer first studied art thr ...

, Alonzo Kimball,

W. H. D. Koerner W. may refer to: * SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel * ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush * "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP '' B ...

J. C. Leyendecker Joseph Christian Leyendecker (March 23, 1874 – July 25, 1951) was a German-American illustrator, considered one of the preeminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrati ...

Mead Schaeffer Mead Schaeffer (July 15, 1898 – November 6, 1980) was an :American illustrators, American illustrator active from the early to middle twentieth century. Biography Schaeffer was born in Freedom Plains, New York, in 1898, the son of Presbyt ...

Charles Archibald MacLellan Charles Archibald MacLellan (June 22, 1885 - October 4, 1961) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoyed a wide-ranging, popular appeal in the United States, and he was probably one of the most recognizable cover illus ...

, John E. Sheridan,

Emmett Watson Emmett Watson (November 22, 1918 – May 11, 2001) was an American newspaper columnist from Seattle, Washington, whose columns ran in a variety of Seattle newspapers over a span of more than fifty years. Initially a sportswriter, he is primari ...

Douglass Crockwell Spencer Douglass Crockwell (April 29, 1904, Columbus, Ohio – November 30, 1968, Glens Falls, New York) was an American commercial artist and experimental filmmaker. He was most famous for his illustrations and advertisements for ''The Saturday E ...

, Amos Sewell,

James R. Bingham James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and

N. C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

. Cartoonists have included: Bob Barnes,

Irwin Caplan Irwin Caplan (May 24, 1919 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed Cap, was an American illustrator, painter, designer and cartoonist, best known as the creator of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' cartoon series, ''Famous Last Words'', which led to newspap ...

, Tom Henderson, Al Johns,

Clyde Lamb Clyde William Lamb (March 11, 1913 – July 8, 1966) was an American artist and cartoonist whose gag cartoons were published in leading magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. He also drew a syndicated comic strip during the 1950s and 1960s. Biograph ...

Jerry Marcus Jerry Marcus (June 27, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – July 22, 2005, Waterbury, Connecticut) was a prolific freelance gag cartoonist who also created the syndicated newspaper comic strip '' Trudy''. A high school drop-out, Marcus was rejected by th ...

Frank O'Neal Frank O'Neal (May 9, 1921 – October 10, 1986)
at the Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...

, B. Tobey, Pete Wyma and

Bill Yates Floyd Buford Yates (July 5, 1921 – March 26, 2001), better known as Bill Yates, was an American cartoonist who drew gag cartoons and comic strips before assuming the position of comic strip editor for King Features Syndicate in 1978. Biograph ...

. The magazine ran

Ted Key Ted Key (born Theodore Keyser; August 25, 1912 – May 3, 2008)
''The New York Times'', May 8, 2008 was a ...

's cartoon panel series '' Hazel'' from 1943 to 1969.

Literature

Each issue featured several original short stories and often included an installment of a serial appearing in successive issues. Most of the fiction was written for mainstream tastes by popular writers, but some literary writers were featured. The opening pages of stories featured paintings by the leading magazine illustrators. The ''Post'' published stories and essays by

H. E. Bates Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and '' My Uncle Silas''. Early life H.E. Bates was ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

Kay Boyle Kay Boyle (February 19, 1902 – December 27, 1992) was an American novelist, short story writer, educator, and political activist. She was a Guggenheim Fellow and O. Henry Award winner. Early years The granddaughter of a publisher, Boyle was ...

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

Brian Cleeve Brian Brendon Talbot Cleeve (22 November 1921 – 11 March 2003) was a writer, whose published works include twenty-one novels and over a hundred short stories. He was also an award-winning broadcaster on RTÉ television. Son of an Irish fathe ...

Eleanor Franklin Egan Eleanor Franklin Egan (April 28, 1879 — January 17, 1925) was an American journalist and foreign correspondent for the '' Saturday Evening Post''. Early life Bertha Eleanor Pedigo was born in 1879 (some sources give 1877), the daughter of Henry ...

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

, C. S. Forester,

Ernest Haycox Ernest James Haycox (October 1, 1899 – October 13, 1950) was an American writer of Western fiction. Biography Haycox was born in Portland, Oregon, to William James Haycox and the former Martha Burghardt on October 1, 1899.Corning, Howard M. (1 ...

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...

Normand Poirier Normand Poirier (1928February 3, 1981) was an American journalist, essayist, and newspaper editor. His name is often spelled Norman Poirier. Poirier is noted as one of the first journalists to report on war crimes on Vietnamese civilians by Ame ...

