Series II. Office of the Business Manager Files, 1929-1977, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
This series contain administrative records from Time Business Managers William Hoeft, James Thomason, Kelso Sutton, and Lucy Werner; Assistant Business Managers John Howard and Ron Dronzek; along with Time staff personnel files created by this office. The records document financial decisions for the publication of the magazine.
The earliest records are ownership statements in the General Administrative Files. These forms were required by the Post Office to be filed annually by publishers of magazines. The statements list the publisher, editor-in-chief, managing editor, business manager, and major stockholders.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series:
Subseries II.A. Business Manager James A. Thomason Files
Subseries II.B. Business Manager Kelso Sutton Files
Subseries II.C. Business Manager Lucy Werner Files
Subseries II.D. Assistant Business Manager John Howard Files
Subseries II.E. Assistant Business Manager Ron Dronzek Files
Subseries II.F. General Administrative Files
Subseries II.G. Personnel Files
Biographical / Historical
The Office of the Business Manager was primarily responsible for the accounting, bookkeeping, and advertising pricing of each Time Inc. franchise. The Business Manager reported to the General Manager, when present, who reported to the Publisher.
On the earliest paperwork retained from 1929 in the Ownership Statements files, W. W. Commons is listed as Assistant General Manager. Ownership statements from 1932 to 1940 list him as the Business Manager. In 1941 William Hoeft takes over through 1947. Eric Hodgins is listed as General Manager in 1942. In 1948 James Thomason becomes the Business Manager. Assistant Business Manager Kelso Sutton took over as Business Manager around 1962 or 1963 and remained in this role through 1968 when he moved on to become Time General Manager. According to the Department Head Lists in the Time Inc. Reference Files, John P. Keller holds the post of Business Manager for a year before Lucy Werner takes over by early 1970. She remains Business Manager through 1972 or 1973 and is no longer in the role by 1974.
The title of Assistant Business Manager is not listed in the 1970 Department Head List. The listing returns by 1972 and includes John Howard through 1974. There are no lists from 1975 to 1977, but on the January 1978 list, Howard is the Time Business Manager. Ron Dronzek appears on the January 1978 list as an Assistant Business Manager, but by November of that year he has been promoted to Business Manager.
Citation:
Hooper, Bill. Email to Holly Deakyne, 11 January 2019.
Time Inc. Reference Files, MS 3009-RG 3, New-York Historical Society.
Subseries II.A. Business Manager James A. Thomason Files, 1939-1963, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Business manager James "Gus" Thomason's files were originally in roughly chronological runs of files with some of the same titles appearing in each year similar to Sutton's files. Records include correspondence and interoffice memoranda regarding staff salaries and bonuses; advertising rates and studies; operations for advertising sales, promotion, and distribution; and Life's service charges to Time.
Some records from Thomason for 1963 to 1964 are among folders of his successor Kelso Sutton. The similar labeling and arrangement of Thomason's and Sutton's files look like they were kept by the same third person, perhaps an administrative assistant.
Additional files from Thomason are in the General Administrative Files.
Arrangement
Organized into chronological groups of alphabetically arranged files based on the original arrangement.
Biographical / Historical
According to the Time Inc. staff newsletter FYI, William Hoeft had been the Time Business Manager for six years when he transferred to the Time Life International foreign desk as business manager in 1947. James Thomason took over for Hoeft at that time and served until he was promoted to Time General Manager around 1963.
