The American Magazine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The American Magazine

John E. Sheridan (1880–1948) illustration of Joseph Cotten (September 1931)
First issue	June 1906 (1906-June)
Final issue	August 1956
Country	United States
Language	English
ISSN	2155-7225

The American Magazine was a popular magazine that started in June 1906. It grew out of earlier magazines like Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. The magazine was published for many years, until August 1956.

Magazine History

The magazine had a few different names before it became The American Magazine. It started as Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly in 1876. Then it changed to Leslie's Monthly Magazine in 1904, and Leslie's Magazine in 1905. From September 1905 to May 1906, it was called the American Illustrated Magazine. Finally, it became The American Magazine and kept that name until it stopped publishing in 1956. The magazine always kept its numbering system, so you could see how many issues had been printed.

In June 1906, some famous journalists helped create The American Magazine. These journalists included Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and Ida Tarbell. They were known for investigating important issues, a style called "muckraking."

The magazine's first editor was John Sanborn Phillips. He was the editor until 1915. Under his leadership, the magazine started to focus more on stories about people's lives, social topics, and fiction. It was first published by Phillips Publishing Company in Springfield, Ohio. Later, in 1911, Crowell Publishing Company took over. The American Magazine was published by Crowell-Collier until it closed down in 1956.

Editors and Growth

After 1915, John M. Siddall became the editor (1915–1923). He helped the magazine become much more popular, especially with women readers. In September 1917, the magazine proudly announced that its number of readers had doubled in just 20 months! By September 1922, it had an amazing 1.8 million readers.

Merle Crowell was the editor from 1923 to 1929. Then, Sumner Blossom took over. Blossom had been the editor of Popular Science. He stayed with The American Magazine for its last 27 years.

The magazine was famous for its exciting serial stories and short stories. Many stories published in The American Magazine even won O. Henry Awards, which are special prizes for short stories. Many well-known writers also wrote articles on different topics for the magazine.

Sumner Blossom had a unique rule for choosing fiction stories. He would hide the author's name from the staff until they decided if they wanted to publish the story. This way, new writers had a fair chance, and stories were chosen only for how good they were.

The very last issue of The American Magazine came out in August 1956.

Featured Stories

In 1934, The American Magazine published a story called "Uncle Sam Grows Younger." This story praised a young man named Alger Hiss. It said he was a key person in a plan to buy a lot of food to help people who didn't have jobs. The article mentioned he worked very hard.

Famous Writers and Contributors

Many famous people wrote for The American Magazine. Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: The American Magazine para niños