Hammond Innes Ralph Hammond Innes (15 July 1913 – 10 June 1998) was a British novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as works for children and travel books. Biography Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at Feltonfleet School, Cobham, Surrey ...

Louis L'Amour Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his work "frontier stories"); however, he also wrote hi ...

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

Joseph C. Lincoln Joseph Crosby Lincoln (February 13, 1870 – March 10, 1944) was an American literature, American author of novels, poems, and short stories, many set in a fictionalized Cape Cod. Biography Lincoln was born in 1870 in Brewster, Massachusetts, o ...

John P. Marquand John Phillips Marquand (November 10, 1893 – July 16, 1960) was an American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a Pulitzer Prize for '' ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

Mary Roberts Rinehart Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie.Keating, H.R.F., ''The Bedside Companion to Crime''. New York: Mysterious Press, 1989, p. 170. Rinehart published her fir ...

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''T ...

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

Rob Wagner Robert Leicester Wagner (August 2, 1872 – July 20, 1942) was the editor and publisher of ''Script'', a weekly literary film magazine published in Beverly Hills, California, between 1929 and 1949. Rob Wagner was a magazine writer, screenwrite ...

, Edith Wharton, and

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...

. Poetry published came from poets including:

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's bes ...

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

, and

Hannah Kahn Hannah Kahn (1911–1988) was an American poet, born in New York City, and subsequently a longtime resident of Miami, Florida. She was known especially for her inspirational poem "Ride a Wild Horse." Biography Hannah quit school at the age of ...

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 ...

's best-known novel ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named ...

'' was first published, in serialized form, in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' in 1903. Emblematic of the ''Post's'' fiction was author

Clarence Budington Kelland Clarence Budington "Bud" Kelland (July 11, 1881 – February 18, 1964) was an American writer. Prolific and versatile, he was a prominent literary figure in his heyday, and he described himself as "the best second-rate writer in America". Kelland ...

, who first appeared in 1916–17 with stories of homespun heroes, "Efficiency Edgar" and "Scattergood Baines". Kelland was a steady presence from 1922 until 1961. For many years

William Hazlett Upson William Hazlett Upson (September 6, 1891 – February 5, 1975) was an American author, best remembered for a series of stories featuring Alexander Botts, a salesman for the Earthworm Tractor Company. Early life Born at Glen Ridge, New Jersey on Se ...

contributed a very popular series of short stories about the escapades of Earthworm Tractors salesman Alexander Botts. Publication in the ''Post'' launched careers and helped established artists and writers stay afloat.

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

said "the wolf was always at the door" until the ''Post'' gave him his "first break" in 1915 by serializing '' Something New''.

Politics

After the election of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, ''Post'' columnist

Garet Garrett Garet Garrett (February 19, 1878 – November 6, 1954), born Edward Peter Garrett, was an American journalist and author, known for his opposition to the New Deal and U.S. involvement in World War II. Overview Garrett was born February 1 ...

became a vocal critic of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

. Garrett accused the Roosevelt administration of initiating

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

strategies. After editor George Lorimer died, Garrett became editorial writer-in-chief and criticized the Roosevelt administration's support of the United Kingdom and efforts to prepare to enter what became the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and allegedly showed some support for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in some of his editorials. Garrett's positions aroused controversy and may have cost the ''Post'' readers and advertisers in the aftermath of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

and

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

Editors

(Listed from the purchase by Curtis, 1898)Otto Friedrich, ''Decline and Fall'' (Harper & Row, 1970), flyleaf, chapter 2, and passim, provides info for 1898–1969

Cover gallery

Image:Babynew.jpg, December 28, 1907. Cover by

File:SatrudayEveningPost041610.jpg, April 16, 1910. Cover by

Anton Otto Fischer Anton Otto Fischer (February 23, 1882 – March 26, 1962) was a German-born American illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post. Background Born in Germany and orphaned at any early age, he ran away at the age of 15 to escape being forced into ...

File:SaturdayEveningPost11Mar1911.jpg, March 11, 1911. Cover by Alonzo Myron Kimball File:1920-12-04-Saturday-Evening-Post-Norman-Rockwell-cover-Santa-and-Expense-Book-no-logo-400-Digimarc.jpg, December 4, 1920 Cover by

File:1921-6-4 No Swimming - Norman Rockwell.jpg, June 4, 1921. Cover by

References

External links

*
''Saturday Evening Post'' illustration archive 1923–1975

More Irrelevant Than Irreverent

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

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The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...