General, 1955-1960, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1939-1954, inclusive
Christmas, 1953, inclusive
Editorial, 1953, inclusive
Expense Accounts, 1953, inclusive
Stockholders Report, 1951-1953, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1955, 1959, inclusive
Expense Accounts, 1959, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1959-1961, inclusive
Advertising Discounts, 1961, inclusive
Advertising Promotion, 1960-1961, inclusive
Auer, Bernhard, 1961, inclusive
Austell, Rhett, 1961, inclusive
Barrows, Don, 1961, inclusive
Circulation, 1960-1961, inclusive
Comptroller's Department, 1960-1961, inclusive
Conflict of Interest [empty], undated, inclusive
Distribution, 1960-1961, inclusive
Economic Fix, 1961, inclusive
Editorial, 1960-1961, inclusive
Election Issue, 1960, inclusive
Expense Accounts, 1960-1961, inclusive
Linen, James, 1960, inclusive
Morgue, 1960-1961, inclusive
Office Management and Space, 1960-1961, inclusive
Life, 1961, inclusive
New Staff Parties, 1956-1962, inclusive
Purchasing Practices, 1961, inclusive
Studies: Compensation Survey, 1961, inclusive
Suburban Home Guides, 1961, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1962, inclusive
Auer, Bernhard, 1962, inclusive
Austell, Rhett, 1962, inclusive
Canadian Operation, 1962, inclusive
Capital Appropriations, 1962, inclusive
Circulation, 1962-1963, inclusive
Comptrollers Department, 1962, inclusive
Corporate, 1962, inclusive
Distribution, 1962, inclusive
Editorial Reference, 1962, inclusive
Leaves of Absence, 1962, inclusive
Makereadies, 1962, inclusive
News Service, 1962, inclusive
Office Management, 1962, inclusive
Purchasing Practices, 1962, inclusive
Service Departments and Company Administration Reports, 1962-1963, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1963, inclusive
Austell, Rhett, 1963, inclusive
Circulation, 1963-1964, inclusive
Editorial Reference, 1963, inclusive
Leaves of Absence, 1963, inclusive
Legal, 1963, inclusive
News Service, 1963, inclusive
Staff Development Study Courses, 1963, inclusive
Staff Memoranda, 1963, inclusive
Subseries II.B. Business Manager Kelso Sutton Files, 1962-1964, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Business manager Kelso Sutton's files look similar to Thomason's files. Records include correspondence and interoffice memoranda regarding staff salaries and bonuses; advertising rates and studies; operations for advertising sales, promotion, and distribution; and Life's service charges to Time.
Some records from the prior business manager James Thomason for 1963 to 1964 are in Sutton's files. The similar labeling and arrangement of Thomason's and Sutton's files look like they were kept by the same third person, perhaps an administrative assistant. Along with Thomason's, there are some folders from Assistant or Associate Business Manager Rose Epstein with the same label format. It appears that her files, as an assistant, were integrated into Sutton's and Thomason's as the head of the office.
Arrangement
Organized alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical
Kelso Sutton served as Time Assistant Business Manager from 1962 maybe through 1963. By mid-1964 he took over from James Thomason as Business Manager and remained in this role through 1968 when he moved on to become Time General Manager. Sutton held several other roles at Time Inc. eventually becoming a board member, the executive vice president of the Magazine Group then president of the Books Group.
Administration, 1963-1964, inclusive
Advertising Promotion, 1963-1964, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1964, inclusive
Budget, 1964, inclusive
Cable Distribution Service, 1964, inclusive
Circulation, 1963-1964, inclusive
Cleveland Council on World Affairs, 1964, inclusive
Copy Transportation, 1962-1963, inclusive
Editorial Reference, 1964, inclusive
Expense Accounts, 1964, inclusive
Fortune 500 by Time Regions, 1964, inclusive
Hilton Hotel Reservations, 1964, inclusive
Hydrofoil, 1964, inclusive
International Marketing Institute, 1964, inclusive
Jamaica Convention, 1964, inclusive
Leaves of Absence, 1964, inclusive
Legal, 1964, inclusive
Luce-Donovan Dinner, 1964, inclusive
Marketing Services, 1964, inclusive
News Service, 1964, inclusive
Portraiture Exhibition, 1964, inclusive
Staff Memoranda, 1964, inclusive
Sterling Forest [empty], undated, inclusive
Subscription Service, 1962-1964, inclusive
Time Fourth of July Issue, 1964, inclusive
Subseries II.C. Business Manager Lucy Werner Files, 1970-1972, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Lucy Werner's files seem to focus mainly on international offices and publication of Time primarily in Canada and Australia. Records include correspondence and interoffice memoranda with the international offices and expense and profit projections.
