Frank Andrew Munsey (August 21, 1854 – December 22, 1925) was an American newspaper and magazine publisher, banker, political financier and author. He was born in Mercer, Maine, but spent most of his life in New York City. The village of Munsey Park, New York, is named for him, along with The Munsey Building in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, at the southeast corner of North Calvert and East Fayette Streets.
Munsey is credited with using new, high-speed printing presses, supplied with inexpensive, untrimmed, pulp paper, to mass-produce magazines at significantly reduced costs. Each issue could be priced as low as 10 cents; less than half the lowest price then charged for similar publications. Munsey's publishing presented diverse genres, preferring fictional, action-adventure storytelling. His magazines were aimed at working-class readers who could neither afford, nor expect to read about people like themselves in, the 25-cent "slick" magazines of the time.
Munsey's pulp magazine innovation spawned a new line of publishing, one in which he was well positioned to profit, and from which he did become wealthy. If one of his magazine titles was no longer profitable, Munsey would stop his presses just long enough to typeset/promote one of many titles continuously being field-tested. New titles can expand revenue or replace what has been lost when demand for an older title is much reduced.
Early life Frank Munsey was born on August 21, 1854, on a farm a couple of miles from Mercer, Maine. His father, Andrew Chauncey Munsey, was a Civil War veteran who had been born in Quebec; his mother was Mary Jane Merrit Hopkins Munsey.Britt (1972), pp. 35–36. The family moved around Maine several times: first to Gardiner, six months after he was born; then three years later to Bowdoin. They stayed in Bowdoin until 1868, then moved to Lisbon Falls, and again in about 1878 to Livermore Falls.Duffus (1924), p. 298.Lowell (1920), p. 22. Frank had three older sisters, and a younger sister and brother.
Frank worked at a grocery store in Lisbon Falls, and since the store included the local Post Office he was able to teach himself to use the telegraph. At age sixteen he moved to Portland as the telegraph operator for a hotel, and after jobs in Rye Beach, Boston and elsewhere he returned to Maine, where he was hired by Western Union in about 1877 to manage their branch office in Augusta.Britt (1972), pp. 42, 48–49. As Augusta is the state capital of Maine, Munsey had an opportunity to meet local politicians, and he made the acquaintance of James Blaine, one of Maine's senators. Augusta was also the center of a major part of the American magazine publishing industry, and among other local businessmen Munsey met Edward Charles Allen, who had founded People's Literary Companion in 1870 and become very successful in the business.Britt (1972), pp. 43–44, 52–54.
The Golden Argosy and Munsey's Magazine Munsey became determined to publish a magazine, and having saved $500 and persuaded two acquaintances to invest $3,500 ($ in ), he spent his $500 on acquiring manuscripts, and left Augusta for New York in 1882. There he discovered that the cost estimates he had made were unrealistically low. He simplified the plans for the new magazine and wrote to the main investor for the funds, but received no reply. He was forced to give up the idea of launching the magazine himself as he had only $40 in hand along with the manuscripts he had bought. He persuaded E. G. Rideout, a New York publisher, to take on the magazine, with Munsey as editor and manager. The first issue, titled The Golden Argosy, was dated December 9, 1882.Britt (1972), pp. 52–66. Rideout went bankrupt in early 1883, but Munsey was able to claim the magazine's title and subscription list in lieu of unpaid salary, and the magazine continued with Munsey as publisher.Britt (1972), pp. 66–67. In 1884 Blaine was the Republican candidate for President, and Munsey proposed to start a magazine, Munsey's Illustrated Weekly, to carry campaign news. The magazine ceased publication after the election but its apparently official nature helped Munsey get credit for paper and other supplies. Munsey later said, "That debt made me. Before, I had no credit and had to live from hand to mouth. But when I owed $8,000 my creditors didn't dare drop me. They saw their only chance of getting anything was to keep me going."Britt (1972), p. 72.
An advertising campaign in 1887 put Munsey $95,000 in debt, but made The Golden Argosy profitable, and boosted circulation to 115,000 in May of that year.Britt (1972), pp. 76–77. The improvement was temporary; Munsey later realized that magazines for children were uninteresting to advertisers as children had no buying power, and the subscriptions dropped as the children grew up.Mott (1957b), pp. 417–423.Britt (1972), pp. 78–79. He shortened the title to just The Argosy in 1888, and experimented with changing the page size and page count, but made no headway.Britt (1972), pp. 78–79. In 1889 he launched a second magazine, Munsey's Weekly,Britt (1972), pp. 80–81. and in 1891 he tried his hand at running a newspaper, taking over the Daily Continent, but giving it up after only four months.Britt (1972), pp. 80–81.Ingham (1983), p. 994. At the end of the year he converted the weekly to a monthly, titled Munsey's Magazine, priced at 20 cents, and in October 1893 he cut the price to 10 cents. He had to struggle to distribute it at this price, since the American News Company had a monopoly on magazine distribution and only offered him four cents a copy from his 164 page magazine, the same price they were paying for 32 page dime novels. Munsey decided that he could handle his own primary distribution, bypassing American News, and generate more profit in the process. By the February issue Munsey was printing 200,000 copies, and it soon became successful enough to guarantee his financial security.Britt (1972), pp. 83–87. The Argosy's circulation had dropped to 9,000 by March 1894, but jumped to 40,000 when Munsey converted it to monthly publication the following month. In 1896 he changed it to carry only fiction, and began printing it on cheap wood-pulp paper, making it the first pulp magazine.Munsey (1907), pp. 48–51.Ashley (1985), pp. 103–108. Circulation grew again, reaching 300,000 in 1902, and half a million in 1907.Munsey (1907), pp. 48–51.
