Family Circle

American magazine

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Last updated

June 26, 2026

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Family Circle is an American monthly magazine that was founded in 1932. Initially, it was given away in Piggly Wiggly supermarkets until 1946, when it transitioned to being sold as a family monthly. It is noted as one of the first and most successful store-distributed magazines, a trend that emerged in the 1930s. These types of magazines, often linked to retail chains like the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, were part of a broader landscape of women's magazines that increasingly relied on advertising and focused on providing "service" content to homemakers.1

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history of publishing
Women’s magazines in the United States
…first and most successful was Family Circle (founded 1932), given away in Piggly Wiggly supermarkets until 1946, when it was sold as a family monthly. Equally successful were Woman’s Day (founded 1937), published by a subsidiary of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, and Better Living (founded 1951), sponsored…
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…first and most successful was Family Circle (founded 1932), given away in Piggly Wiggly supermarkets until 1946, when it was sold as a family monthly. Equally successful were Woman’s Day (founded 1937), published by a subsidiary of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, and Better Living (founded 1951), sponsored…
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Charles E. Merrill
… under whose auspices he founded Family Circle Magazine six years later. Foreseeing the impending stock-market crash, Merrill advised his firm’s clients to lighten their stock holdings in 1928. Many of them did and cut their losses.
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… under whose auspices he founded Family Circle Magazine six years later. Foreseeing the impending stock-market crash, Merrill advised his firm’s clients to lighten their stock holdings in 1928. Many of them did and cut their losses.
Read More