Arrangement
Organized alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical
In 1969 the Department Head List shows Lucy Werner in the Comptroller's office as an accounting assistant. By early 1970, she is the Time Business Manager, a role she holds through 1972 or maybe 1973. By 1974, she is in Corporate Administration as the head of union relations.
Canadian Business Manager, 1971-1972, inclusive
Foreign Syndication, 1972, inclusive
South Pacific, 1970-1971, inclusive
Time Canada, 1970-1971, inclusive
Time-Life International (Australia) Pty Ltd, 1971, inclusive
Subseries II.D. Assistant Business Manager John Howard Files, 1970-1977, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
John Howard's files document financial decisions for the publication of Time edition distributed in Canada. The records include papers from the managing director of Time Canada Stephen LaRue.
Records discuss business operations, Canadian staff, and the proposal to close Time Canada due not being able to comply with content regulation requirements in Canadian bill C-58. Records include financial statements, a submission to the special senate committee on mass media, a presentation created for parlimentary hearings on bill C-58, and correspondence with the Canadian business office.
Arrangement
Time Canada Ltd. / Time Canada Files are organized chronologically due to timeline of events up through possible closure. One file not related to Canada is at the end.
Time Canada Ltd. / Time Canada Files, 1970-1973, inclusive
Time Canada Ltd. / Time Canada Files, 1973-1975, inclusive
Time Canada Ltd. / Time Canada Files, 1975-1976, inclusive
Time Canada Ltd. / Time Canada Files, 1976-1977, inclusive
Time Canada Ltd. / Time Canada Files [RESTRICTED], 1960-1975, inclusive
International Editorial: Greens, 1975-1976, inclusive
Subseries II.E. Assistant Business Manager Ron Dronzek Files, 1974-1977, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Ron Dronzek's files document financial decisions for publication of the Time international edition distributed in Australia. The records include some papers from the managing director of Time South Pacific Edward Barnum.
Records include advertising statistics, a subscriber survey, staff salary reviews, newsstand sales reports, and profit and loss projections.
Arrangement
Organized chronologically.
Time South Pacific Files, 1974-1977, inclusive
Subseries II.F. General Administrative Files, 1929-1975, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Office of the Business Manager General Files contain administrative files spanning the tenure of several business managers, primarily William Hoeft and James A. Thomason. The files were originally found together and not separated by office holder. Records document financial decisions for the publication of Time and include ownership reports, meeting minutes of the business manager meetings, profit studies, circulation studies, production costs, and Time Inc. policies.
Arrangement
Organized alphabetically.
General, 1937-1955, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Include records on circulation history, target figures, staff targets, office space requirements, georgraphic cost comparisons, metallic ink prices, expenses of various departments at Time, March of Time program costs, and lists of advertisers.
ABC: Publisher Statements, 1957
Advertising, 1937-1953, inclusive
Advertising Promotion, 1946, 1956-1957, inclusive
Advertising Sales, 1938-1957, inclusive
Advertising Studies, 1942-1945, inclusive
Age Data: Executives, 1952, inclusive
Atlantic City Meeting, 1956, inclusive
Breakeven Points, 1938, 1945-1949, inclusive
Budgets, 1950-1956, inclusive
Business Manager's Meetings, 1949-1950, inclusive
Capital Appropriations, 1957, inclusive
Christmas, 1957, inclusive
Circulation, 1943-1951, inclusive
Circulation, 1956-1957, inclusive
Circulation Study, 1965, inclusive
Communications, 1957, inclusive
