Philip Kunhardt's administrative files include materials from his positions as Life Special Reports Managing Editor and as head of editorial for the Magazine Development Group (MDG). The Magazine Development Meeting folder includes a transcription which describes the formation of the first MDG.

Life Special Reports contains records on the editorial decisions for these biannually published issues. Records include correspondence along with reader letters; lists of ideas; check requisitions and correspondence for payments to writers, researchers, and photographers; article drafts; photograph releases; internal memoranda; news clippings; and lists of who received complimentary copies.

The correspondence in One Day in the Life of America includes photographers' descriptions of their rolls of film and letters from the public regarding their submissions. Additional material from One Day in the Life of America is in the Business Office General Files on Life Special Reports in a folder titled "Kunhardt file."

Correspondence in Picture Editor John Loengard's files mention a prototype for "regular Life" that he worked on in Spring 1974. The materials in Kunhardt's protoype files might be for that although these folders were with the other LSR folders.

Restricted materials include payments to temporary staff and stringers with personally identifiable information, and release forms from minors.

The records document editorial work on People magazine dummies and test issues prior to its first publication in 1974. Records include lists of magazine sections and article topics; correspondence and cables; check requisitions to pay photographers and photo agencies; expense reports from MDG staff and from the News Service for use of stringers; and notepads listing photograph credits.

The General folders include a call for story submissions sent to all the Time Inc. domestic and foreign news bureaus and an exchange between Kunhardt and former Life correspondent and bureau chief Dora Jane Hamblin regarding their blunt opinions of the new magazine. In his letter to Hamblin, Kunhardt states he will no longer be working on People.

Restricted material includes payroll records with personally identifiable information.

New Ideas contains correspondence and memoranda regarding proposals for new magazine ideas from people and companies outside of Time Inc. A note in the "Prime Time" folder indicates most of the material was forwarded to Garry Valk and Deane Raley. The remaining materials discuss a television oriented publication to be "an upscale competitor to TV Guide." Perhaps this idea was a precursor to TV-Cable Week.

LaRue, along with Paul Hale and Mary Davis, has the majority of records on the women's magazine including extensive files on the creation and testing of the two dummy issues and a collection of other magazines intended for women as research. A September 1976 memorandum from Philip Kunhardt to LaRue states that the magazine must be "put together by women." According to materials in Philip Kunhardt's files, a dummy was created in mid-1977 and circulated to select women at Time Inc. for comment.

While Woman is the working title the Magazine Development Group wanted to use, records also refer to the project as the woman's magazine, the women's magazine, Project "X" or "W". The business side did a lot of work starting mid-1976 in order to begin creating dummies, trademark research, costs, and possible revenues. The "General" file includes a prospectus on "Magazine X" and the "Printed Dummy" files list stores used for market testing.

Winston Cox's administrative files include general records from the business side of the Magazine Development Group.

Winston Cox's files on the study of the future of magazines identify trends that occurred in the magazine business in the years prior to the study and attempt to identify trends that will affect magazines in the future in order, and compare general magazine trends to Time Inc. magazine trends. Records include reports on the performance of "quality" magazines, interests and actions of advertisers particularly focusing on tobacco, alcohol and automotive, reports and studies on consumers collected from other companies and professional organizations, charts of trends in revenue and costs, and materials used in the presentation to the Board of Directors.

Winston Cox's files on magazines under development document the business side's preparation for the launch of People and work during its first year of publication. The records focus on advertising and circulation. These files also include possible prototypes or test issues for View, and circulation reports on Well and Money that originated with George Wiedemann, part of Corporate Circulation.

Administrative Files document business and publishing administrative activities and decisions of the Magazine Development Group.

Money includes financial planning records for the early years of the publication.

New Magazine Ideas include charts listing ideas and the status of the idea, such as "no interest" or "under discussion"; and correspondence and proposals with suggestions for new magazines.

There is one folder of 1970 material from Stevens DeClerque, Assistant Publisher of Life.

