View source for Cyrus H. K. Curtis

{{short description|American magazine and newspaper publisher}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Cyrus H. K. Curtis
| image       = File:Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis circa 1918.jpg
| caption     = Curtis, {{Circa|1918}}
|birth_name=Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1850|6|18|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Portland, Maine]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1933|6|7|1850|6|18}}
| death_place = [[Wyncote, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| occupation  = [[Publisher]]
| networth    =
| spouse      = [[Louisa Knapp Curtis|Louisa Knapp]] <br />Kate Stanwood Cutter Pillsbury
| children    = [[Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist]]
| website     =
| module             =
{{Infobox designation list
| embed                   = yes
| designation1            = Pennsylvania
| designation1_offname    = Cyrus H. K. Curtis (1850–1933)
| designation1_type       = Roadside
| designation1_criteria   =
| designation1_date       = November 07, 2005<ref name="PHMC Cyrus H. K. Curtis (1850-1933)">{{cite web|title=PHMC Cyrus H. K. Curtis (1850–1933)|url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/PHMCWebSearch/ViewMarker.aspx?markerId=717|access-date=2 April 2017}}</ref>
| delisted1_date          =
| designation1_partof     =
| designation1_number     =
| designation1_free1name  = Location
| designation1_free1value = 1250 W Church Rd.(SR73), Wyncote}}
}}
'''Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis''' (June 18, 1850{{spaced ndash}}June 7, 1933) was an American publisher of magazines and newspapers, including the ''[[Ladies' Home Journal]]'' and ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''.<ref name=Ing>Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders: A-G. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1983, pp. 230–234.</ref>
==Early life and education==
Curtis was born in [[Portland, Maine]]. He was forced to leave high school after his first year to start working after his family lost their home in the [[1866 Great fire of Portland, Maine|Great Fire of Portland]].{{cn|date=July 2024}}
==Career==
Curtis held a variety of newspaper and advertising jobs in Portland and [[Boston]] before starting his first publication, a weekly called the ''People's Ledger'', in Boston in 1872.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
In 1876, he moved to [[Philadelphia]], then a major publishing center, to reduce his printing costs.<ref name=Ing /><ref>Hatch, Louis Clinton. ''Maine: A History'', volume 4. Published by The American Historical Society, 1919.</ref>
Curtis's first wife was [[Louisa Knapp Curtis|Louisa Knapp]]. In 1883, Knapp contributed a one-page supplement to the ''Tribune and Farmer'', a magazine published by Curtis. The following year, the supplement was expanded as an independent publication with Louisa as the editor. Its original name was ''The Ladies Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper'', but Knapp dropped the last three words in 1886, and it became ''[[Ladies Home Journal]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magazineart.org/general/womens/ladieshomejournal/index.html |title=Magazine Art, Archived copy |access-date=2008-08-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104020337/http://www.magazineart.org/general/womens/ladieshomejournal/index.html |archive-date=2006-11-04 }}</ref> ''The Ladies' Home Journal'' rapidly became the leading magazine of its type, reaching a circulation of one million subscriptions within ten years. It was the first American magazine to do so.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
Louisa Knapp continued as editor until 1889 when she was succeeded by [[Edward William Bok]]. Several years later Bok married [[Mary Louise Curtis]] in 1896, becoming the Curtises' son-in-law. Bok retired from the magazine in 1919, but the changes he made had vastly increased circulation. Bok introduced business practices such as: low subscription rates, inclusion of advertising to off-set costs, and reliance on popular content. This operating structure was adopted by men's magazines such as ''[[McClure's]]'' and [[Munsey's Magazine|''Munsey's'']] roughly a decade after it had become the standard practice of American women's magazines.  Scholars argue that women's magazines, like the ''Ladies' Home Journal'', pioneered these strategies "magazine revolution".<ref>{{cite journal |last= Waller-Zuckerman |first= Mary Ellen |title= 'Old Homes, in a City of Perpetual Change': Women's Magazines, 1890–1916 |journal= The Business History Review |volume= 63 |issue= 4 |date= Winter 1989 |pages= 715–756 |doi=10.2307/3115961|jstor= 3115961 }}</ref>
Curtis founded the [[Curtis Publishing Company]] in 1891; it would eventually publish ''[[Ladies' Home Journal]]'', ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'', [[Holiday (magazine)|''Holiday'']], and others.  A separate company founded by Curtis, Curtis-Martin Newspapers, controlled several newspapers, including for a time the ''[[Public Ledger (Philadelphia)|Philadelphia Public Ledger]]'',  ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', and the ''[[New York Evening Post]]''. Management mistakes at the newspapers led to poor financial returns, and eventually, they were sold.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
