 October 1, 2009 cover | |
| Editor-in-chief | Cheryl Brown |
|---|---|
| Categories | Home economics, women's interest |
| Frequency | 12 per year |
| Publisher | Meredith |
| Total circulation | 3,816,958[1] (2011) |
| First issue | 1932; 94 years ago (1932) |
| Final issue | December 2019; 6 years ago (2019-12) |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | New York City[2] |
| Language | English |
| ISSN | 0014-7206 |
Family Circle was an American women'smagazine that covered topics such ashomemaking, recipes and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019.[3] Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the "Seven Sisters," a group of seven traditional female-oriented magazines centered on household issues, along withLadies' Home Journal,McCall's,Good Housekeeping,Better Homes and Gardens,Woman's Day andRedbook.[4]
Family Circle was first published in 1932. It was initially distributed for free atPiggly Wiggly supermarkets until it was offered as a freestanding publication in 1946.[5]
Cowles Magazines and Broadcasting bought the magazine in 1962.The New York Times Company bought the magazine for its women's magazine division in 1971. The division was sold toGruner + Jahr in 1994. When Gruner + Jahr decided to exit the American magazine market in 2005, the magazine was sold to theMeredith Corporation.
From 1973 to 2015,Family Circle was the title sponsor of the Family Circle Cup (Charleston Open) women's professionaltennis tournament on theWTA Tour, which was held at its namesakeFamily Circle Tennis Center inCharleston, South Carolina starting in 2001. At the time when the sponsorship ended,Family Circle was the longest-running title sponsor in professional tennis.[6][7] Between 1992 and 2020, the magazine also ran theFirst Lady Bake-Off for the spouses of incumbent or running presidential candidates; the results successfully predicted the presidential winner in five of the seven election cycles since its founding.[8]
In November 2009,Family Circle launched a social network calledMomster.com for mothers of tweens and teens.[9]
In October 2019, Meredith Corporation announced thatFamily Circle would cease publication with the December 2019 issue. The publisher reported that the magazine had 13 million readers, more than one million followers on social media and a circulation of four million. As part of the closure, about 25 Family Circle staffers were laid off, while others were reassigned at other Meredith publications.[3]