On May 2, 1885 a publisher born in New York named Clark W. Bryan founded Good Housekeeping magazine here in the Paper City. Established, manufactured, printed and published in Holyoke, the first volumes of this historic serial, alongside other renowned local publications like The Paper World, made this city a unique blend of industry and intellect.
Before Good Housekeeping, Clark W. Bryan also founded The Paper World on New Years Day 1880, and his publishing house also issued The Manufacturer and Industry Gazette, Amateur Gardening, and Library Bulletin. Bryan was a thirty-year partner with Samuel Bowies in the publication of the Springfield Republican, and he set up the first cylinder (or rotary) printing press in Springfield.
Bryan is quoted in the Holyoke Transcript on April 25, 1885: “[Good Housekeeping] is not a bi-monthly cook book but ‘will demonstrate in due time, the solemn fact, that there are other lessons to be learned, that there are other duties to be performed, and other achievements to be attained...not of greater importance to the higher life of the household.’ ”
The Good Housekeeping operation moved to Springfield in 1887 and eventually to New York City in subsequent years due to Bryan’s manic, fleeting success and health. We would like to send special thanks to Michael Robbins of Brookline, MA for his donation in honor of his grandfather Jared Beebe, former owner of the Farr Alpaca Company, which made this acquisition possible. The archives purchased these early editions from Peter L. Masi Books of Montague, MA.
