In the Beginning
The company that has become Southern Progress started out in North Carolina with one magazine called Progressive Farmer. The founder was Colonel Leonidas L. Polk who felt that Southern farmers were being ignored during Reconstruction following the Civil War. He published a newspaper, The Progressive Farmer, in Anson County, North Carolina, in 1886. The paper advocated better schools for farm children and a better livelihood for farm families. Within five years, the State Department of Agriculture reorganized and offered many improvements for farmers including a new college of agriculture, now North Carolina State University.
Magazine moves to Birmingham
After the Colonel's death, the little newspaper continued to grow until it was a full-fledged magazine. The new owners formed the Agricultural Publishing Company, later renamed The Progressive Farmer Company, and eventually, the Southern Progress Corporation. In 1911, the company moved its headquarters to Birmingham to take advantage of the major rail center. The company also acquired a Hoe press in their newly equipped printing plant, a welcome addition after years of setting the type by hand.
Progressive Farmer was one of the first in the publishing business to produce localized editorials. Several editions of each magazine were printed to serve the explicit needs of the farmers in that particular part of the South. During the Depression, the company began printing costly color covers, gambling that better covers would boost sales and make their investments payoff. They were right.
Southern LivingMagazine Appears
Through the years, people began to leave the farms and move to the cities. Emory Cunningham, who later became president of the company, was convinced that the magazine need to change its focus, too. In February 1966, the first issue of Southern Living Classicswas mailed out. Early editions featured the latest hairdos and a Thanksgiving dinner in outer space. Today the magazine has over 13 million readers and a new focus. In 1985, the company purchased an upscale Atlanta-based magazine, Southern Accents. The two magazines were merged to become the Southern Livingmagazine we know today.
More thanSouthern Living
In 1987, after an enthusiastic response to a column in the Southern Living,the company's first national magazine was launched, Cooking Light. Today, it is the number-one epicurean magazine in the country. In 1997, Coastal Living, another national magazine, was launched for people who love the coast. The book division of Southern Progress is home to Oxmoor House, founded in 1970. It started out with deer-hunting manuals and other forgettable books before finding its niche market. Today it prints Southern Living Annual Recipes and other craft, food, wedding and Christmas books.
Happy Endings
In 1985, Southern Progress was purchased by Time Warner for $480 million, the most ever paid for a magazine publishing company at that time. And as an extra feather in their cap, the former CEO of Southern Progress is now the CEO of Time Inc. And so, they lived happily ever after.
Southern Living Magazine Photos
