picasa picture: Magazine

Thursday, January 6, 2011

LIFE Magazine first issue cover

First LIFE magazine cover from 1936 with logo and photo of Fort Peck Dam's spillway
by Margaret Bourke-White (© Margaret Bourke-White/TIMEPIX)

In 1936 Capt. Claude H. Chorpening had responsibility for public affairs at the Corps’ massive Fort Peck Dam project on the Missouri River in Montana. One of his tasks was to escort world-famous photographer Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) on assignment to photograph the project and surrounding activities for magazine publisher Henry R. Luce. Bourke-White spent several days photographing the dam, spillway, and life in the surrounding workers’ towns. While the results weren’t so pleasing to Chorpening—he thought she spent too much time on the towns, which weren’t Corps responsibility, and not enough on the project—Bourke-White did produce several stunning photos of the project itself, including one that graced the cover of the first issue of LIFE magazine, published in 1936. Although Bourke-White titled the photo, "New Deal, Montana: Fort Peck Dam," it is actually a photo of the spillway located three miles east of the dam.

TIME Magazine first issue cover

The TIME Magazine's premiere issue on March 3, 1923
featuring Speaker Joseph G. Cannon on its first cover.

The first issue of TIME was published on March 3, 1923, featuring on its cover Joseph G. Cannon, the retired Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Preceding both of its major competitors, TIME was the first weekly news magazine in the United States. It was co-founded in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce. Both had worked together previously at Yale, with Hadden and Luce serving as chairman and managing editor, respectively, of the Yale Daily News. Hadden died in 1929, and Luce became the dominant man at TIME and a major figure in the history of 20th-century media. Hadden was a rather carefree figure, who liked to tease Luce and saw TIME as something important but also fun. That accounts for its tone, which many people still criticize as too light for serious news and more suited to its heavy coverage of celebrities (including politicians), the entertainment industry, and pop culture. It set out to tell the news through people, and for many decades the magazine's cover was of a single person. People magazine was originally inspired by TIME's People page.