PM (newspaper)

New York City newspaper (1940–1948)

PMType| Daily newspaper

|

Founder(s)| Ralph Ingersoll
Founded| June 1940
Political alignment| Liberal
Ceased publication| June 1948
Headquarters| New York City
Circulation| 165,000

PM was a liberal-leaning daily newspaper published in New York City by Ralph Ingersoll from June 1940 to June 1948 and financed by Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III.

The paper borrowed many elements from weekly news magazines, such as many large photos and at first was bound with staples. In an attempt to be free of pressure from business interests, it did not accept advertising. These departures from the norms of newspaper publishing created excitement in the industry. Some 11,000 people applied for the 150 jobs available when the publication first hired staff.

## Publication history

[edit]

In 1945, Coulton Waugh employed a novel art approach on his PM strip Hank. According to Waugh, Hank was "a deliberate attempt to work in the field of social usefulness."[1]

The origin of the name is unknown, although Ingersoll recalled that it probably referred to the fact that the paper appeared post meridiem (in the afternoon);[2] The New Yorker reported that the name had been suggested by Lillian Hellman.[3] (There is no historical evidence for the suggestion that the name was an abbreviation of Picture Magazine.)

The first year of the paper was a general success, though it was already in some financial trouble: its circulation of 100,000–200,000 was insufficient. Circulation averaged 165,000, but the paper never managed to sell the 225,000 copies a day it needed to break even. Marshall Field III had become the paper's funder; quite unusually, he was a "silent partner" in this continually money-losing undertaking.[4]

According to a June 21, 1966, memo from Ingersoll:

> Before the end of the War it was actually operating in the black.... In my opinion at the time and these 20 years later−PM's death is most soundly attributable to a sustained and well-organized plot originating amongst Field's friends and associates in the business world who were alienated by Field's loyalty to PM and to me. The hostility was there from the beginning; the plot came together under the auspices of a man named Harry Cushing who was a retainer of Field's. The principal and successful offensive of this group was that it had as its objective Field's distraction from PM by persuading him to start the Sun in Chicago. Once they committed Field to the Sun venture, the end was inevitable. I can diagram it for you but merely put it on record here.[5]

PM was sold in 1948 and published its final issue on June 22. The next day it was replaced by the New York Star, which folded on January 28, 1949.[citation needed]

## Politics

[edit]

1942 World War II political cartoon by Dr. Seuss

Chronicles has accused the paper of being Communist-dominated,[6] but Anya Schiffrin has said that the paper frequently opposed the policies of the Communist Party (CP) and engaged in editorial battles with the CP's paper, the Daily Worker.[7]

In 1946, PM published some of the findings of federal investigator O. John Rogge into the inter-relationship during the 1930s and war years of authoritarian beliefs, armed militia groups, antisemitism and collusion between elected U.S. politicians and the German Nazi propaganda mill. Rogge had little success publishing his information elsewhere for many years.[8]

## Staff

[edit]

### Editors

[edit]

Leo Huberman was labor editor.[citation needed]

### Writers

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I. F. Stone was the paper's Washington correspondent. He published an award-winning series on European Jewish refugees attempting to run the British blockade to reach Palestine (later collected and published as Underground to Palestine). Staffers included theater critic Louis Kronenberger and film critic Cecelia Ager. Kenneth G. Crawford wrote for PM from 1939 to 1942.

The sports writers were Tom Meany, Tom O’Reilly and George F. T. Ryall, who covered horse racing. Sophie Smoliar was the New York City reporter working frequently with photographer Arthur Felig ("Weegee") (submitted by her son and a collection of her original articles). Elizabeth Hawes wrote about fashion, and her sister Charlotte Adams covered food.[4][9]

### Contributors

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Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, published more than 400 cartoons on PM's editorial page.[9][10] Crockett Johnson's comic strip Barnaby debuted in the paper in 1942. Other artists who worked at PM included Ad Reinhardt, one of the founders of Abstract Expressionism, and Joseph Leboit; both contributed margin cartoons and drawings. Noted artist Jack Coggins contributed wartime artwork for at least nine issues between 1940 and 1942.[11]

Coulton Waugh created his short-lived strip, Hank, which began April 30, 1945, in PM. The story of a disabled G.I. returning to civilian life, Hank had a unique look due to Waugh's decorative art style, combined with dialogue lettered in upper and lower case rather than the accepted convention of all uppercase lettering in balloons and captions. Some dialogue was displayed with white lettering reversed into black balloons. Hank sought to raise questions about the reasons for war, and how it might be prevented by the next generation. Waugh discontinued it at the very end of 1945 because of eyestrain.[1] Cartoonist Jack Sparling created the short-lived comic strip Claire Voyant, which ran from 1943 to 1948 in PM, and which was subsequently syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times. Cartoonist Howard Sparber (né Howard Paul Sparber; 1921–2018) contributed after World War II. The Argentine Cartoonist Dante Quinterno publishes: Patoruzú his successful strip in South America.[citation needed]

Other writers who contributed articles included Erskine Caldwell, Myril Axlerod, McGeorge Bundy, Saul K. Padover, James Wechsler, eventually the paper's editorial writer, Penn Kimball, later a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Myril Axelrod Bennett, Heywood Hale Broun, James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene Lyons, Earl Conrad, Benjamin Stolberg, Louis Adamic, Malcolm Cowley,[4] Tip O'Neill (later Speaker of the House;[9] and Ben Hecht.[4]

### Photographers

[edit]

Weegee, Margaret Bourke-White, Ray Platnick and Arthur Leipzig were the primary photographers.

