Evening star., 1950-02-08

d u uIIpct Will
Back Bay doWager.
The reason I want to go to Bos-
ton is that I want to spend some
time in the circulation depart
ment of one of Americas most
distinguished magazines, the At
lantic Monthly.
Must Be Amusing Place.
Judging from the letters which
I have received from this circula-
ton department, it must be one of
the most amusing places in this
country, filled with fey folk to
whom every day is combination
of April Fools day and Hallow-
cen. I suspect that if the staid
editorial department of the Allan
tic Monthly ever took peek at
the goings on in circulation, broad
AS and fur would fly all over
Arlington street.
have been a subscriber to the
Atlantic for heaven knows how
many years, yet scarcely a day
passes that the zanies in circula-
ton don't send me letter urging
me to subscribe. Typical is the
letter I got today, from which I'll
give you a few excerpts.
Because we have good reason
to believe that you belong among
it's many readers, we should like
to send you, free, the next two
issues of the Atlantic Monthly . :.
There would be no point in max
ing you this offer if you were just
a name and street number to
us. But we know from the source
which gave us your name you are
some one who really should enjoy
the Atlantic :"
Flattering, yes, but I don't be-
lieve a word of that source"
business. Any source" who
knows me at all we'll would know
that I take the magazine, and
source" that doesn't know me
well wouldn't be much of a Judge
of the sort of things T like to
read. I am quite sure some
gnome in the circulation depart
ment found my name on an old
pawn ticket, or got it off the
police blotter.
Typical Double Talk.
Here is more typical Atlantic
| double talk:
\ Only those people whose past
reading habits, status in the COM
manity, or known mental achieve
ments rank them " as intelligent
thinkers. are potential Atlantic
readers" - =
Hot ziggety dog!
Next thing you know the At
lantic will be comforting an hon
orary degree on me. Mind you,
all of this because I am not
known to the magazine as a sub
llscriber. So Wonder what the At
lantie does for known subscribers?
Editor Weeks probably bakes them
cakes has them up to his sum-
mer home for fishing and camp
ing, and remembers their birth
days and wedding anniversaries
with appropriate gifts.
But the offer that the Atlantic
makes to me, a subscriber, is really
what burns me up. Listen to this:
The regular established price
is SOC per copy, or $6 per year.
BY accepting our offer now you
will receive a 5-month trial sub
scription-regularly $2.50-for So
(you save 50c), plus the two free
complimentary copies Irregular
price $D."
In other words, if I were not
subscriber I could get the maga-
zine cheaper. I ask you, is that
the way to treat a faithful old
subscriber? If were an intelli-
gent thinker, as the letter would
have me believe, I'd cancel my
subscription and go along on the
free ride offered the lucky ones
who have not yet subscribed.
But I'll straighten it all out on
my vacation. That is unless the
almost daily letters have driven
me completely daffy by that time
and I am hired as the new head
Iof the circulation department.
distributed by McNaught Syndicate, Inc)