''McCall's'' was a monthly

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

women's

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, published by the

McCall Corporation McCall Corporation was an American publishing company that produced some popular magazines. These included ''Redbook'' for women, ''Blue Book (magazine), Bluebook'' for men, ''McCall's'', the ''Saturday Review (US magazine), Saturday Review'', a ...

, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication was established as a small-format magazine called ''The Queen'' in 1873. In 1897 it was renamed ''McCall's Magazine—The Queen of Fashion'' (later shortened to ''McCall's'') and subsequently grew in size to become a large-format glossy. It was one of the " Seven Sisters" group of women's service magazines. ''McCall's'' published fiction by such well-known authors as Alice Adams, Lester Atwell,

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 genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

Gelett Burgess Frank Gelett Burgess (January 30, 1866 – September 18, 1951) was an American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist. He was an important figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary renaissance of the 1890s, particularly through his ico ...

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 (novel), The Song of the Lark'', a ...

Jack Finney Walter Braden "Jack" Finney (born John Finney; October 2, 1911 – November 14, 1995) was an American writer. His best-known works are science fiction and thrillers, including '' The Body Snatchers'' and '' Time and Again''. The former was the b ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and exces ...

Barbara Garson Barbara Garson (born July 7, 1941) is an American playwright and author, perhaps best known for the 1966 play '' MacBird!'' Education and personal life Garson attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. specializi ...

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

, Tim O'Brien, Tony J. Caridi,

Anne Tyler Anne Tyler (born October 25, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. She has published twenty-five novels, including '' Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant'' (1982), '' The Accidental Tourist'' (1985), and '' Breathi ...

and

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

Features

From June 1949 until her death in November 1962,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

wrote a ''McCall's'' column, "If You Ask Me". The former First Lady gave brief answers to questions sent into the magazine. Starting in May 1951, and lasting until at least 1995, Betsy McCall paper dolls were printed in most issues. Children could cut out the printed dolls and clothing, or for a small fee (10¢ in 1957, 25¢ in 1967) paper dolls printed on cardboard could be ordered. Betsy McCall became so popular that various sized vinyl dolls were produced by

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

and American Character Dolls. Another popular feature which ran for many years was the cartoon panel ''It's All in the Family'' by

Stan and Jan Berenstain Stanley Melvin Berenstain (September 29, 1923 – November 26, 2005) and Janice Marian Berenstain (née Grant; July 26, 1923 – February 24, 2012) were American writers and illustrators best known for creating the children's book seri ...

. A pair of pioneering female illustrators,

Jessie Willcox Smith Jessie Willcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935) was an American illustrator during the Illustration#The_"Golden_Age", Golden Age of American illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators". A contributor to boo ...

and

Neysa McMein Neysa Moran McMein (born Marjorie Frances McMein; January 24, 1888 – May 12, 1949) was an American illustrator and portrait painter who studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League of New York. She began her ca ...

, drew dozens of ''McCall's'' cover portraits. Film critic

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...

worked at ''McCall's'' from 1965 to 1966, and was reportedly fired after writing a highly unfavorable review of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

''.

Publication history

Sewing patterns and ''The Queen of Fashion''

In 1870, Scottish immigrant James McCall began designing and printing his own line of sewing patterns. As a means of advertising his patterns, McCall founded a four-page fashion journal entitled ''The Queen: Illustrating McCall's Bazaar Glove-Fitting Patterns''. When McCall died in 1884, his widow became president of McCall Company, and hired Mrs. George Bladsworth as magazine editor. Mrs. Bladsworth held the position until 1891. Though still mainly a vehicle to sell McCall's sewing patterns, ''The Queen'' began to publish homemaking and handiwork information, and by 1890 had expanded to 12 pages. In 1891, the magazine's name became ''The Queen of Fashion'', and the cost for a year's subscription was 30 cents. In 1893, James Henry Ottley took over the McCall Company. He increased the subscription price to 50 cents a year, increased the number of pages to between 16 and 30 per issue, and began to publish articles on children's issues, health, beauty, and foreign travel. In order to reflect the magazine's expanded range of topics, the name was changed to ''McCall's Magazine—The Queen of Fashion'' in 1897. In time, the name would be shortened to ''McCall's.'' Despite the name changes, for many years information on McCall's patterns filled an average of 20 percent of the magazine's pages.

