Magazine Readers and the Readers of the Saturday Evening Post
Since the Saturday Evening Post sought a widespread middle-class audience, it is likely that the citizens of Greenbelt fit within its parameters. Although the Post sought "an average middle-class America" (Peterson, p 171) as an audience, and Greenbelt was slightly below middle class, I believe the city still fits within the demographics of the typical middle-American Post reader. As Jan Cohn, author of Creating America: George Horace Lorimer and the Saturday Evening Post, on p. 165 answered to the question "Who reads the Post? Everybody."
As the twentienth century progressed, more and more people became
readers of magazines. By the time period of 1935-40 Greenbelt, most of the
middle and upper classes would have read at least several magazines a
week. One reason for the increase in magazine readership was the increase
in the number of Americans with money to buy things (Peterson p43).
"Increasing economic productivity, the graduated income tax, the powerful
bargaining positions of labor unions after 1932 - those and others things
narrowed the extremes in purchasing power and widened the American middle
class" (Peterson p43). Advances in education also increased magazine
readership - enormous spurt in college graduates between 1920 and 1940; in
1890, only 7 out of every 100 boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 17
were enrolled in high school; by 1952, 86 out of 100 were.
Another factor in more reading time was the average
American's increased leisure time. By 1940 the typical businessmen had
a shortened work week than in 1900. Also, the typical homeworker had more
free time due to convenience of modern appliances.
To see how modern appliances affected the of typical housewife, who
hadmore time to read magazines, see Sarah Doran's project on the typical
houswife chore of doing the Laundry