While Curtis was alive, his businesses, excepting the newspapers, were successful. ''Ladies Home Journal'' was for decades the most widely circulating women's magazine in the U.S., and ''The Saturday Evening Post'' enjoyed the highest circulation of any weekly magazine in the world.  In 1929, the ''Post'' and the ''Journal'' together ran fully forty percent of all US magazine advertising.<ref name=Ing />  One source lists Curtis as the 51st richest person ever, with a fortune of $43.2 billion adjusted for inflation (to 2008 dollars), which according to this source made him richer than [[J. P. Morgan]].<ref>[[Malcolm Gladwell|Gladwell, Malcolm]].  [[Outliers]]. [[Little, Brown]], New York, 2008.</ref>
Curtis built ''Lyndon'', a [[Renaissance revival]] estate in [[Wyncote, Pennsylvania]], with landscaping designed by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]]. Two of Curtis's yachts, built 1907 and 1920, were named ''Lyndonia''.<ref name=Colton>{{cite web |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/6yachtsmall/consolidated.htm |title=Consolidated Shipbuilding, Morris Heights NY |author=T. Colton |date=February 18, 2013 |work=Shipbuilding History |access-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192822/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/6yachtsmall/consolidated.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref>
[[File:Lyndonia in 1925.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Second ''[[Lyndonia (1920)|Lyndonia]]'' photographed 27 March 1925]]
Curtis was more than an occasional sailor, however, noting in a 1922 ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' interview, "[[Yacht]]ing is not a hobby with me. It is a necessity. I spend half my time on this ship," and further noting that most of his meetings with staff or board members were held in the second [[Lyndonia (1920)|''Lyndonia's'']] dining room.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Feld |first1=Rose C. |year=1922 |title=Cyrus H. K. Curtis, The Man: Musician, Editor, Publisher and Capitalist |journal=The New York Times |issue=22 October 1922 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/10/22/archives/cyrus-hk-curtis-the-man-musician-editor-publisher-and-capitalist.html |access-date=7 April 2013 }}</ref> Curtis had three large yachts built at Charles L. Seabury Co.: the 115-foot ''Machigonne'' in 1904;<ref group=Note>Not to be confused with the ''Machigonne'' built by the same builder in 1909 for William L. Douglas and later USS ''Machigonne'' (SP 507).</ref> the 163-foot ''Lyndonia'' in 1907; and the 228-foot ''Lyndonia'' in 1920.<ref group=Note>Both yachts named ''Lyndonia'' saw later service. ''Lyndonia'' of 1907 as the [[World War I]] ''Vega'' (SP 734) and ''Lyndonia'' of 1920 as [[Pan American World Airways]]' ''Southern Seas'' until it was commandeered by the US armed services for use in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific theater]] during [[World War II]].</ref><ref name=Colton /> Curtis was a founding member of the Camden Yacht Club in Camden, Maine, and its Commodore from 1909 to 1933, later donating the club's facilities to the town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://camdenyachtclub.org/history/ |title=Camden Yacht Club: History |author=Staff of VillageSoup and Knox County Times and Jim Bowditch |work=Camden Yacht Club |publisher=Camden Yacht Club |access-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717070148/http://camdenyachtclub.org/history/ |archive-date=17 July 2013 }}</ref>
In the summer of 1932, Curtis suffered a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] while aboard his yacht, the second ''Lyndonia''.  While he was recuperating at [[Thomas Jefferson University|Jefferson Hospital]] in Philadelphia, his second wife, Kate Stanwood Cutter Pillsbury Curtis, died suddenly.  Curtis then remained in frail health until his death on June 7, 1933, at age 82, and he was interred at [[West Laurel Hill Cemetery]] in [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania]].<ref>[https://www.visitphilly.com/things-to-do/attractions/laurel-hill-and-west-laurel-hill-cemeteries/ Visit Philadelphia]</ref>
Soon after his death, most of the buildings on Curtis's estate were demolished, and his daughter founded the [[Curtis Hall Arboretum|Curtis Arboretum]] on the site. After the [[Curtis Publishing Company]] moved to [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], in 1982, the company's former headquarters on [[Independence Hall|Independence Square]] in downtown [[Philadelphia]] became the ''Curtis Center'', home to a conference center, offices, a health club, retail shops, and restaurants.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
