Family Circle

For the related Australian magazine of the same name, see Pacific Magazines. For the British magazine, see Family Circle (UK magazine). For the comic strip originally called The Family Circle, see The Family Circus. For the 1957 Canadian documentary series, see The Family Circle. For the TV episode, see Family Circle (House). For the 1932 novel Cercle de famille, (The Family Circle), see André Maurois.

Family Circle
October 1, 2009 cover
Editor-in-chiefCheryl Brown
CategoriesHome economics, women's interest
Frequency12 per year
PublisherMeredith
Total circulation
(2011)		3,816,958[1]
First issue1932; 92 years ago (1932)
Final issueDecember 2019 (2019-12)
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City[2]
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.familycircle.com
ISSN0014-7206

Family Circle was an American women's magazine that covered topics such as homemaking, recipes and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019.[3] Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the "Seven Sisters," a group of seven traditional female-oriented magazines centered on household issues, along with Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Woman's Day and Redbook.[4]

History

Family Circle was first published in 1932. It was initially distributed for free at Piggly Wiggly supermarkets until it was offered as a freestanding publication in 1946.[5]

Cowles Magazines and Broadcasting bought the magazine in 1962. The New York Times Company bought the magazine for its women's magazine division in 1971. The division was sold to Gruner + Jahr in 1994. When Gruner + Jahr decided to exit the American magazine market in 2005, the magazine was sold to the Meredith Corporation.

From 1973 to 2015, Family Circle was the title sponsor of the Family Circle Cup (Charleston Open) women's professional tennis tournament on the WTA Tour, which was held at its namesake Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, South Carolina starting in 2001. At the time when the sponsorship ended, Family Circle was the longest-running title sponsor in professional tennis.[6][7] Between 1992 and 2020, the magazine also ran the First Lady Bake-Off for the spouses of incumbent or running presidential candidates; the results successfully predicted the presidential winner in five of the seven election cycles since its founding.[8]

In November 2009, Family Circle launched a social network called Momster.com for mothers of tweens and teens.[9]

In October 2019, Meredith Corporation announced that Family Circle would cease publication with the December 2019 issue. The publisher reported that the magazine had 13 million readers, more than one million followers on social media and a circulation of four million. As part of the closure, about 25 Family Circle staffers were released from employment and others were reassigned at other Meredith publications.[3]

Editors

  • Harry Evans (1932–1936)
  • Robert Endicott (1936–1954)
  • Robert Jones (1955–1965)
  • Arthur Hettich (1965–1985)
  • Gay Bryant (1985–1986)
  • Arthur Hettich (1986–1988)
  • Jacqueline Leo (1988–1994)
  • Susan Kelliher Ungaro (1994–2006)
  • Linda Fears (2006–2017)
  • Cheryl Brown (2017–2019)

References

  1. ^ "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Audit Bureau of Circulations. June 30, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  2. ^ Dave Eisenstadter (May 28, 2015). "Family Fun magazine leaving Northampton; jobs moving to New York City". GazetteNet. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Kerry Flynn. "Family Circle magazine to shut down after December issue". CNN Business. CNN. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  4. ^ Kuczynski, Alex (February 28, 2000). "Old-Line Women's Magazines Turn to Sex to Spice Up Their Sales". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "History of publishing - Women's magazines in the United States". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  6. ^ Gene Sapakoff (August 30, 2015). "Tourney to take a ride with Volvo Tennis cup's new sponsor might help draw big names". The Post and Courier.
  7. ^ Ashley Heffernan (September 1, 2015). "Family Circle Cup tennis tournament renamed to Volvo Cars Open". Columbia Regional Business Report. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  8. ^ Kate Bennett. "Political tradition crumbles as the first lady cookie competition ends". CNN. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  9. ^ "Momster.com". Archived from the original on May 18, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2010.

Further reading