Boys' Life - History

History

In 1911, George S. Barton, of Somerville, Massachusetts, founded, and published the first edition of Boys' Life magazine. It was edited by 18-year old Joe Lane of Providence, Rhode Island. He called it Boys' and Boy Scouts' Magazine. At that time there were three major competing Scouting organizations: the American Boy Scouts, New England Boy Scouts, and Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

Five thousand copies were printed of the first issue of Barton's Boys' Life, published on January 1, 1911. As few copies actually reached the public, the more widely accepted first edition is the version published on March 1, 1911. With this issue, the magazine was expanded from eight to 48 pages, the page size was reduced, and a two-color cover was added. In 1912, the Boy Scouts of America purchased the magazine, making it an official BSA magazine. BSA paid $6,000, $1 per subscriber, for the magazine.

Noteworthy writers contributing over the years are Isaac Asimov, Catherine Drinker Bowen, Ray Bradbury, Van Wyck Brooks, Arthur C. Clarke, J. Allan Dunn, Bobby Fischer, Alex Haley, Robert A. Heinlein, William Hillcourt, John Knowles, Arthur B. Reeve, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Noteworthy artists and photographers contributing over the years are Ansel Adams, Harrison Cady, Joseph Csatari, Salvador Dalí, Philippe Halsman, Norman Rockwell, and Jerome Rozen.

The Time Machine stories of Donald Keith appearing in Boys' Life between 1959 and 1989 were one memorable series.