EAST SMETHPORT — A national publication that originated in Smethport was the topic of remarks by Joe DeMott at the McKean County Historical Society’s annual dinner Thursday.
The dinner was held at the East Smethport United Christian Church.
“Boys’ Magazine was a really big deal,” DeMott said.
He spoke briefly about his introduction to the magazine. “That goes back to the early 1930s when my father, then a teenager, helped a friend clean out an old barn and they found some issues. Dad brought them home, and I read some of them. Eventually they wound up in the attic. When we moved to a new home, we took the magazines with us.”
Using the largest printing press in the state, the Scott Redfield Company in Smethport published Boys’ Magazine on Fulton Street next door to the current Olson and Tenglund Inc., an auto parts store at West Main Street. Offices were on the second floor of the auto parts building.
Single copies cost a dime; annual subscriptions were one dollar.
According to DeMott, “The 48-page issues were mailed from Smethport, which at that time, was the fifth post office in Pennsylvania.”
Scott Redfield edited and published the magazine from its first issue to 1921, except for 1911-15, when Walter Camp took over as editor.
Redfield, the son of a journalist, was born in Washington, D.C. He and his wife moved to Smethport, where the family home is part of the town’s Mansion District on West Main Street. His ancestors were related to the Hamlin family.
DeMott said, “Boys’ Magazine encouraged hobbies, fitness and character building through its articles and provided adventurous and suspenseful stories to support appropriate and moral behavior. Stories also illustrated how quick thinking could overcome obstacles.”
Under Redfield’s leadership, Zane Grey, who later became famous for his American West books, was among some of the well-known writers who contributed articles and helped boost circulation to about 110,000, attracting national advertisers. “With advertisers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, it truly was a national magazine,” said DeMott.
DeMott debunked a popular belief that Boys’ Magazine later became Boys’ Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, even though both were aimed at the same market.
Camp was a sports writer and football coach at Yale, where he compiled a career 67-2 record. He was also a football innovator at a time when the games closely resembled rugby. “Camp designed the field with the gridiron lines we have today and introduced the four-down possessions, eliminating the previous 15 attempts to move the entire length of the field,” DeMott explained.
When Boys’ Magazine ceased publication, it was succeeded by The Boys’ Own Magazine, published by Hungerford Publications Inc., also a Smethport company.
Scott Redfield’s great-granddaughter, Dottie Snyder, along with her husband, Jerry, and daughter, Meghan, all of Alfred, N.Y., attended the dinner as special guests. Dottie Snyder read a tribute to Scott Redfield, written by his son, Holland Redfield.
During his PowerPoint presentation, DeMott offered an historical perspective to the time when Boys’ Magazine was printed. It showed the following: President William Taft was in office; 60 percent of the Civil War veterans were alive, as were 40 percent of the Spanish-American War veterans; eight percent of American homes had telephones; and 14 percent had bath tubs; and women washed their hair once a month with borax and egg yolks.
At the business meeting, society director David Krantz conducted the annual election of officers and directors.
They were all re-elected. They are Mike Alfieri, president; Eileen McKean, vice-president; Ruth Covert, secretary; and Flo Carter, treasurer. Board members are Steve Appleby, DeMott and Greg Bell and Ken Gross. McKean was named director emeritus.
