Time, Time & More Time...Magazine, that is!

This Day in History: March 3, 1923

Of course, we are not celebrating any specific year's volumes of magazines but the issuance of the FIRST Time magazine published on this day in 1923. It's editor, Henry R. Luce, is just out of Yale.

The first issue of Time (March 3, 1923),
featuring Speaker Joseph G. Cannon.
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org

In 1923, Briton Hadded and Henry Luce created Time magazine making it the first weekly news magazine in the United States. The first issue of Time featured on its cover Joseph G. Cannon, the retired Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The magazine set out to tell the news through people, and for many decades the magazine's cover was of a single person. 

... Briton Hadden and Henry Luce ... had previously worked together as chairman and managing editor respectively of the Yale Daily News. They first called the proposed magazine Facts. They wanted to emphasize brevity, so that a busy man could read it in an hour. They changed the name to Time and used the slogan "Take Time—It's Brief." Hadden was a rather carefree figure, who liked to tease Luce and saw Time as something important but also fun. That accounts for its tone, which many people still criticize as too light for serious news and more suited to its heavy coverage of celebrities (including politicians), the entertainment industry, and pop culture.

Time magazine has witnessed its ups and downs in circulation throughout the last decade as have most businesses. With technology leaning more and more to electronic versions, the magazine in hand as a result of newsstand sales has suffered to some degree. 

Cover for 19 March 1928 with Robert Dollar
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org

Time is also known for its signature red border, introduced in 1927. The iconic red border was homaged or satirized by Seattle's The Stranger newspaper in 2010. The border has only been changed four times since 1927. One issue released shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States featured a black border to symbolize  mourning. 

Front
Special Edition of Time Magazine
covering only the September 11, 2001 attacks.
No ads in this issue, just stories, photos of the attacks and
the effects, maps, and additional coverage.

 

Back

Time continues as an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. The magazine has broadened its horizons by publishing a European edition, an Asian edition, and South Pacific edition. In December 2008, Time discontinued publishing a Canadian advertiser edition.

Help our economy by buying a copy or purchasing a subscription to one of America's iconic magazines! Like a good book, something special about holding the magazine in hand!

Code Red | Mar. 10, 2014

Europe, Middle East and Africa
Asia
South Pacific
Editions