So many years ago—well, 50 years, to be exact, my husband came home from a perfectly good job and stated, “I just decided to start a journal!” I clearly remember my first thought: “Gee, I need to find a better job!”
The first problem—and the major one—was to convince other technical and instrument companies to give up their carefully guarded mailing lists. The best journal would be useless without the names and addresses of scientists and technicians in the always-expanding scientific fields of chemistry and the life sciences along with their necessary expanding technology.
Bill spent a full year traveling coast to coast asking for permission to use the mailing lists of companies in the field, in return giving these companies free ads on the back cover and inside front cover of this (as yet unpublished!) new journal. Not surprisingly, this was a difficult—almost impossible—task.
Figure 1 – The first issue of American Laboratory, published in October of 1968.Fortunately, the proverbial “roof over our head” was for a time secure: Bill and I were housesitting in a large, old home in Westport, Connecticut. It was in need of repairs and paint, which of course did not bother us. Indeed, we could walk the distance of two driveways to a small beach on Long Island Sound! Our slight savings and my editing job were enough to cover food.
In the meantime, I became pregnant with our first child. Funds were tight. The need for a few maternity clothes was satisfied by my mother, who sewed dresses for me.
My mother-in-law was our first circulation manager—she spent her days stuffing envelopes and mailing out promotional materials to our 300+ customers.
Bill found an excellent designer, Larry Lustig, who took a chance with us and designed the first issue. It was fun, tiring, frightening, and frantic, but in the end, we were all surprised at the result. Thus, a very attractive and professional-looking journal was born (Figure 1). Soon we were able to pay Larry, who became our art director for many years. The basic design style—layout, fonts, article titles, bylines, charts, photos, etc.—stood the test of time.
Our son, McCorvie, arrived in early January. There was no rest for his mother, however. Shortly after giving birth, Bill came to my hospital room with a pile of manuscripts to edit!
Three years later, we welcomed our daughter, Avery, to the family. Both of our children grew up in the publishing world—working in the mailroom, the production department, the circulation department, sales, etc.—wherever an extra set of hands was needed. It turned out that publishing was in Corvie’s blood. His career with American Laboratory continues to flourish, and he proudly carries on its legacy.
Figure 2 – Staff of International Scientific Communications, Inc., publisher of American Laboratory,
circa 1970.As the years went by, the magazine grew and so did the staff (Figure 2). This staff was comprised of a conglomeration of friends and neighbors with newfound abilities—including that of the “town clown,” who, to our surprise, turned out to be an excellent writer.
We all appreciated and benefited from the marvelous people we came in contact with, especially at the trade shows—our authors, our readers, our customers, and others in the industry—indeed the vast variety of people who contributed to our journals and who worked and enjoyed the camaraderie of the conferences. This busy, changing, challenging, scientific community is now remembered with respect, and with many smiles. Here’s to the next 50 years!
Dr. Lynn Wham is one of the founders of American Laboratory and wife of the late William Wham. For its first seven years, she was managing editor/editorial director of American Laboratory.