Cyrus Hermann Curtis: Icon in the Newspaper and Magazine Publication Industry

Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis was a publisher of newspapers and magazines. Some of the publications that can be attributed to him include Saturday Evening Post and Ladies’ Home Journal.

Curtis was born on June 18, 1850 in Portland, Maine. Before establishing his own weekly publication called People’s Ledger, Curtis worked with several newspaper publishers and advertising companies in Portland and Boston.

Curtis’ first wife Louisa Knapp was a regular supplement contributor to his publication Tribune and Farmer. Later, this supplement became an independent publication and was later known as Ladies Home Journal.

In 1891, Curtis established the Curtis Publishing Company, which published Curtis’ other publication Saturday Evening Post, and Ladies Home Journal. Another company named Curtis-Martin Newspapers Inc. was established by Curtis, which controlled several newspapers, including Public Ledger, Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York evening Post.

Throughout Curtis’ lifetime, his businesses were very successful. Ladies Home Journal became one of the most widely circulated magazines in the US while the Post was the most widely circulated weekly magazine in the world.