Among the so-called "general monthly" magazines, which aim to please both men & women readers with formula fiction and features, McCall Corp.'s Redbook (circ.
1,969,000) is the weak sister. In circulation and advertising revenue, it is outdis tanced by its two competitors, Crowell-Collier's American magazine (circ. 2,602,873) and Hearst's Cosmopolitan (circ. 2,101,842).
One contributing cause of Redbook's lag was the cautious, nice-nelly journalism of veteran Editor Edwin Balmer, who ruled out illustrations of girls in two-piece bathing suits, printed no fiction in which those who flaunted "the code" came to an unregenerate or glorified...