Women's Wear Magazine

 

The lineage of Women’s Wear Magazine – now WWD, has both an oft copied mythical background and a true back story. Mythically, E. W. Fairchild bought a press rag from success selling soap, and single-handedly turned it into an international leader in women’s fashion overnight, his seeing a huge void in the market.

The true story begins with John B. Waldo, son of a successful lumber merchant, who began working as a grocery clerk in his teens. He was hired by Howard, White, Crowell & Co. in 1885 for the Chicago Commercial Bulletin and soon he was editing the publication. In 1890 Waldo founded the Chicago Apparel Gazette with funding by stock broker, Edmund Wade Fairchild, whose younger brothers operated a successful soap business.  On March 29, 1892 Fairchild used his own money this time to join Waldo to found the Waldo-Fairchild company, operating the Chicago Apparel Gazette, and to directly compete with Howard, White and Crowell by starting the Daily Trade Record with plans to distribute it at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Its success was truly in covering the men’s apparel industry, though. 

I don’t have access to preserved copies of both newspapers, (Even the Chicago Public Library doesn’t have preserved copies) so I don’t know that they did use the same writers/stories for both papers, but it seems likely. They both were known by varying names throughout their lives, including the Daily News Record, later shortened to just DNR (to de-emphasize that the once daily publication had been decreased to just three times a week and then eventually once a week). The headquarters of Waldo-Fairchild moved to Manhattan, near the garment district and Madison Ave. in 1901.  The Chicago Apparel Gazette continued publication in Chicago and the company found two additional fashion magazines, Men’s Wear and Hat Life. In 1910, Women’s Wear Magazine began as a once-a-week page in DNR, was spun off as a standalone in 1919, and later became a daily. 

Eventually, the Chicago Apparel Gazette became Men’s Wear- Chicago Apparel Gazette edition continuing at least until WWII. In 1983, Men’s Wear, was shortened to M.  Women’s Wear Daily was shortened to WWD – not W. W, also a fashion magazine, once published by Fairchild, was founded separately, in 1972; Wikipedia highlights W’s oversized format as a difference between the two magazines.

Importantly for the life of the myth, Fairchild bought out Waldo entirely in 1903 and his son and grandson were the publishers until the company’s merger with, yes, The Disney Company in 1997.  Disney is not the only local tie to the story, however. The Fairchilds working as stock brokers included Edmund’s nephew Allan N Fairchild, and Allan is buried in the San Marcos Cemetery.