Publishers of magazines prior to the 20th century thought they would never make huge profits. Instead, publishers tried to inform and influence the opinion of their readers. In 1853 the editor of England's Athenaeum described the feeling of most publishers when he said he felt it was his obligation, as far as possible, to protect the public from "the wily arts of the insidious advertiser."
This attitude began to change during the 1880s and changed dramatically after World War I. With mass industrialisation producing an enormous volume for the public to buy a few American and British publishers discovered they could increase circulation and reduce costs by accepting advertising.
[AM] {CI,CR}