The files on People document business decisions for the first few years of publication, particularly advertising. Records include weekly reports from People Publisher Dick Durrell to Group Vice President in charge of Magazine Publishing Art Keylor regarding activities in editorial, circulation, advertising, promotion and publicity.

General Administrative Files contains records regarding activities and duties not specifically related to the Magazine Development Group (MDG) including Hale's expense reports that predate the MDG and memoranda sent out by Time Inc. corporate to all staff at Time Inc.

Magazine Development Administrative Files document administrative activities and decisions of the Magazine Development Group (MDG) including registering the copyright for the magazines handled by the MDG; questions about translated articles from Money in the Japanese President magazine; creation of the Letters Department within the MDG; strategic planning for the MDG; and weekly reports on the activities of the MDG sent to Group Vice President in charge of Magazine Publication Arthur Keylor and later to MDG Director Garry Valk.

Restricted material include agreements or contracts with Time Inc. as a party.

Letters Department includes letters sent in by readers of People magazine during its first year of publication requesting prints of photographs, questions about celebrity trivia, and containing letters to forward on to people featured in the articles. Time Inc. declined to forward any letters.

Life Special Reports contains records on the business decisions and publication of these biannually published issues. Records discuss cover testing, pricing, production, distribution, advertising sales, publicity packets of news collected by Corporate Public Affairs including television and radio appearance transcripts; and itemizations of spending.

Restricted material includes staff payments with personally identifying information.

Includes Paul Hale's files on Money from when he was Money Business Manager and the Magazine Development Group Business Manager.

Includes Paul Hale's files on People, primarily focused on strategic planning.

Hale, along with Stephen LaRue and Mary Davis, has the majority of records on the women's magazine including his copies of memoranda to and from editorial. Woman is how his records usually refer to the women's magazine since this is the title the MDG ultimately wanted to use. Later materials use this as a working title. Earlier records call it the woman's magazine, the women's magazine, Project "X" or "W".

The business side worked extensively on the women's magazine beginning in mid-1976 on determining the ideal dummy size, trademark research, costs, and possible revenues. The file on background contains a copy of the 1975 prospectus written by Otto Fuerbringer who initially led editorial with assistance from Patricia Ryan. The file on editorial discusses focus group results. Research and Studies contain additional focus group results along with Ryan's and Kelso Sutton's thoughts on the idea of a women's magazine. Final Work files at the end contain more comments on the dummies from staff and focus group. In early 1978 when the MDG closed, work on the women's magazine was still underway.

Restricted material includes agreements or contracts with Time Inc. as a party.

Marshall Loeb's office files contain his work heading the editorial side of the department. His files contain some material passed down by his predecessor David Maness possibly for reference purposes. The file on background about the group includes general information that Loeb would need to take over the role including the status of projects, staff assigned, and ideas submitted. His other files contains information on magazine proposals, specifics on the contents of magazines in development, and dicussion about publication schedules.

Some of his Magazine Development Group files were included with his Corporate Editorial files since he held these positions at the same time.

Slides are in carousels and include page layouts or images of pages of dummies for magazines under development.

Carbon Files includes the editorial production files created while designing and writing the Picture Week dummy issues. Time Inc. publications created a carbon file for every article comprising all the collected research.

These carbon files include drafts of articles, page layouts, and cables from reporters that look intended for other Time Inc. magazines. Records are mainly from the Picture Week chief of reporters Marta Dorion, but other records come from deputy chief of reporters Joan Feeney, assistant managing editor Richard Burgheim, senior editor Steve Robinson, reporter/researchers Cinda Siler and Susan Yanella, and writers Louise Lague and David Hiltbrand.

Some files have close or publication dates from before the first known dummy printed on May 13, 1985, and the work may have been held for later use. Reporting records for the final issue are in Marshall Loeb's files.

Dummies and Test Run Issues contain four different paste ups created prior to full production of the dummies, dummies from four dates of publication, and issues from two separate test runs. The dummies and test run issues show several cover design variations and logos with a major logo revision from the first test run to the second along with a price drop. Dummy dated June 17, 1985 has four different cover designs. Additional cover and logo designs are in the Art Department Graphic Development Files.