To examine the success of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 1982 decision not to select a standard transmission system for AM stereophonic broadcasting (instead leaving it to the marketplace), this paper documents and analyzes the first 7 years of the AM stereo marketplace. Following an explanatory introduction, the paper's first…

This history of the Bobbs-Merrill publishing company provides a chronological description of the personalities, activities, and events which influenced its development. Sections in the document include: Background and Origins; The Merger of 1885; The Fire and the Aftermath; Relocation; Sale of the Paper and "Notions" Trade; The New York…

This review of the history of the coverage principle developed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concludes that government regulation of mass media program content can be dangerous and that the coverage principle needs to be abolished. The first section of the report discusses the FCC's interpretation of the 1934 Communications Act…

Provides a historical overview of postal service policy from 1792 to the present on mailing library materials. The current policy debate in response to congressional reassessment of the benefits of the library rate is reviewed. A table presents the percentage of library rate mailings and subsidy by sender and recipient. (143 references) (MES)

The article examines the positions of three groups (industry, labor, agriculture), the eventual alignment of these positions that allowed passage of the Smith-Hughes Act, and implications for the passage of future legislation. The National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education is discussed in detail. (CT)

A cultural history of the rise of black consumer magazine publishing is presented in this paper. It examines the interrelated elements in the development of shifts in the institutional support base of black magazines and shifts in the ethos or style of middle-class black life, as reflected in the magazines themselves. The paper takes as an example…

Sketches the nature of early theater, vaudeville, and film competition. Focuses on one tool of competitive strategy--protection by copyright. (JMF)

Discusses the film industry's conversion to color cinematography in the period between the 1920s and 1960s. Cites economic considerations, technological modifications, and aesthetic preferences by audiences as factors in this development. (JMF)

Presents the origin of the Paul Bunyan stories, concluding that they had their roots in the oral tradition of the lumberjacks of the northern United States. (DD)

Discusses the history, technology, and functions of illegal publishing in Poland from 1945 to 1990, under official and widespread government censorship. Offers some sources for more information. (SR)

Reviews the history of publishing of Latino literature and journals in the U.S. Nineteenth-century Latino publishing in different geographical regions is examined and the impact of social changes on 20th-century writing is discussed. Bilingual publishing and the role of academic presses are highlighted. (MMU)

This paper offers a platform for reappraising British television during the period of 1950-1960 by identifying the inaccuracy and bias of three firmly entrenched assumptions that dominated the history of British television between the publication of the Beveridge Report (1951) and the Pilkington Report (1962): (1) British television in the period…

Historical information on university presses and their problems are considered. University presses in the United States have their roots in 15th century England when the Oxford University Press was established in 1478. The first U.S. press to use the term "university press" was Cornell University; the press operated from 1869 until it…

Film historians have tended to overlook the industrial film even though it has been widely used as a sales tool since early in this century. The Caterpillar Tractor Company was one of the first to adopt this medium as a means of demonstrating what its machines could do in a variety of situations. While other types of films have been made by…

Municipal ownership and operation of radio stations, an interesting but forgotten variant approach to radio that flourished in the 1920s, is discussed in this paper. Specifically, it examines WPG in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first and in many ways the most interesting example of municipal ownership of radio. WPG's operations are recounted…