Before his death, Curtis was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] (1933).<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Cyrus+H.K.+Curtis&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was among the first ten inductees in the [[American Advertising Federation]]'s [[Advertising Hall of Fame]] (1999).<ref>Anonymous. "Ad Hall of Fame Opens with 10 Industry Giants" Advertising Age; 06/14/99, Vol. 70 Issue 25, p77.</ref>
==Philanthropy==
Cyrus Curtis remains #20 on the list of the richest Americans ever.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-wealthy-100-a-ranking-of-the-richest-americans-past-and-present/ |title=The Wealthy 100 |access-date=2010-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011013125/http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-wealthy-100-a-ranking-of-the-richest-americans-past-and-present/ |archive-date=2014-10-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was known for his [[philanthropy]] to hospitals, museums, universities, and schools. He donated $2 million to the [[Franklin Institute]], for example; $1.25 million to the [[Drexel University|Drexel Institute of Technology]] for the construction of Curtis Hall; and $1 million to the [[University of Pennsylvania]].<ref name=Ing /> He also purchased a [[pipe organ]] manufactured by the [[Austin Organs, Inc.|Austin Organ Company]] that had been displayed at the [[Philadelphia]] [[Sesquicentennial Exposition|Sesquicentennial Exposition of 1926]] and donated it to the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. It was incorporated into [[Irvine Auditorium]] when the building was constructed and is known to this day as the [[Curtis Organ]], one of the largest [[pipe organ]]s in the world. (The largest working organ resides in Philadelphia's [[John Wanamaker]] Building, only twenty blocks east of Irvine Auditorium, and the largest in the world, though it isn't currently working, is in the Atlantic City Convention Center, some 60 miles east.)<ref>[http://www.theatreorgans.com/laird/top.pipe.organs.html List of World's Largest Pipe Organs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830204826/http://www.theatreorgans.com/laird/top.pipe.organs.html |date=August 30, 2010 }}</ref> Curtis donated pipe organs to many institutions in Philadelphia and on the day of his funeral, all of those organs were played in his honor.
In memory of his boyhood music teacher, [[Hermann Kotzschmar]], for whom he had been named, Curtis in 1912 donated the [[Kotzschmar Memorial Organ]] to Maine's [[Merrill Auditorium|Portland City Hall Auditorium]].<ref>[http://www.foko.org/history.htm Kotzschmar Organ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509054414/http://www.foko.org/history.htm |date=2011-05-09 }}</ref> In [[Thomaston, Maine]], he funded the 1927–29 recreation of ''Montpelier'', the demolished 1795 mansion of Revolutionary War general [[Henry Knox]].
Curtis was a major organizer and backer of the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]], founded in 1900. In its early years, he paid off its debts anonymously.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} Curtis's daughter, [[Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist|Mary Louise Curtis Bok]], founded Philadelphia's [[Curtis Institute of Music]] in 1924 and dedicated it to her father.
==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Curtis residence.jpg|''Lyndon'' (1895), Wyncote, PA. Demolished, except for the 1903 ballroom addition, now [[Curtis Hall Arboretum|Curtis Hall]].<ref name=aftercurtis>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121025134805/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753814-1,00.html Anonymous.  ''After Curtis'' Time magazine, Monday, Jul. 17, 1933]</ref>
File:Curtis Hall II.JPG|[[Curtis Hall Arboretum|Curtis Hall]] (1903), Church Rd. & Greenwood Ave., Wyncote, PA.
File:USS Lyndonia SP-734.jpg|''[[USS Lyndonia (SP-734)|The Lyndonia]]'' (built 1907).
File:Curtis building.jpg|[[Curtis Publishing Company|Curtis Building]] (1910), 6th & Walnut Sts., Philadelphia, PA.
File:Curtis Dream Garden.jpg|''Dream Garden'' mosaic (1916) by [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]] and [[Maxfield Parrish]], in the Curtis Building.
File:Curtis Institute of Music - IMG 6559.JPG|[[Curtis Institute of Music]] (est. 1924), 18th & Locust Sts., Philadelphia, PA.
</gallery>
{{Portal|Philadelphia}}
== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Note}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130515233551/http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Curtis__Cyrus.html A biography of Curtis]
* [http://advertisinghall.org/members/member_bio.php?memid=594 Curtis's page at the Advertising Hall of Fame]
{{Cyrus Curtis}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar}}
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:Curtis family|Cyrus]]
[[Category:People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Portland, Maine]]
[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American magazine founders]]
[[Category:American newspaper chain owners]]
[[Category:American media executives]]
[[Category:American philanthropists]]
[[Category:Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery]]
[[Category:Ladies' Home Journal]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]