19th century Streets in
Center City Philadelphia, designed by
John McArthur Jr., built in 1867, and demolished in 1920 The
Public Ledger was founded by
William Moseley Swain,
Arunah S. Abell, and Azariah H. Simmons, and edited by Swain. It was the first penny paper in Philadelphia. At the time, most newspapers sold for five cents (equal to $ today) or more, a relatively high price which limited their appeal to readers who were reasonably well-off. Swain and Abell drew on the success of the
New York Herald, one of the first penny papers and decided to use a one cent cover price to appeal to a broad audience. They mimicked the ''Herald's
use of bold headlines to draw sales. The formula was a success and the Public Ledger
posted a circulation of 15,000 in 1840, growing to 40,000 a decade later. To put this into perspective, the entire circulation of all newspapers in Philadelphia was estimated at only 8,000 when the Public Ledger'' was founded. The
Public Ledger favored the
abolition of slavery, and in 1838 its office was threatened by a pro-slavery mob, two days after the same pro-slavery group burned down the new
Pennsylvania Hall (Philadelphia). In December 1864, the paper was sold to
George William Childs and
Anthony J. Drexel for a reported $20,000 (equal to $ today). After acquiring the
Public Ledger, Childs changed the newspaper's policies and operations. He changed the editorial policy to support the Union, raised advertising rates, and doubled the cover price to two cents. After an initial drop, circulation rebounded and the paper resumed profitability. Childs was closely involved in all operations of the paper, from the press room to the composing room. He intentionally upgraded the quality of advertisements appearing in the publication to suit a higher-end readership. Childs's efforts bore fruit and the
Public Ledger became one of the most influential journals in the country. Circulation growth led the firm to outgrow its facilities; in 1866 Childs bought property at Sixth and
Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, where the Public Ledger Building was constructed. Designed by
John McArthur Jr., the building had at its corner a larger-than-life-sized statue of
Benjamin Franklin by
Joseph A. Bailly (1825–1883), which Childs had commissioned. The quality and profitability of the
Ledger improved dramatically. By 1894,
The New York Times described it as "...the finest newspaper office in the country." in his column for
The Galaxy:
20th century In 1902,
Adolph Ochs, owner of
The New York Times, bought the paper from George W. Childs Drexel for a reported $2.25 million. He merged it with the
Philadelphia Times (which he had bought the previous year), and installed his brother
George Oakes as editor. Oakes served as editor until 1914, two years after Curtis bought the publication. In 1913,
Cyrus H. K. Curtis purchased the paper from Ochs for $2 million and hired his step son-in-law
John Charles Martin as editor. Curtis also owned ''
Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post. His intention was to establish the Public Ledger'' as Philadelphia's premier newspaper, which he achieved by buying and closing competing newspapers in the city at the time, including the
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, the
Philadelphia North American, and
The Philadelphia Press. In 1900, Philadelphia had 13 newspapers. Under Curtis' ownership, the
Public Ledger had a conservative aesthetic appearance. It avoided bold headlines and seldom printed photographs on its front page. Its conservative format has been compared to the contemporary present style of
The Wall Street Journal and
The New York Times. Curtis built the
Public Ledger foreign news service and syndicated it to other papers through the
Ledger Syndicate. From 1918 through 1921, former
U.S. president William Howard Taft was on the newspaper's staff as an editorial contributor. In 1914, seeking to broaden its market and compete against
The Evening Bulletin, Curtis began publishing the
Evening Public Ledger, a bolder paper designed to appeal to a broader public. The
Public Ledger suffered by competition from
The Evening Bulletin, an ascendant newspaper published by William L. McLean, which grew from 12 pages in 1900 to 28 pages in 1920, and from circulation of 6,000 to a leadership position of over 500,000 readers in the same time. The ''Bulletin's
bolder and more commercial approach attracted additional advertising, which in turn drew more readers. Advertising, which comprised only one-third of the Bulletin'' in 1900, grew to nearly three-fourths of its pages in 1920. Throughout the 1920s and prior to the
Great Depression, the
Public Ledger was profitable. But with the Great Depression's onset, circulation fell in half and profits disappeared. Some observers criticized the newspaper for an indistinct editorial policy, which they contend may have alienated readers. On the one hand, it endorsed reform politicians; on the other hand, the newspaper was decidedly anti-labor. The newspaper ran anti-union advertisements during the 1919
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America strike, and ran no advertisements supporting the strike. In 1930, despite the circulation slump caused by the Great Depression, Curtis expanded by buying
The Philadelphia Inquirer for $18 million, but he did not consolidate the two newspapers. When he died in 1933, Cutis was estimated to have lost $30 million on his newspaper ventures, with little to show for the investment. In 1934, the
Public Ledger was absorbed into the
Inquirer, and management was assumed by John C. Martin, son-in-law of Curtis' second wife. Martin became general manager of Curtis-Martin Newspapers. On April 16, 1934, the morning and Sunday editions were merged into
The Philadelphia Inquirer, which were also owned by Curtis' heirs. The
Evening Public Ledger continued to be published independently. In 1939, John Martin was forced out of the management of the
Evening Ledger, and control was assumed by
Cary W. Bok, Curtis's younger grandson. Bok spent two years unsuccessfully trying to make the newspaper profitable. In 1941, the
Evening Public Ledger was sold to Robert Cresswell, formerly of the
New York Herald Tribune. Mounting debts led to a court-ordered liquidation of the newspaper, which ceased publication in January 1942. == Controversy ==