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Over nine decades we've repeatedly changed our size, price, design, typeface, even the paper we print on. We've had hundreds of people from several generations writing and editing the magazine.
Yet, after more than 1,000 issues and 4 billion readers, Boys' Life
remains the same as ever—dedicated to entertaining and educating its readers,
drawing them to the wonders of reading.
The oldest boys' magazine in America was first published as a 5 cent per issue biweekly in March of 1911 by George S. Barton of Boston. The following year, as part of its mission to promote reading among youths, the Boy Scouts of America bought Boys' Life.
The magazine, with a circulation of about 10,000, immediately began
experimenting with the mixture of news, nature, sports, history, fiction,
science, comics and Scouting—the same mix featured today.
Of course, Boys' Life has evolved. Today's high—tech readers, fresh from surfing our Web site (www.boyslife.org), would be surprised to find in a current issue something like 1912's decidedly low—tech story on a song called "Smile, Boys, Smile!"—complete with lyrics and music.
On the other hand, the fine art style of Norman Rockwell's illustrations is as familiar to today's audience as it was to our first generation of readers. Both Rockwell and Joseph Csatari (this month's cover artist) began their famous careers at Boys' Life.
Today, reader—driven forums continue with "Hitchin' Rack" (letters are answered by Pedro the Mailburro) "Hobby Hows" and "Collecting," as well as the writing and drawing contests.
Boys' Life readers love true—life adventures, so whenever possible we go straight to the source for the real story. In 1914, Robert E. Peary contributed his first—person account of reaching the North Pole six years earlier. The same year, Orville Wright wrote "How I Learned to Fly" for us.
In the 1920's, Rear Admiral Richard Byrd wrote of flying his trimotor, America, across the Atlantic Ocean. Astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the planet, wrote about space exploration for us in 1965. And in 1987, Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon, both wrote and illustrated our cover story, "Your Future in Space."
Of course, Boys' Life has always been about good writing. One of the earliest contributors was Jack London, who wrote "The King of Mazy May" (reprinted in the January 2001 issue) for the second issue in 1911. Other fine writers who have published original work in Boys' Life include Rudyard Kipling, P.G. Wodehouse, Pearl Buck, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and John Knowles. Isaac Asimov and Zane Grey contributed nonfiction works, as well.
In 1946, we dedicated the whole year to great fiction, reprinting masterpiece short stories such as O. Henry's "Ransom of Redchief" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat."
Our special fiction issue in 1997 featured an original story from Thomas McGuane. (Coming in July: another special issue, with a mix of new stories from today's best writers and the pick of the past from the Boys' Life archives.)
Recent features on everything from MIT's futuristic Media Lab to boardercrossing are examples of that effort. So is a new feature on our Web site, sled plans you can download.
These are the sorts of timely stories and innovations our readers have always expected of us, and still do. At Boys' Life today, as much as yesterday, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
| The Boy Scouts of America |  |
http://www.bsa.scouting.org |