Little One, Big Ones

The New York Woman, a 15-c- weekly for metropolitan women, with a smart colored photographic front & back cover, suspended publication last week after eight rocky months in business. At one time it exceeded 100,000 readers. President William E. Wheeler, a high-powered Manhattan adman, thought he had found new support when suddenly the New York State Bureau of Securities descended on him for permitting the sale of New York Woman stock within two weeks of the magazine's coma. Publisher Wheeler, who had asked permission to reorganize under Section 776 of the National Bankruptcy Act, indignantly maintained that his prospectus had told all, prepared to fight the State's charge in court.

While New York Woman hovered between life and death, life went on in the magazine publishing business. Taking their chances of survival, three big magazines and a little one were bassinetted on the newsstands.

Photo-History has a novel idea behind it. Editor-Publisher Richard Storrs Childs, a socialite young Yaleman, intends to devote 68 LIFE-sized pages each quarter to a thorough pictorial takeout of one current subject. Photo-History: I devoted itself to the Spanish Civil War. On its cover a squad of male & female Government Milicianos bang away across a valley of olive trees at their Rightist foes. Inside, the bloody story of the long, internecine struggle is graphically set forth in a series of montages of news-photographs, newspaper headlines, charts and maps. At 35-c-, 100,000 copies of Photo-History: I were gobbled up in a week. Forthcoming issues of Editor Storrs's quarterly will consider venereal diseases, dictators.

Foto looks like Look.* Dell Publishing Co.'s feeler into the picture magazine field, Foto is billed as "the Candid Camera Magazine," launched as a 10-c- bimonthly. If successful, it will supplement Dell's lucrative Modern Screen, Radio Stars and Ballyhoo. Editor West F. Peterson, out of Illinois via the University of Wisconsin and its Daily Cardinal, ordered a press run of 400,000 for Foto's, first appearance. Readers got 66 pages in rotogravure of photographs intended to raise the reader's hair, hackles or eyebrows. Most appalling shot: the corpse of a New York sneak-thief who garroted himself when he stumbled and was caught by the neck in a trap door.

Pic. Like Dell, the old woodpulp publishing firm of Street & Smith keeps a weather eye cocked for new fields to enter. Street & Smith's new picture magazine is a large rotogravure publication exclusively devoted to sport. Launched as a monthly for a dime, Pic offers twelve issues for a dollar, presents action shots of current stars like Joe Di Maggio, Joe Louis, Jim Braddock, oldtimers like Annette Kellerman and Hans ("Honus"') Wagner. Idea of Pic came from its business manager, young A. Lawrence Holmes, Princetonian son of S. & S.'s Vice President Artemas Holmes.

Stag. Publisher of Stag, "A Magazine for Men," is Philip L. Tuchman, a substantial Manhattan capitalist taking a flyer. Mr. Tuchman stoutly maintains that Stag is not an imitation of Esquire, but the cover lettering of Stag is distinctly reminiscent and its first contents-- divided between mildly scabrous cartoons and mannish text by folk like Hendrik Willem van Loon, Carleton Beals, Ernest Boyd, Jack Dempsey--were unmistakable. Stag is pocket-sized, costs 25-c-.

-Look last week announced it would henceforth appear fortnightly instead of monthly.

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