Good Stories Magazine, Volume XXVIII, No. 5, August, 1911

Augusta, Maine: The Vickery & Hill Publishing Company, 1911. Newspaper. VG. Soft cover. Elephant Folio. Light gauge paper, pictorial printed wraps, sized about 11 x 15 1/2 inches, profusely illustrated including an abundance of advertisements. Overall a clean, bright copy with light toning around edges, and a 1 x 1.5 inch piece missing near top of front wrap. Contributors include Tom Gallon (The Buying Of Barbara Angel, complete), W. T. Fernandez (Stay-Eyes, complete), Mrs. Helen Combes (Honeymoon Cottage, complete), Captain Frank H. Shaw (Bluebeard's Chamber, part I of II), L. G. Moberly (Christina, chapters VII - VII), Ellen Leys (The Wiles Of A Woman, chapters XVIII - XIX), and St. George Rathborne (Carried By Storm, chapters XIX - XX). From 1869 - 1942, over 70 years, Augusta, Maine was America's mail - order magazine publishing capital with some seventeen titles published there and circulation at its height reaching an estimated three million copies. Magazines were mailed to subscribers nation - wide, and the sheer volume of sales led to the opening of a new post office in January, 1890. The major publications targeted women, particularly women in rural areas, but some also included articles and stories of interest to men and children. Farm and literary magazines were other types published in Augusta. The primary focus for the majority of the magazines was family and home life, and content included down - home advice on family life, decorating, business (raising chickens, for example), personal care, health, fashion, and the latest trends. Reading material included poetry, romantic fiction, short stories, and editorials, but most prominently the magazines offered opportunity (and encouragement) for women to buy the various and sundry items advertised. Contests and competitions were part of the allure, and subscription rates were very cheap (and often not even collected) as the magazines were supported well by the advertisements. The major publishers, E. C. Allen, P. O. Vickery and John F. Hill (who later became Governor of Maine), and William H. Gannett all became very wealthy. Publications included Good Stories, Happy Hours, Hearth and Home, American Woman, Needlecraft, and Farm World, all by Vickery - Hill Publishing Company, Comfort, by Gannett, which was the most successful of the magazines, Fireside Magazine, Peoples Illustrated Journal, the Illustrated Family Herald, Thrifty Farmer, Farming World, National Farmer, Golden Moments, Sunshine, Daughters Of America, and Practical Housekeeper, all by Allen, and later Gannett who took over Allen's publications in 1891. Some of the magazines including the present number were oversized, newpaper - style, and printed in quadruple columns, on cheap paper that did not hold up over time and use, thus, copies are relatively scarce, especially the early issues. Worldcat / OCLC locates only 5 repositories. See Zuckerman, A History Of Popular Women's Magazines In The United States, 1792 - 1995..