To herald its record-breaking October issue, the Ladies' Home Journal ran a huge picture of an elephant in full-page newspaper ads. The headline trumpeted: AN ELEPHANT NEEDS NO CERTIFICATE FOR ITS SIZE. Last week the elephant's ears were drooping.
In a move that set the magazine industry buzzing, the Journal—impelled by a dip in circulation—cut its ad rates 5%. It offered advertisers rebates on several 1948 issues that had not delivered all the circulation expected. It was the first cut by a major magazine since the depression. Though Curtis magazines base their rates on the estimated circulation for six months...