The History Of US

Almost everyone has a story about Reader’s Digest. Over the decades, our iconic magazine has touched the lives of so many—across Canada and around the globe. To celebrate our 70th anniversary, we’re marking notable moments from our company’s rich legacy and shining a spotlight on longtime readers who have special connections to our pages. Here’s to enjoying our past, present and future—together.

- Dominique Ritter And Nicole Schmidt

1921

When DeWitt Wallace first proposed a magazine containing condensed, easy-to-read articles, his concept was rejected by publishers across America. Convinced that the idea had serious potential, Wallace went ahead and solicited 1,500 subscriptions. Soon after, the Reader’s Digest Association opened its first office in a New York City basement, and Wallace, alongside his Canadian-born wife, Lila Acheson Wallace, began assembling the first issue.

FEBRUARY 1922

The first issue of Reader’s Digest— featuring a simple white cover with an illustration of a woman writing on a scroll—is published in the United States with a print run of 5,000 copies. At the time, the magazine cost 25 cents and contained 31 condensed articles (one for each day of the month), including one story about Henry Ford and another about the art of conversation. It was the Wallaces’ mission to select articles of exceptional interest and value—ones that were “worthy of a permanent place in the storehouse of the mind.”

1928

Reader’s Digest becomes the first magazine to be printed in Braille. For many years, it was the only inkprint publication that was also made accessible to people with visual impairments. This edition will draw more than 3,000 subscribers within a decade of its launch.

1938

The first international edition of Reader’s Digest is published in England. Over the following years, the magazine would be printed in 16 languages and distributed in 163 countries.

APRIL 1945

Stanley High, associate editor of Reader’s Digest