20150913

McCALL'S

On the 4th of July in 1976, Americans celebrated 200 years of independence. Four months earlier, on March 21 1976, the pilot movie, 'Charlie's Angels' went on air. Kate Jackson made the observation, "When used properly, TV can be the most powerful medium in the world . . . People seem to think that the logical progression is from television to movies. But they don't realize the exposure is greater on television." 

'Charlie's Angels' reportedly embarrassed its competition at the time by winning a monster 48% share of the audience (48 of every 100 viewers watching TV at the time 'Charlie's Angels' was on were watching 'Charlie's Angels'). Leonard Golberg remembered, "('Charlie's Angels') got like a 48 share and Aaron (Spelling) and I looked at each other and we said, 'There's something here!' and the network couldn't believe it either. I mean it was a giant rating." 

Director Allen Baron observed, "It was the right thing at the right time and it was just luck out." Fred Silverman added, "'Seinfeld' which was the biggest hit of the decade, you know, the '90s, averaged about a 31, 32 share. ('Charlie's Angels') got a 55." Leonard concluded, "I think, for whatever reason, when 'Charlie’s Angels' came along, it hit a nerve with women in the audience - women of all ages. And the guys didn't mind looking at them either. It seemed to become part of the fabric of our society. Nothing we envisioned when we first started the show." 

On reflection, "We didn't set out to change the world. What we had in mind was a 33 share basically. That's all we had in mind." 'Charlie's Angels' eventually became a pop cultural phenomenon and a TV cult classic and Farrah Fawcett became a cultural icon. Of its popularity, Jaclyn Smith recalled, "It was hard to realize that 'Charlie's Angels' was a success because we were working such long hours and on the first interview people would ask, 'What is it like? What is it like to have the show so popular?' and I really didn't realize it." 

In April 1976, 'McCall's' magazine, launched in 1876, celebrated its centennial with a 304-page anniversary issue. At the time, 'McCall's' had a circulation of 6.8 million. Editor Robert Stein expressed, "I think we're responding to something the readers need. We went through the '60s, the war, the women's movement and the sexual revolution. I think we are now (in 1976) in a sorting out period. Up to now (1976) it's always been the question of presenting the newest panacea – whether it's a diet or a philosophy – and I think readers are being so assaulted with the hottest panacea that the most useful thing we can do is to sort it out. Now (in 1976), we're practicing all kinds of journalism and we're trying to ask the questions that are on our readers' minds." 

Mass magazines catered to 80% of the working women (or nearly 90 million American women of working age). In 1982, over 44 million women every month bought the "7 sisters" – 'McCall's', 'Better Homes and Gardens', 'Family Circle', 'Woman's Day', 'The Ladies' Home Journal', 'Redbook' and 'Good Housekeeping' (circulation in 1982, almost 5.5 million). Of 'Cosmopolitan' magazine (launched in 1886, with circulation of 2.8 million in 1982), editor Helen Gurley Brown made the comment, "There are 13 million of us (women) for every 11 million men between the ages of 24 and 49. And if you know how many are homosexual or alcoholic, you see there just aren't enough to go around. I'm terribly man-oriented, I devoutly believe you need one or more in your life." 

Helen was 68 years old in 1990 when 'Cosmopolitan' celebrated Helen's silver jubilee (or 25th anniversary) as the magazine's editor in chief. Helen told Catherine Crocker of the Associated Press, "The magazine was for and still is for a woman who loves men, loves children, is very female, loves sex. But she doesn't want to live through other people. The format (sex, male-female relationships, Helen's 'deadly sins' (anger, greed, hate, fear and jealousy), careers and health) is so sound and solid that there is really no reason to change it." 

'McCall's' had proven that the tried and true methods or the traditional formulas to attract readers were cooking recipes, fashion, tips to gain thinner thighs, quizzes, stories on celebrities. "Women don't read us for entertainment or for theory, but for the information they need. If women's anxieties are there, shouldn't their magazines try to help? We're not creating the anxieties. We're reacting to them," Robert Stein reasoned.  

'Savvy' magazine was launched in 1980 and was catered to the "new woman" (or those 20% career women). Editor Wendy Reid was determined 'Savvy' would not go on sale in the drugstore rack because "we don’t have a mass message. I can't imagine putting on a buffet for that many people. That's macaroni salad and fried chicken. What we're trying here is a little nouvelle cuisine. You can't poach filet of sole with raspberry sauce for 8 million women." 

'Ms.' was launched in 1972 with circulation under 500,000 a month in 1982. Publisher Patricia Carbinq insisted, "What we wanted to do, when 'Ms.' began, was talk about women's real lives. If the traditional media had reported on issues affecting women in a serious way in the '60s and '70s, 'Ms.' wouldn't have been needed. But the traditional economic framework for women's magazines has resulted in a format that doesn't vary very much. We would like more readers, and we could have them, as Gloria Steinem always said, if we put out a feminist 'True Confessions'. But we're a magazine for people who like to read serious things. Compared against magazines like us – 'The New Yorker', 'Harper's', and 'The Atlantic' which all have 300,000 to 600,000 circulation – we're not doing badly." 

In September 1968, 'McCall's' outbid 7 major New York publishing houses including Doubleday for the magazine and book rights to the former Attorney General Robert F Kennedy's 90-page, 25,000-word memoir on the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Theodore Sorensen sold the rights for $1 million. At $40 a word, it was "the largest ever paid for such material" at the time. 

The manuscript was commissioned by the 'New York Times' for $500 in 1967 to commemorate its 5th anniversary. 'McCall's' published the article on Sunday October 20 1968, the day Jackie Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis. Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillian and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara wrote the preface. 

In the article on 'McCall's' magazine, Bobby wrote, "Was the world on the brink of a holocaust? Was it our error? A mistake? Was there something further that should have been done? Or not done? His (Jack Kennedy) hand went up to his face and covered his mouth. He opened and closed his fist. His face seemed drawn, his eyes pained, almost gray. We stared at each other across the table. For a few fleeting seconds, it was almost as though no one else was there and he was no longer the President." 

'McCall's' continued: On October 20 1962, Jack Kennedy decided for a naval blockade instead of an air strike. Nikita Khrushchev then wrote a letter to Jack Kennedy offering to withdraw the missiles if the U.S. would agree to remove its missiles from Turkey in exchange. Bobby said the offer was rejected. Jack was said "not sanguine about the results . . . Each hour the situation grew steadily more serious. The feeling grew that this cup was not going to pass and that a direct military confrontation between the two great nuclear powers was inevitable."

In the end, Bobby believed war was averted because Jack made it firmly clear to Russia that the United States would not tolerate an offensive missile base in Cuba, while at the same time refusing to push Russia to the extent that her own vital security was affected. "If anybody is around to write after this," Jack had said, "they are going to understand that we made every effort to find peace and every effort to give our adversaries room to move. I am not going to push the Russians an inch beyond what is necessary."

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