History of Southern Living Magazine (Birmingham, Butler: transfer, to buy, living in)

[gardenpaths]

I found an interesting read a couple of days ago. I always thought Southern Living Magazine was founded from some Birmingham natives but I read that this magazine was created as a "spin off" from Progressive Farmer Magazine, which was founded in Raleigh, NC by North Carolinians. Are the actual roots of Southern Living in NC or Alabama? Does anyone know where I can find the history and the names of the editors who launched Progressive Farmer? I live in NC and would be interested in reading the history. Thanks to all!

[jakabedy]

It's just a google search away . . .http://www.southernprogress.com/WhoW...tryProgressive Farmer was originally from Raleigh but moved to B'ham in 1911. After that it became the Southern Progress company and the other titles were launched, like Southern Living. I worked for Oxmoor House, the book publishing division, from 1988-1990 and loved working there, although I was paid close to nothing and my job evaporated with the Sunset merger. The company has taken its hits of late as have other media companies, but it is still a great company.

[alabamatide]

I heard about this post last night and came to the board to fill you in since I'm a Southern Living Magazine fanatic and happen to know the answer to this in detail. I had always heard that SLM was founded in Alabama but had also read that it was founded in NC so I decided to call the parent company Southern Progress one day and just ask to get the facts straight. After talking to several people in the editorial offices and asking specifically for the names and dates of its launching, I was transferred over to someone at that company who had been there since the late 60s and knew every little detail, from the beginning until now, and gave me the names of the Raleigh editors who started Progressive Farmer.

The Progressive Farmer Magazine started in NC as a newspaper in the late 1800s by a man named Colonel Polk. It became a magazine after Clarence Poe from Raleigh, NC and a few of his partners (also editors from NC), bought the newspaper and turned it into a phenomenon throughout the entire south. The corporate offices of Southern Living told me that some of the main editors were Clarence Poe, Eugene Butler, William LaRue and William Poe. They were the ones who built Progressive Farmer Magazine from ground up, so when the magazine became a huge hit in the south and the demand grew, they decided to move their offices from Raleigh, NC to Birmingham, AL, eventually changing the name of their company from Progressive Farmer to Southern Progress Corporation. And THAT was when the idea for Southern Living Magazine was born. It wasn't the Raleigh editors who came up with the idea for the magazine- it was Emory Cunningham from Alabama. But the editors from Raleigh still owned the company and controlled operations from Raleigh until 1985, when Time, Inc. made the offer to buy the entire company for 498 million. It was my understanding that the editors and their families in Raleigh were the ones who reaped the financial rewards for the Southern Living success, since it was created from the works of Progressive Farmer and they still owned it. They also used much of the material from Progressive Farmer to create Southern Living, so I guess it's fair to say that the "roots" of Southern Living Magazine lie between the editors of Progressive Farmer and Emory Cunningham in Alabama. I think they are all deceased now so its a shame that they aren't still alive to see what Time has done with their babies. Kudos to all of them for making such a huge success. I will always be a SLM fan.

[alabamatide]

Does anyone have any of the old editions of Progressive Farmer Magazine prior to the launching of Southern Living? I have been trying to find some of those for months now and can't locate any. Does anyone have any ideas as to where I can buy some?

[jakabedy]

ebay is a great source for old magazine issues. But I would have thought you would have looked there already.

[Southlander]

I've seen them on eBay. You just have to keep looking. I've seen a 1960s copy of Progressive Farmer - pretty boring, if you don't farm!

[shhanes]

Originally Posted by alabamatide

Does anyone have any of the old editions of Progressive Farmer Magazine prior to the launching of Southern Living? I have been trying to find some of those for months now and can't locate any. Does anyone have any ideas as to where I can buy some?

Hey,
My Mom found some old ones in her attic. I'm sure she'd sell them for a very reasonable amount. Her email is shhanes@hotmail.com
(my names melissa)
good luck!