Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-03-11 | Page 4 | American Magazines

American Magazines. The average nian is bewildered Thei he goes to the newsstand for "sop-p thirg to read" by t;,e number ot isi;: z.nes of:r.rl tjore for bis chni e. Gee! 'ad and indinerent. the'.- run into tb. dozens, all with a blaze" of color unm tnc-lr covers, and c-ach sec-mi:. g to d-n.ar.d d-n.ar.d "buy me." How different it was ITS v. ;rs ago when the first American matm'zi'ie rpu.it us app, -arar.ee. There js "mt interesting inter-esting story connected with Cms publication. publi-cation. Benjamin Franklin, master of :-prosperous :-prosperous priiilne- business and neek'-. newspaper in I'hilad.-lphia coiu-.-ive.' thai the lime h :i H ,r,, .... ,.t to have a monthly literarv pubiicauo::" to he set about establishing it. News of his plan, or tile same idea came to another Philadelphia printer that same Bradford who is recognized as one of the pioneers of nu-ncun printing. In all events a race beean between be-tween Bradford a::d Franklin, and the lormer won, getting his magazine on the stweets in 17-11, just three d.ivs ahead ot brankbn's. Bradford's publication was .called The American; or a Monthly tew. Franklin named his new venture The General Magazine and Historical Clirop.l.le. The rivalry between these two magazines, maga-zines, nor their subject matter, would seem to have stirred Philadeiphians, to say nothing of other colonists; for both fell upon hard days, and Bradford's publication pub-lication suspended after three Issues. Franklin persevered for six months and then decided that Bradford was right in his estimate of the public humor, for he gave up his magazine. The publishing business was then no less precarious than now, and the editor had the same hard task of trying to discover what the public would read and buy. A glance at Franklin's publication immediately im-mediately places it in what would now be called the "heavy" class. Evidently it was weighty material for even that day. Los Angeles Tribune.