Time Inc. People Publishing and Business Records
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Abstract
With the first issue launched on on March 4, 1974, People was one of the first publications coming out of the Magazine Development Group later transitioning into its own department. The People Publishing and Business Records contain records from offices and staff from the publishing and business side of the magazine, not the editorial side. Staff represented include Publisher Richard Durrell, Assistant Publisher Charlotte Schiff-Jones, Associate Consumer Marketing Director John Hartig, Director of Marketing Services Chuck Lund, and Magazine Development Group Marketing Director Mal Ochs.
Biographical / Historical
People magazine was launched as a newsstand-only publication on March 4, 1974, with Richard Durrell as founding publisher. Before joining People, Durrell worked in advertising for both Life and Time magazines, including a position as Life's Assistant Publisher. People was created under the Magazine Development Group, divesting and becoming its own department by 1978. The Magazine Development Group, Time Inc.'s in-house publishing idea think tank, had previously successfully launched Money magazine in 1972.
The magazine exceeded sales of one million copies per issue by July 1974 due to Richard Durrell creating a distribution network within Time Inc., known as Time Distribution Services (TDS). TDS worked with and eventually replaced the distributor Select Magazines Inc. and focused on market research to improve sales tactics.
For the majority of Time Inc.'s existence, the company maintained a strict separation of editorial from the publishing and business side of each magazine, colloquially called the separation of "church" (editorial) and "state" (publishing). Publishing and Business Management includes the publisher, general manager, business manager, advertising sales, marketing services, letters, circulation, and public relations. The editorial side reported up to the editor-in-chief and the publishing/business side reported up to the corporate business executive which was the president prior to 1960 and the chief executive officer after. Henry Luce structured Time Inc. this way so that the business side could not (in theory) influence the editorial content of the publications. For example, the advertising sales people could not interfere with a magazine's decision to run an article on the dangers of cigarette smoking, even though it might mean losing millions of dollars in tobacco ads.
Citations:
Elson, Robert T., Curtis Prendergast, and Geoffrey Colvin. Time Inc.; the Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1960-1980. New York: Atheneum, 1985.
Hooper, Bill. Email to Holly Deakyne, 10 June 2016.
Arrangement Note
The record group is currently organized in six series:
Series I. Publisher Richard Durrell Files
Series II. Assistant Publisher Charlotte Schiff-Jones Files
Series III. Marketing Files
Series IV. Advertising Files
Series V. Public Affairs Records
Series VI. General Files
Scope and Contents
The People Publishing and Business Records contain records from offices and staff from the publishing and business side of the magazine, not the editorial side. Staff represented include Publisher Richard Durrell, Assistant Publisher Charlotte Schiff-Jones, Associate Consumer Marketing Director John Hartig, Director of Marketing Services Chuck Lund, and Magazine Development Group Marketing Director Mal Ochs. Records include correspondence, memorandum, advertising and marketing records, poll results, statistical computer analysis reports, convention information, People magazine development materials, and information on the short-lived 1978 Time-Life Films People television series. Includes records from when People operated under the Magazine Development Group before becoming its own department.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials include contracts and agreements; records with personally identifiable information; and records with mold issues. Restricted materials are located in box R42. Box R43 contains materials restricted due to mold.
Unreformatted audiovisual material in the collection is not accessible.
Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as Time Inc. People Publishing and Business Records, MS 3009-RG 27, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Time Inc. in 2015.
About this Guide
Processing Information Note
Time Inc. People Publishing and Business Records were processed by Melanie Rinehart in 2018 and 2019. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Rinehart created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this collection.
Holly Deakyne processed and added the General Files in 2021.