Produced by Wilding, “Modern Magazine Magic” (1956) was created by the Curtis Publishing Co. The film portrays the process of magazine production by Curtis starting from trees being cut down for paper production, to printing and designing different magazines. It features various Curtis Co. titles such as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, Jack & Jill, and Holiday. Curtis was founded in 1883 by Cyrus H. K. Curtis and became one of the nation’s most important publishers. The company’s failure to diversify led to its decline, and in 1969 the nail was put in the coffin as the flagship Saturday Evening Post ceased publication.

00:00 Intro text. Titles (01:38) People walk in a busy street in Philadelphia (01:45). Man shops for magazines in a store (01:51). Man holds a magazine in front of seated woman in an office (01:53). Couple looks through magazines (01:56). Scattered pages of various magazines (02:08). Woman looks at a magazine in a store (02:27). Woman reads “Woman’s Journal”(02:34). Man buys “The Saturday Evening Post” at newsstand (02:43). Woman reads “The Saturday Evening Post” magazine (02:49). Woman buys magazine at newsstand (02:57). Woman looks through different issues of “Holiday” (03:07). Girl reads a “Jack & Jill” children’s comic magazine (03:27). Curtis Publishing Company’s publishing plant in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania (03:40). Curtis Publishing Company’s building on Independence Square, Philadelphia (03:55). Painting of Curtis Publishing Company’s founder Cyrus H. K. Curtis (04:01). The Curtis building in Philadelphia (04:08). Graphic illustration of Earth, moon and published pages reaching into space (04:16). Forest in Pennsylvania (04:24). Lumberman marks a tree as a ‘seed tree’ with yellow stripes (04:45). He marks another tree to be cut down (04:50). Bark cut from a tree, chemicals added to kill the tree (05:01). Dead tree is cut down (05:15). Sawmill (05:25). Lumber truck with logs (05:47). Conveyor belt (06:00). Wood chippers (06:14). Chips reduced to pulp (06:36). Old magazines recycled into new paper (06:57). Fiber quality control department (07:10). Pulp is made into paper (07:27). Rolls of paper transported (08:38) and prepared for pressing (08:48). Press process (09:02). Staff content meeting (09:27). Envelope is addressed (09:48). Sewing workshop for “Ladies’ Home Journal” (09:55). Photographing food (10:16). Model of home design (10:28). The model in “Ladies’ Home Journal” (10:38). “Holiday” issue layout (10:50). Girl writes on paper (11:03). Drawings (11:12). Blind girl reads “Jack & Jill” braille edition (11:19). Braille typewriter (11:33). Blind children read braille editions (11:46). Editorial office (11:53). Magazine issue proofreading (12:07). Advertising team working (12:30). Shopping strip and parked cars (12:56). Supermarket shopping (13:05). Couple unpacks groceries (13:12). Curtis Publishing Company’s building (13:29). Woman reads magazine (13:41). Research department (13:45). People answer questionnaires (13:55). Results of spatial comparisons (14:08). Advertising staff (14:19). Illustrator (14:34). Covers of “The Saturday Evening Post” (14:52). “The Young Lady with the Shiner” oil painting by Norman Rockwell (15:07). Norman Rockwell (15:21). Artist George Hughes (15:30). Rockwell paints as Hughes watches (15:36). Cartoonist Ted Key illustration for “Hazel” cartoon series (15:41).How illustrations are put into reproduction (15:54).Linotype machine used to set galleys (16:57). Samples of magazine pages are assembled (17:37). Foundries are created based on the assembled pages (17:56). Electroplating of electrotype. Technician selects ink colors for printing (18:53). Views of the press of magazines (19:08). Printed pages sequenced, assembled, trimmed, and bound (22:06). Addressed for shipping (23:30). Circulation shown (23:49). Magazines packaged and shipped (24:21). Map of shipping destinations (25:03). Magazines delivered to newstand (25:13). “The Saturday Evening Post” issue (25:36).

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