''McCall's Magazine''

In 1913, the magazine was purchased by the banking firm of White Weld & Co., which organized the

under the direction of president Edward Alfred Simmons. In 1917, the price was raised to 10 cents per issue. In 1922, Harry Payne Burton became editor, and for the first time such well-known fiction writers as

Kathleen Norris Kathleen Thompson Norris (July 16, 1880 – January 18, 1966) was an American novelist and newspaper columnist. She was one of the most widely read and highest paid female writers in the United States for nearly fifty years, from 1911 to 1959. No ...

Harold Bell Wright Harold Bell Wright (May 4, 1872 – May 24, 1944) was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and nonfiction. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he had a very successful career; he is said to hav ...

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontier ...

and

Booth Tarkington Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and ''Alice Adams (novel), Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to w ...

had stories published in McCall's. In 1928, the 23-year-old associate editor, Otis Wiese, was promoted to editor. He believed "women were ready for more significant fiction than

Gene Stratton-Porter Gene Stratton-Porter (August 17, 1863 – December 6, 1924), born Geneva Grace Stratton, was an American writer, nature photographer, and naturalist from Wabash County, Indiana. In 1917 Stratton-Porter urged legislative support for the Habitat co ...

" and suggested that McCall's sell Burton's acquisitions of popular fiction to ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century ...

'' and ''

Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...

''. Such radical ideas caused Wiese to be fired at least six times within his first year as editor, but he was always rehired because, as he put it, "there was no one else around the place with ideas." In 1932, Wiese changed the format to what he called Three Magazines in One. Three sections—News and Fiction, Homemaking, Style and Beauty—had their own cover, and each contained ads tailored to its contents. A survey was conducted that showed fiction was a major attraction for female magazine readers, and in 1937 ''McCall's'' became the first women's magazine to print a complete novel in one issue.

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 Reci ...

was attacked on December 7, 1941, and Otis Wiese immediately revamped the February 1942 issue then in preparation. A frilly valentine cover was replaced with a woman wearing an "I've Enlisted" consumer pledge button. Readers were asked to sign a pledge that stated "As a consumer, in the total defense of democracy, I will do my part to make my country ready, efficient and strong. I will buy carefully. I will take good care of the things I have. I will waste nothing." Within three weeks, 150,000 readers signed the pledge and sent in a coupon printed in the magazine. During World War II, all women's magazines took on a patriotic slant, but ''McCall's'' received much positive press coverage for being the first magazine to do so. ''McCall's'' began a "Washington Newsletter" section, which provided information on rationing and conservation. During the post-war era, fiction was no longer such an important draw for readers; they wanted more articles and picture spreads. To provide lively nonfiction Wiese hired two former ''Look'' magazine editors. Daniel Danforth Mich became editorial director, and Henry Ehrlich was named managing editor. ''McCall's'' Three Magazines in One format was discontinued in 1950. In 1954 Wiese began to reformat ''McCall's'' with a "Togetherness" slogan; it was announced that the magazine would no longer be just for women, but aimed at the entire family. During this time period paid circulation was 4.5 million per issue. In 1953, financier

Norton Simon Norton Winfred Simon (February 5, 1907 – June 2, 1993) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was at one time one of the wealthiest men in America. At the time of his death, he had amassed a net worth of nearly US$10 billion. S ...

began purchasing shares of McCall Corporation, and in 1956, Simon's group of investors was in control of the corporation. In 1958, Simon named

Arthur B. Langlie Arthur Bernard Langlie (July 25, 1900 – July 24, 1966) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Seattle, Washington and was the List of governors of Washington, 12th and 14th governor of the Washington (state), U.S. state of W ...

as president of the company. Otis Wiese, who had been vice president, as well as editor and publisher of ''McCall's'', had expected to be named president. When Langlie was named to the position, Wiese and a number of staffers resigned in protest. A ''Business Week'' article stated "The house of togetherness had come apart at the seams." Simon replaced Wiese with

Herbert Mayes Herbert Raymond Mayes (1900-October 30, 1987) was an American journalist and magazine editor, best known for serving as editor of ''Good Housekeeping'' and ''McCall's'', from which he retired in 1965.Saxon, Wolfgang. (1 November 1987)Herbert Mayes, ...

