Time magazine Letter: September, 1940
You want to talk about direct mail copy? Nothing can beat a series of letters sent by Time magazine during the early years of World War II.
September 20, 1940
Dear American:
Ours is the tragic privilege – –
The tragic privilege of living and taking part in the greatest worldwide military crisis since Napoleon, the greatest American election crisis since Lincoln, the greatest economic crisis since Adam Smith.
And in times like these, when the news is so confusing and so dramatic and so immediately important — no American need be reminded that keeping thoughtfully well-informed is a personal duty.
The only question is how – and many people have found the one best answer to that question in TIME, the Weekly Newsmagazine.
For example, Isolationist Senator Burton K. Wheeler writes: “Since the war began, TIME has been more indispensable than ever.”
Republican Wendell L. Willkie says, “TIME is great; I suppose I could live without reading it, but life would be quite different.”
And New Dealer Frank Murphy says, “TIME is doing a magnificent job.”
This year our Editors are spending the fabulous sum of more than 50 cents a word to do a better job than ever before of keeping you well-informed and making the news make sense.
And I would like you to see for yourself how all this extra effort and thought and expense have made TIME almost indispensable during these historic days.
I would like you see for yourself what trebling the size of our Washington office has done for our news of the election and rearmament and national affairs — and what our new offices in Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires are doing for our news of the Western Hemisphere — what forty-five new correspondents are doing for all our news of war and peace.
I would like you to see for yourself why the editors and publishers of America’s leading newspapers now vote TIME “the most interesting, the most reliable, and the most useful magazine in America.”
–and why the editors of The Reader’s Digest, who read every magazine in the world, have just written their subscribers that:
“TIME IS NOW THE ONE BEST WAY TO KEEP QUICKLY AND INTELLIGENTLY INFORMED.”
So now, when TIME is at its best — when the news is making TIME double useful — x
I hope you will try TIME at this special introductory rate of only 1 cent a day — which saves you $2.53 under the single copy price, costs you only $2.67 for 8 full months of TIME.
8 months of a stirring, unforgettable year — with so much happening so fast that I will gladly pay airmail postage to get your subscription started before you miss another week of TIME.
So airmail the card today.
Cordially,
Perry Prentice
Circulation Manager
