Weekly magazine known for its literary standards and sophisticated
cartoons. Started in
1925 by
Harold Ross, who dreamed of an upscale weekly humor magazine for cosmopolitan
New Yorkers. His idea caught the attention of Raoul Fleischman, heir to the Fleischman
yeast fortune, and he became a significant investor (and was either
vice president,
president,
chairman, and
publisher until
1969). With the art direction of
Rea Irvin and the literary taste of
Katharine S. White, the magazine began to catch on as a sophisticated humor magazine, even through the Depression. Early writers included wits such as
Dorothy Parker,
Robert Benchley, and
James Thurber. In
1939, with prodding from
William Shawn, the magazine began to cover serious issues, notably the
war in
Europe, and included serious
journalism in its pages. The most famous of these articles was
John Hersey's "
Hiroshima," which appeared as an entire
issue of the magazine on August 31,
1946.
For the first 66 years, it had just three editors (Ross, Shawn, and Robert Gottlieb). In 1985, Advance Publications bought the magazine, which now runs it through its Conde Nast division.