Munsey's Magazine
Munsey's Weekly, later known as Munsey's Magazine, was a 36-page quarto American magazine founded by Frank A. Munsey in 1889 and edited by John Kendrick Bangs. Frank Munsey aimed to publish "a magazine of the people and for the people, with pictures and art and good cheer and human interest throughout". Soon after its inception, the magazine was selling 40,000 copies a week. In 1891, "Munsey's Weekly" adopted a monthly schedule and was renamed "Munsey's Magazine". In October 1893, Munsey reduced the price of the magazine from 25 cents to 10 cents , which was greatly successful. By 1895, the magazine had a circulation of 500,000 a month. It included numerous illustrations (including many by the illustrator Charles Howard Johnson) and was attacked for its "half-dressed women and undressed statuary". Some outlets refused to stock the magazine as a result, but circulation continued to grow and by 1897 had reached 700,000 per month. Circulation began to fall in 1906 and by the 1920s was down to 60,000. In October 1929, "Munsey's" was merged with "Argosy". It immediately thereafter demerged with "Argosy All-Story" to form "All-Story", which continued on a  monthly schedule under a variety of similar titles until May 1955. Contributors. Elisabeth Sanxay Holding's stories were published in Munsey's throughout 1920-1928. Charles M. Relyea was among the illustrators whose work appeared in "Munsey's". Tod Robbins' short story "Spurs" was published by "Munsey's" in 1923. It was loosely adapted into the film "Freaks" (1932). Mazo de la Roche, the author of the popular Jalna series, had her first story published in 1902 in "Munsey's Magazine". Robert William Service published the poem "Unforgotten" (also called "Apart and yet Together") in December 1903. Eldred Kurtz Means 's story "At the End of the Rope" contains the earliest known usage of the saying: If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all. Back issues. Full-text on-line versions available via Google Books (last accessed 2012-01-02):