Benjamin Franklin founded 'The Pennsylvania Gazette' in 1728, some 47 years before the start of the American Revolution (1775-1783). In 1821, the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia bought 'The Pennsylvania Gazette' and renamed the publication, 'The Saturday Evening Post'. At the time, James Monroe was the President of the United States (1817-1825). 'The Saturday Evening Post' had been described as the "quintessentially American magazine" and a "U.S. national institution". At its peak in 1960, 'The Saturday Evening Post' had a circulation of 6.4 million. However by 2009, there were only 350,000 readers remaining.
Maureen Mercho told the Associated Press in 2009, "The thing the 'Post' has done well over the years is interpret America for America. America is going through seismic changes, and we want to make sure the 'Post' keeps up with what is going on." Joan SerVaas added, "I think the key is keeping your hand on the pulse of what Americans are interested in. We're just trying to make sure we stay on that pulse."
After the first season of 'Charlie's Angels' had ended in May 1977, a poll was conducted. Of the "thousands of high school girls" surveyed, Farrah Fawcett was voted "the woman they would most like to become." On reflection, Farrah told Mary Alice Sharpe of 'The Saturday Evening Post', "Sex symbol? I thought symbols were something you clanged together when you wanted to make a loud noise. People want to see me in a certain way. I understand that. Still, I think deep down every actress would like to do a role where she doesn't wear make-up, where she is accepted on her acting alone . . . I think I can become an actress. Television initiates you into the discipline of being an actress. You have to memorize lines, you have to get up for roles, you must work with other people, you learn to listen to a director, how to be on stage with another actor without being a dead blob and without trying to steal the scene."
Back in 1974, Dr Cory SerVaas told the Christian Science Monitor, "We appeal to a number of specialized groups. They are people who appreciate a family magazine with no material that will offend anyone. We think we're patriotic. We stress what's good about America, and we're filling a need there." At the start of the 3rd season of 'Dynasty' (in November 1982), 'The Saturday Evening Post' spoke to Linda Evans, who had just turned 40. Linda told the 'Post', "I believe God is in my life, all day, every day . . . There is no way to turn him off and on.
"As I grew older, I began to seek my own way of honoring God in my life. I myself don't believe you have to have a talk with God. How you walk through life is how you honor God. I began to look into all religions - meditation, Eastern religions, all of them. I wanted an idea of what everybody did when they prayed." In 1973, Linda's then husband John Derek went to Greece to make a film with his future wife Bo Derek. Linda recounted, "There are times in your life when something happens to you you can't understand. You live the golden rule, you feel you are a good person, and something terribly painful happens. It forces you to turn inward. I am sure it was my faith that sustained me when my first marriage broke up. Something like that forces you to turn inward, like a serious illness.
"Faith gives you the strength to deal with the important things in life. Lots of people like to blame God for the bad things that happen to them. I have never felt that way, and that is now how I perceive things. That is when you have to have faith. The break-up of my marriage sent me in all kinds of good areas. I still have a friendship with John Derek, and I have a life that is quite extraordinary and which I might never have had if the marriage had lasted. In retrospect, the end of my marriage was the perfect time."
"Faith gives you the strength to deal with the important things in life. Lots of people like to blame God for the bad things that happen to them. I have never felt that way, and that is now how I perceive things. That is when you have to have faith. The break-up of my marriage sent me in all kinds of good areas. I still have a friendship with John Derek, and I have a life that is quite extraordinary and which I might never have had if the marriage had lasted. In retrospect, the end of my marriage was the perfect time."
Lena Williams of the 'New York Times' reported in 1988, "A study by the American Library Association found that regular library users tend to be 'information seekers', reading books and magazines to satisfy specific interests.
The changes in American reading habits are having a visible impact on the newspaper industry as well. Newspapers are using more graphics, illustrations and color, and nearly all of the nation's 1,600 papers now (in 1988) contain special sections covering a broad range of fields from health to home."
A book editor exclaimed, "I didn't even know the magazine was still around," when 'The Saturday Evening Post' was mentioned in 2013. The magazine editorial director Steven Slon acknowledged as he spoke to the 'Observer', "Our No. 1 challenge is 'I thought you were out of business'. If you're not a subscriber, you don't know it exists." Norman Rockwell's paintings had featured on 322 covers of 'The Saturday Evening Post'. At Sotheby's in December 2013, the "Saying Grace" (showing "a boy and an elderly woman bowing their heads in prayer at a diner" which appeared on the cover of the 'Post' in November 1951), was sold for over $46 million in what described as "a tense 9½-minute bidding" between American art dealers and collectors. It was "the most ever paid at auction for his work".
Emilio Castelar made the observation in 1891, "Society, like nature, devours everything that it does not need. The death of William I, the Caesar; the death of Roon, the organizer; the death of Moltke, the strategist, all say to him that the species of men to which he belongs is fading out and becoming extinct. Modern science teaches that extinct species do not re-appear. Bossuet would say that the Eternal has destroyed the instrument of His providential work, because it is already useless. Remain, then, Bismarck, in retirement, and await, without neurotic impatience, the final judgement of God and of history." At the time Emilio Castelar wrote a 10-page article on "Bismarck in the German parliament" in 'The Arena' publication.