, who had been editor of ''Good Housekeeping''. Mayes did away with the "Togetherness" slant, and came up with a new slogan, "First Magazine For Women." He introduced additional color pages, and used more fiction. In 1962 Mayes became president and CEO of McCall Corporation. From 1962 to 1965, John Mack Carter was editor of ''McCall's''. Under his leadership, circulation rose to 8.4 million, making it the third most popular magazine in the United States after ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

''. In 1965, Carter left to become editor of ''Ladies' Home Journal''. A rapid succession of editors followed Carter, including Robert Stein and James Fixx. In 1969, ''Life'' magazine columnist

Shana Alexander Shana Alexander (October 6, 1925 – June 23, 2005) was an American journalist. Although she became the first woman staff writer and columnist for ''Life'' magazine, she was best known for her participation in the "Point-Counterpoint" debate seg ...

was named editor. Alexander had no editing experience, and at the time of her appointment stated "I have to educate myself about women's magazines, but I think I know something about women." Alexander left in 1971. Robert Stein was editor from 1972 to 1986. During Stein's tenure, ''McCalls'' gained the slogan / subtitle "The Magazine for Suburban Women." After Stein left, the quick turnover of editors returned.

Change in ownership

Ownership of ''McCall's'' began to change nearly as fast as editors came and went. Norton Simon sold ''McCall's'' to the

Pritzker family The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in various business enterprises and philanthropy, and one of the wealthiest families in the United States (staying in the top 10 of ''Forbes'' magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since th ...

in 1973. Norton Simon kept the McCall pattern business, which continues under different ownership. In 1986, McCall's Publishing Company was bought by

Time Inc. Time Inc. (also referred to as Time & Life, Inc. later on, after their two onetime flagship magazine publications) was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New ...

and Lang Communications. In 1989, ''McCall's'' was sold to

The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media corporation that publishes ''The New York Times'' and its associated publications such as ''The New York Times International Edition'' and other media properties. The New York Times Company's ...

, and in 1994, German-based

Gruner + Jahr Gruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dov Gruner (1912–1947), Jewish Zionist leader * Eduard Gruner, Swiss engineer * Elioth Gruner (1882–1939), Australian painter * Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner (1717–1778), Swiss ca ...

announced plans to purchase their magazine business. Gruner + Jahr rebranded the magazine as ''Rosie'' before selling it to Meredith Corporation in 2003. Throughout these transitions, the McCall pattern business remained separate and continued under different ownership.

Renaming to ''Rosie'' and cancellation

In 2000, entertainer

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American talk show host, comedian, and actress. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' in 1984. After a series of television ...

became editorial director of ''McCall's''. In 2001 ''McCall's'' was renamed '' Rosie''. O'Donnell stated, "I wanted a magazine that celebrates real women, that understands that they care about more than waistlines or the latest makeup styles or fashions, that they want to be relevant and help each other and care about the world." ''Rosie'' ceased publication at the end of 2002. O'Donnell said in a statement, "I decided I could not participate in a magazine that bears my name when I could not be assured it would reflect my vision, values and editorial direction." After publication of the long-running magazine ended, a highly publicized legal battle between O'Donnell and the publisher,

, began in 2003. Ultimately, the judge ruled against both sides and dismissed the case. Gruner + Jahr exited the U.S. magazine business in 2005, selling its women's magazine portfolio to the

Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned newspapers, magazines, television stations, and websites. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than ...

and its business magazine portfolio to Mansueto Ventures.

