The Press: God Pity the Farmers

When money-making little Graham Creighton Patterson quit as publisher of the Christian Herald in 1935 to take over Philadelphia's moribund Farm Journal, a Herald colleague said: "Goodby, Graham. If you become as good a farmer as you were a Christian, God pity the farmers."

Backed by the money of Oilman Joseph Newton Pew, Publisher Patterson made over his entire magazine, high-pressured circulation from 1,000,000 to 1,350,000, advertising revenue from $300,000 to $1,150,000. All he lacked to be a huge success were the lucrative cosmetic, baby-food and home appliance ads, which instead of flocking...

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