By 1895, circulation of Munsey's Magazine was over half a million copies per month, reaching 700,000 by 1897. In October 1906, Munsey began publishing Railroad Man's Magazine, the first specialized pulp magazine which featured railroad-related stories and articles. This was soon followed by a similar magazine, The Ocean, which featured sea stories and articles. The Ocean debuted with a March 1907 issue. After the January 1908 issue, The Ocean's title was changed to The Live Wire and its content became more general purpose. Other Munsey pulps and magazines included Puritan, Junior Munsey, All-Story Magazine, Scrap Book, Cavalier, Railroad and Current Mechanics.
Newspapers
Once he became interested in newspapers, Munsey's visibility increased, both locally and nationally. Over a 24-year period he bought, operated and/or sold as many as 17 papers. During a period in which the total number of American newspapers was in decline, Munsey became known for merging many of his properties. Though perhaps wise financially, his mergers earned him a great deal of enmity from those who worked in the industry. He would be referred to at various times as "Executioner of Newspapers",George Garrigues, He Usually Lived With a Female: The Life of a California Newspaperman, Quail Creek Press (2006), page95n the "Dealer in Dailies" and the "Undertaker of Journalism."
Newspapers with a period of Munsey ownership: Washington Times – founded 1894 by Rep. Charles G. Conn (1844–1931) of Elkhart, Indiana; later publisher Stilson Hutchins (1838–1912), the previous founder/owner of The Washington Post, 1877–1889. Purchased by Munsey in 1901, sold to Hearst in 1917, merged with Washington Herald in 1922, as Washington Times-Herald, acquired by Eleanor Josephine Medill Patterson ("Cissy" Patterson; 1881–1948) of Medill-McCormick-Patterson publishing families in 1939, and held until her death. Merged with The Washington Post in 1954. Times-Herald name remained on Post masthead until 1973 (not related to the later The Washington Times, published since 1982 by a subsidiary of the Unification Church and Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1920–2012). New York Daily News – operated 1901–1904. Not the same Daily News founded 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson (1879–1946) of the Medill-McCormick-Patterson publishing families. The Boston Journal (1902; sold to Matthew Hale on March 10, 1913). Baltimore News-American composed of Baltimore American [Sundays], (founded 1773), sold to Hearst by Gen. Felix Agnus, owner/publisher, 1923, and The News [week-days], founded 1873, acquired February 27, 1908, from owner/editor Charles H. Grasty (who bought it in 1892, who later became co-owner/editor of competitor Baltimore Sun), The News was also sold to Hearst in 1923. Later merged with the Baltimore Post of Scripps-Howard and both merged 1964. Closed in 1986 having been published 113 years. Philadelphia Evening Times (discontinued in 1914). New York Herald – bought in 1920 along with the Paris Herald and the New York Evening Telegram, later the New York World-Telegram for four million dollars. Sold in 1924 to Ogden Mills Reid, (grandson of elder Whitelaw, son of Whitelaw Reid (journalist)) who merged it with his own New York Tribune, founded in 1841 by Horace Greeley (1811–1872). The New York Sun (historical) – purchased in 1916 and immediately merged with the "Press"; merged with the Herald in 1920 (not connected with later New York Sun published 2002–2008 by publisher Ronald Weintraub, edited by Seth Lipsky). New York Press (purchased in 1912; merged with the Sun in 1916). New York Evening Telegram, purchased the newspaper out-right in 1920, severing the newspaper from its long-time relationship with the New York Herald. The Mail The New York Globe (bought and merged with the Sun in 1923).
The sale of the Herald in 1924 left Munsey owning only two newspapers at the time of his death the following year. The Evening Telegram was sold to Scripps-Howard in 1927, two years after Munsey's death.
Novels Munsey also authored a number of novels: Afloat in a Great City (1887) The Boy Broker (1888) A Tragedy of Errors (1889) Under Fire (1890) Derringforth (1894)
Banking Munsey founded the Munsey Trust Company in 1913. It was re-organized in 1915 as The Equitable Trust Company with Munsey as chairman of the board, and became one of the city and state's dominant financial institutions into the late 20th century. It was purchased by Maryland National Bank in 1990.
Politics Munsey became directly involved in presidential politics when former president Theodore Roosevelt announced his candidacy to challenge his hand-picked successor President William Howard Taft for the 1912 Republican Party nomination for the presidency. Munsey and George W. Perkins provided the financial backing for Roosevelt's campaign leading up to the Republican National Convention in Chicago.Geoffrey Cowan, Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary (2016), pp. 77–95,