Series II. Business Office Files, 1937-2001, inclusive

Business Manager Nancy Phillips's files document the organization of the Life business department as well as the finances of Life during her tenure. The materials that date earlier than 1987 likely were sent to Phillips as references to assist her with her work. Included in her files are budgets, circulation reports, financial statements and reports, lists of staff and responsibilities, organizational charts, quarterly financial analysis presentations, sales presentations, strategic plans, and correspondence. The correspondence included with this subseries discusses advertising rates, taxes, revenue, budgets, financial reports, and staffing. She also has memoranda and reports on the finances of Life Picture Sales sent by Time-Life Syndication within Editorial Services.

Her files also include some folders from when she worked at People and some records from Discover which may be for comparative purposes.

The Business Manager Office files covers the period of 1969 to 1979 and includes materials from a variety of Life Business Department staff. The names that appear most often are Winston Cox, George Dowling, Bob Cowin, Mary Davis, and Priscilla Riccardi. Included in this series are reports on the average circulation of magazines, notes, budget reports, sales analysis reports, reports on newsstand revenue, clippings, ad rate cards, press releases, lists of Life staff, and correspondence. The correspondence in this subseries discusses circulation statistics, subscription rates, budgets, and ad sales and revenue.

The Business Manager Agreement and Licensing files cover the period of 1971 to 2000 and focuses on agreements concerning joint projects between Life and outside organizations as well as on licensing agreements. These licensing agreements usually concerned the use or reprinting of an image or photographs either by Life or another organization. Included in this subseries are Life sales reports, contracts, notes on sales report, clippings, reports on costs of production, cd roms, contact lists, lists of back issue dealers, photographs, promotional materials, lists of photographer and rights, tax forms, trademark guidelines, lists of agreements, and correspondence. The correspondences discusses the Life century book, purchase orders, permission for the use of photographs, photographer policy statements, and reprinting pictures.

The Financial Statement subseries covers the period of 1937 to 1970. Included in this series are financial statements, budget reports, budget forecasts, budget estimates, mechanical budgets, and operating statements. While the materials are grouped together, it is unclear which office they originated from since there are a variety of names listed on the documents. Some items indicate that the reports were for the business office but do not indicate a specific office of origin or owner.

The General Files includes financial material about Life removed from two binders.