* Julius "Skippy" Adelman (born around 1924)[12][13]
* John Albert 1910–1972)
* Bernie Aumuller (né Bernard A. Aumuller; 1920–1971), his father, Bernard George Aumuller (1895–1975) was also a photographer
* Gene Badger
* Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971)
* Hugh Broderick (né Hugh J. Broderick; 1910–1971)
* William "Bill" Brunk (Los Angeles Examiner)
* John S. DeBiase (1901–1954)[14]
* John Derry
* Stephen Derry
* David Eisendrath, Jr. (né David Benjamin Eisendrath; 1914–1988)
* Morris Engel (1918–2005)
* Alan Fisher
* Morris Gordon (1918–2005)
* Irving Haberman (né Isaac Haberman; 1916–2003)
* Martin Harris (1908–1971)
* Dan Israel
* Charles Fenno Jacobs (1904–1974)
* Dan Keleher, (né Daniel J. Keleher, Jr., 1908–1952)
* Peter Killian
* Arthur Leipzig (né Isidore Leipzig; 1918–2014)[15]
* Helen Levitt (1913–2009)
* Leo Lieb (né Morris Leo Lieb; 1909–2001)
* Ray Platnick (né Raphael Platnick; 1917–1986)
* Weegee, (pseudonym of Arthur (Usher) Fellig (1899–1968)[16]
* Mary "Morrie" Morris (né Mary Louise Morris; 1914–2009), one of the first female AP photographers and pioneer of white umbrellas used give a softer look to flash lighting and portraiture. She, in June 1937, married filmmaker Ralph Steiner. In 1963, she married classical record producer for Mercury, Harold Lawrence (né Harold Levine; 1923–2011), who, at the time, was the General Manager of the London Symphony Orchestra

### Contributing photographers

[edit]

* Robert Capa (1913–1954)
* Walker Evans (1903–1975)
* Edward Weston (1886–1958)
* Edward Steichen (1879–1973)
* Ralph Steiner (1899–1986)

### Sunday magazine section

[edit]

Picture News was the Sunday magazine section of PM.

Editor: William Thomas McCleery (1912–2000)[citation needed]
Managing editor: Herbert Yahraes (né Herbert Conrad Yahraes, Jr.; 1906–1985)[citation needed]
Associate editors: Lorimer Dexter Heywood (1899–1977), Kenneth Stewart, David Rodman Lindsay (1916–1985), Peggy Wright, Gertrude Stamm[citation needed]
Staff: Raymond Abrashkin (1911–1960), Skippy Adelman, Holly Beye (née Helen Beye; 1922–2011), W. Russell Bowie, Jr. (1920–2002) (son of Walter Russell Bowie), Mary Morris (maiden; 1914–2009), Charles Norman (1904–1996), Roger Samuel Pippett (1895–1962), Robert Rice (1916–1998), Selma Robinson (maiden; 1899–1977) (mother-in-law of Hymen B. Mintz), Dale Rooks (né Rhine Dale Rooks; 1917–1954) (photographer), Lillian E. Ross (née Lillian Rosovsky; 1918–2017)[citation needed]
Art director: H. Russell Countryman[citation needed]

## See also

[edit]

* The Day Book

## Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b Waugh, Coulton (1974) [1947]. The Comics. New York: Luna Press.
2. ^ Hoopes, Roy (1985). Ralph Ingersoll: A Biography. New York: Atheneum. p. 216\. OCLC 1088214949.
3. ^ "Notes & Comment: Newspaper". The New Yorker. May 18, 1940. pp. 13–14.
4. ^ a b c d Starr, Roger. "PM: New York's Highbrow Tabloid". City Journal. No. Summer 1993. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
5. ^ Ingersoll to Mrs. Leighner, Boston University Gottlieb Archives
6. ^ "Leave Dr. Seuss for Dead".
7. ^ Schiffrin, Anya (1984). We Are Against People who Push Other People Around: A Study of the Newspaper (B.A.). Reed College. OCLC 268862072.
8. ^ Maddow. Prequel An American Fight Against Fascism. pp. 303–304.
9. ^ a b c Nel, Philip. "About the Newspaper PM". The Crockett Johnson Homepage. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
10. ^ "Serious Seuss: Children's author as political cartoonist". CNN. October 17, 1999.
11. ^ "Jack Coggins - Newspaper PM Illustrations". January 13, 2018.
12. ^ Jazz Pix: Skippy Adelman's Pictures Have the Spontaniety That is the Very Soul of Jazz, vol. 18, Popular Photography, June 1946, p. 54
13. ^ The Hardboiled School of Photography: The Legend of Skip Adelman, PM's Picture Ace, vol. 8, Minicam Photography, April 1945, pp. 30, 33, 80, 82
14. ^ "John S. DeBiase". Daily News. May 18, 1954. p. 27C. (accessible via Newspapers.com, subscription required)
15. ^ "Interviews with ASMP Founder: Arthur Leipzig". American Society of Media Photographers. 1966. "(re: Arthur Leipzig), interview and transcript by Kay Reese & Mimi Leipzig"

ASMP staff edited the transcript for online presentation and added supplemental biographic information.