Golden Mike Awards

From 1951 to 1967, ''McCall's'', in partnership with

American Women in Radio and Television The Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) is a nonprofit organization created by women in 1951 that works to support women in the media in the United States. About The mission of the organization is to "advance the impact of women in broadcasting a ...

(AWRT), presented the Golden Mike Award for Women in Radio and Television, making it the first "magazine with a national circulation which has ever paid tribute to the public service record of any group in radio and television," with the Golden Mikes being "the only awards given exclusively to women Broadcasters and Executives for public service accomplishments in the communications field." Award criteria were based "exclusively on civic engagement, community service, charity, health and safety.... Judges were commissioners of education, presidents of women's clubs, and senators." The 1964 awards ceremony was held in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. Notable Golden Mike Award-winners included: * 1951

Helen Reichert Helen Reichert (November 11, 1901 – September 25, 2011) was an American talk show personality, New York University professor, founder of ''The Round Table of Fashion Executives'', and the oldest living alumnus of Cornell University at the tim ...

for ''FYI: The Helen Faith Keane Show'' * 1953

Agnes Moorehead Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900April 30, 1974) was an American actress. In a career spanning five decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television.Obituary '' Variety'', May 8, 1974, page 286. Moorehead was th ...

, for her one-woman show ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' and its several subsequent re-recordings for ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

''"Golden Mike Awards,"
Arcane Radio Trivia. Retrieved January 13, 2023. * 1954 Judith C. Waller for ''

Ding Dong School ''Ding Dong School'', billed as "the nursery school of the air", is a half-hour children's TV show which began on WNBQ-TV (now WMAQ-TV) in Chicago, Illinois a few months before its four-year run on NBC (albeit still produced in the WNBQ studios). ...

'' * 1956

Pauline Frederick Pauline Frederick (born Pauline Beatrice Libbey; August 12, 1883 – September 19, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey (later changed to Libby) in Boston in 1883 (some sources stat ...

* 1957: **

Helen Duhamel Helen S. Duhamel (November 26, 1904 – November 8, 1991) was an American businesswoman and broadcaster. She was best known for saving the Duhamel Company from bankruptcy and establishing a cluster of radio and television stations in western Sout ...

KOTA-TV KOTA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside MeTV affiliate KHME (channel 23) and low-power broadcasting#Televisi ...

** Alma Vessells John — the first Black woman to receive the award * 1959 Marge Miner of

KQTV KQTV (channel 2) is a television station in St. Joseph, Missouri, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Heartland Media. The station's studios and transmitter are located on Faraon Street in eastern St. Joseph. KQTV went on the a ...

for her series of programs on cerebral palsy"Mrs. Miner Receives Television Award," '' St. Joseph News-Press'' (April 24, 1959), page 19. * 1960: ** Lillian Brown **

— 2× winner * 1964: ** Lucy Jarvis of the

NBC network The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

** Ruth Lyons **

Marlene Sanders Marlene Sanders (January 10, 1931 – July 14, 2015) was an American television news correspondent, anchor, producer and executive who worked for ABC News in the 1960s and 1970s and moved to CBS News in 1978. She was the first woman to achieve se ...

WNEW-TV WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secauc ...

* 1965: **

Genie Chance Genie Chance (born Emma Gene "Genie" Broadfoot; January 24, 1927 – May 17, 1998) was an American journalist, radio broadcaster, and Alaska state politician. She is most well-known for her coverage of the 1964 Alaska earthquake, which netted he ...

for her coverage of the 9.2-magnitude 1964 Alaska earthquake **

Betty Lou Varnum Betty Lou Varnum (née McVay; May 3, 1931 – August 2021) was an American television personality, best known as host of the long-running children's show, ''The Magic Window''. Early years Varnum was born in Chicago. Her parents, Glen and Louis ...

for her series ''Status 6'', which focused on the struggles of the handicapped in Iowa * 1967 Lucy Jarvis of the

— 2× winner

References

External links

Betsy McCall Paper Dolls''McCall's Magazine'' archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccall's Defunct fashion magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct women's magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1897 Magazines disestablished in 2002 Defunct women's fashion magazines published in the United States