Munsey's Magazine

Munsey's Weekly, later known as Munsey's Magazine, was a 36-page quarto American magazine founded by Frank A. Munsey in 1889 and edited by John Kendrick Bangs. It is credited with being the first mass-market magazine. Frank Munsey aimed to publish "a magazine of the people and for the people, with pictures and art and good cheer and human interest throughout". Soon after its inception, the magazine was selling 40,000 copies a week. In 1891, Munsey's Weekly adopted a monthly schedule and was renamed Munsey's Magazine.

In October 1893, Munsey reduced the price of the magazine from 25 cents to 10 cents, which was greatly successful. By 1895, the magazine had a circulation of 500,000 a month. It included numerous illustrations (including many by the illustrator Charles Howard Johnson) and was attacked for its "half-dressed women and undressed statuary". Some outlets refused to stock the magazine as a result, but circulation continued to grow and by 1897 had reached 700,000 per month.

Circulation began to fall in 1906 and by the 1920s was down to 60,000. In October 1929, Munsey's was merged with Argosy. It immediately thereafter demerged with Argosy All-Story to form All-Story, which continued on a monthly schedule under a variety of similar titles until May 1955.

Charles M. Relyea was among the illustrators whose work appeared in Munsey's.

Tod Robbins' short story "Spurs" was published by Munsey's in 1923. It was loosely adapted into the film Freaks (1932).

Mazo de la Roche, the author of the popular Jalna series, had her first story published in 1902 in Munsey's Magazine.

Robert William Service published the poem "Unforgotten" (also called "Apart and yet Together") in December 1903.

Full-text on-line versions available via Google Books (last accessed 2012-01-02):

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