16. ^ Pelizzon, V. Penelope; West, Nancy M. (2010), "Tabloid, Inc.: Crimes, Newspapers, Narratives" (PDF), Theory and Interpretation of Narrative, Ohio State University Press, hdl:1811/44630

## General and cited references

[edit]

* Jason E. Hill (2018). Artist as Reporter: Weegee, Ad Reinhardt, and the PM News Picture. Oakland, Calif.: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29143-0.
* Paul Milkman (1997). PM: A New Deal in Journalism 1940–1948. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2434-2.

## External links

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* Fulton History newspaper archive for PM
* Morris Engel Archive
* Old Magazine Articles
* Kansas State University Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
* Dr. Seuss Went to War
* "90 años de Patoruzú: de cómo un tehuelche se convirtió en el máximo héroe de la historieta argentina". infobae (in European Spanish).

* v
* t
* e

Dr. Seuss

Characters|

* The Grinch
* Horton the Elephant
* Bartholomew Cubbins

Bibliography|

* And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
* The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
* The King's Stilts
* The Seven Lady Godivas
* Horton Hatches the Egg
* McElligot's Pool
* Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
* Bartholomew and the Oobleck
* If I Ran the Zoo
* Scrambled Eggs Super!
* Horton Hears a Who!
* On Beyond Zebra!
* If I Ran the Circus
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
* The Cat in the Hat
* The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
* Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
* Happy Birthday to You!
* One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
* Green Eggs and Ham
* The Sneetches and Other Stories
* Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book
* Dr. Seuss's ABC
* Hop on Pop
* Fox in Socks
* I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew
* I Wish That I Had Duck Feet 1
* Come over to My House 1
* The Foot Book
* I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories
* My Book about ME
* Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises!
* The Lorax
* Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!
* Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
* The Shape of Me and Other Stuff
* There's a Wocket in My Pocket!
* Great Day for Up!
* Wacky Wednesday 1
* Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
* The Cat's Quizzer
* I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
* Oh Say Can You Say?
* Hunches in Bunches
* The Butter Battle Book
* You're Only Old Once!
* I Am Not Going to Get Up Today!
* Oh, the Places You'll Go!
* Daisy-Head Mayzie 2
* My Many Colored Days 2
* Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! 2
* The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories 2
* Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories 2
* What Pet Should I Get? 2
* Horse Museum 2

Adaptations|

| Television series|

* The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show (1956–1957)
* The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss (1996–1998)
* Gerald McBoing-Boing (2005–2007)
* The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (2010–2018)
* episodes
* Green Eggs and Ham (2019–2022)

|

Television specials|

* Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
* Horton Hears a Who! (1970)
* The Cat in the Hat (1971)
* The Lorax (1972)
* Dr. Seuss on the Loose (1973)
* The Hoober-Bloob Highway (1975)
* Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977)
* Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (1980)
* The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982)
* The Butter Battle Book (1989)
* In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994)
* Daisy-Head Mayzie (1995)

Film|

* Horton Hatches the Egg (short; 1942)
* Gerald McBoing-Boing (short; 1950)
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
* The Cat in the Hat (2003)
* Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
* The Lorax (2012)
* The Grinch (2018)
* The Cat in the Hat (2026; upcoming)
* Oh, the Places You'll Go! (2028; upcoming)

Video games|

* Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler (1984)
* The Grinch
* Game Boy Color (2000)
* The Cat in the Hat (2003)
* Dr. Seuss: Green Eggs and Ham (2003)
* Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2007)
* The Grinch: Christmas Adventures (2023)

Other media|

* Welcome (Russian short film)
* Seussical (musical)
* Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
* "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (song)
* The Cat in the Hat (play)
* The Lorax (musical)
* Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! (musical)
* Dr. Seuss's ABC (musical)
* Green Eggs and Ham (musical)
* The Cat in the Hat (musical)

Other works|

* Private Snafu
* The Pocket Book of Boners
* Your Job in Germany
* Our Job in Japan
* Design for Death
* The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
* Hejji
* Society of Red Tape Cutters
* Flit

Related|

* Helen Palmer (first wife)
* A Fish Out of Water
* Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum
* Beginner Books
* Dr. Seuss Enters., L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc.
* Dr. Seuss Goes to War
* The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss
* Dr. Seuss National Memorial
* Geisel Award
* Geisel Library
* Geisel School of Medicine
* PM
* Political messages of Dr. Seuss
* Read Across America
* Seuss Landing

1 as "Theo. LeSieg". 2 Posthumous.
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