The Improbable First Century of Cosmopolitan Magazine

7. Transition

211 An End At age eighty-two, William Randolph Hearst was eager to resume authority for his newspapers and magazines in the closing months of World War II.A robust wartime economy had revived most remnant publications (eleven newspapers had closed,merged,or were sold),his businesses were creditworthy again, and his goal was to restore luster to his favorite publication. “I would like to see Cosmopolitan a very great quality magazine,”Hearst informed his nominal subordinate Richard Berlin by letter from San Simeon.“I think we should have all the best stories, no matter what we have to pay for them. Of course we must have wonderful illustration, because appearance is so important and the general impression of quality is conveyed largely by the illustration. I would like to recommend more full color picture pages, to give a sumptuous look to the publication.”1 These were ideas, not directives. Berlin was president of Hearst Corporation , a position attained by virtue of financial acumen and managerial toughness . He had reshaped the corporation to stave off bankruptcy, negotiated with creditors and lenders, arranged substantial loans to forestall a shutdown in operations when suppliers of paper would not extend credit further, and otherwise proved a capable leader. Subordinate executives met corporate profit goals or else he fired them—the opposite of Hearst’s hesitancy to fire people whose intelligence or personality he admired or liked. Berlin judged a person on performance . Neither was Berlin a sentimentalist; he regarded the bottom line as inviolate and decided the fate of a publication based on its profit potential. Hearst, during his banishment from corporate leadership, had protested to no avail Berlin’s predilection for “liquidation” and cost-cutting. “We have got to promote liberally and intelligently, and we have got to provide something to promote—something notable in fiction and in features,” he urged Berlin.2 T r a n s i t i o n 7 212 The Improbable First Century of Cosmopolitan Magazine Hearst now hoped to revive the magazine’s reputation, which was very popular despite its mediocre editorial quality. During the eight-year exile creditors and lenders imposed on him, Hearst had never stopped reviewing each issue. He had closely critiqued the content and style of HI-Cosmopolitan. His descriptive details of specific items suggested that he spent many hours at San Simeon reading his favorite magazine. Letters and telegrams to Berlin identified illustrations Hearst disliked and liked, articles he thought were overlong or not long enough, authors and writers he admired, and cover designs he enjoyed . (“I do not like the illustration of page 28. It seems rather crude.” “I do not like the Dixon articles. They seem too much like Sunday paper stuff.”“I do not think we do so well with pages 24 and 25, where even two colors are used to very poor effect.”) “These are just impressions as I turn the pages of Cosmopolitan,” Hearst wrote to Berlin during summer 1945.“Perhaps you will find some of them useful .” His signature by then was a thin, shaky scrawl.3 Berlin usually did not respond to specific comments from Hearst. He humored the old man by acknowledging remarks on relatively minor topics, such as selection of photographs and length of articles. If a Hearst critique faulted an editor’s judgment, Berlin would agree to a reprimand; it was a management style for which Berlin was known and a reason why successors to Ray Long never had similar autonomy. Berlin dictated editorial policy along with business policy. A Town & Country editor had argued with Berlin about the magazine ’s editorial format—the editor preferred classy literary pieces and artistic page design; Berlin wanted “decorative pages with color plates of sumptuous homes.”When the editor resigned in April 1947, Berlin explained to Hearst that the editor did not “conform with our ideas.” Hearst scrawled a note on the letter , which was his reply by telegram,“I am delighted that you have accepted Mr. Bull’s resignation.”4 Hearst complained by telegram in summer 1947 about a cover.“I don’t blame the artist for the Greer Garson cover as much as I do the editors of Cosmopolitan ,” he stated. “They put the Cosmopolitan, the leading high-class magazine of the Nation, in the cheap movie magazine class—and used the picture of a passé actress at that.”Berlin’s reply telegram concurred:“I feel exactly as you do and have already told the editors. There will not be a...