Comparative Studies, 1945-1952, inclusive
Comptroller Department, 1955-1957, inclusive
Conference: "The Environment of Change", 1964, inclusive
Cost Control Bulletins, 1949, inclusive
Cresap, McCormick and Paget, 1957, inclusive
Distribution, 1952-1957, inclusive
Economics Relative to Price Control, 1946, inclusive
Editorial, 1941-1958, inclusive
Editorial: Art Book, 1957-1958, inclusive
Editorial: Color, 1946, inclusive
Editorial: Operations, 1957, inclusive
Foreign Desk, 1952, inclusive
40th Anniversary Dinner, 1963, inclusive
Guild, 1957-1958, inclusive
Larson, Roy E., 1957, inclusive
Life, 1957, inclusive
Linen, James A., 1953-1957, inclusive
Makereadies, 1957, inclusive
Management of Editorial Services, 1958
Metallic Ink, 1939, 1946-1948, inclusive
Morgue, 1944-1957, inclusive
Newsweek, 1946-1965, inclusive
News Bureau, 1944-1958, inclusive
Office Management, 1953-1957, inclusive
Office Space, 1957, inclusive
Operating Statement Analyses, 1946-1947, inclusive
Ownership Statements (PS Form 3526), 1929-1975, inclusive
Personnel: Employee Relations, 1952, inclusive
Personnel: Jochanan, Scott [RESTRICTED UNTIL 2033], 1958, inclusive
Personnel Reports, 1942-1958, inclusive
PIB [Publishers Information Bureau], 1956, inclusive
Production, 1946-1952, inclusive
Profit Trends, 1948-1959, inclusive
Special Luce Project, 1958-1959, inclusive
Speeches, 1943-1948, 1956, undated
Sports Illustrated [empty], undated, inclusive
Staff Memoranda, 1957, inclusive
Staff, Payroll and Raises Report, 1955, inclusive
Standard Cost, 1946-1949, inclusive
Steering Committee, 1957, inclusive
Studies, 1949, inclusive
Studies: Extra Text Pages, 1953, inclusive
Studies: River Club Meeting, 1954, inclusive
Surveys, 1950-1951, inclusive
Taxes, 1950, inclusive
Tearsheets, 1954-1955, inclusive
Time: Division Updates, 1964-1966, inclusive
Time: Final Budget, 1947, inclusive
Time: MAC Speeches, 1945, inclusive
Time: Profit Loss Statements, 1945-1955, inclusive
Time Inc. Policies, 1938, 1947, 1954-1958, inclusive
TLI [Time Life International] [empty], undated, inclusive
Travel Bureau, 1956-1960, inclusive
Tycoon Typing Company, 1955, inclusive
UP-AP [empty], undated, inclusive
Vacation Policy, 1958, inclusive
Subseries II.G. Personnel Files, 1941-1963, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Personnel Files contain the personnel records maintained by the Office of the Business Manager and include personnel cards for individual staff and files on personnel issues such as policies and salaries. The majority of restricted folders are restricted because of personally identifiable information or performance reviews.
Arrangement
Organized alphabetically.
General, 1958-1962, inclusive
Administration [RESTRICTED], 1962, inclusive
Advertising Promotion [RESTRICTED], 1962-1964, inclusive
Advertising Sales [RESTRICTED], 1962-1964, inclusive
Editorial Copy Desk [RESTRICTED], 1962, inclusive
Editorial Photon and Teletypesetters [RESTRICTED], 1962-1963, inclusive
Editorial Pictures and Production, 1962-1964, inclusive
Editorial Researchers [RESTRICTED], 1962-1965, inclusive
Editorial Secretaries [RESTRICTED], 1962-1963, inclusive
Editorial Writers, 1962-1964, inclusive
Headcount Reconciliation, 1961-1964, inclusive
Job Descriptions, 1962, inclusive
Leave of Absences [RESTRICTED], 1962, inclusive
Letters Department [RESTRICTED], 1962-1964, inclusive
Loan Requests [RESTRICTED], 1962, inclusive
Marketing Services [RESTRICTED], 1962-1963, inclusive
Newspaper Build of New York, 1945-1962, inclusive
Policy, 1948-1954, inclusive
Raise Review, 1960-1963, inclusive
Salary: General Increase, 1952-1956, inclusive
Salary: Mandatory Increase, 1961-1963, inclusive
Salary Review, 1949-1954, inclusive
Staff Cards [RESTRICTED], 1941-1963, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Staff cards include dates of hire and departure along with salary information. They are grouped chronologically by the year the staff member left Time.