Yearbook of Bibliology and Press Studies

Summary

This article discusses the history of the most popular weekly "Przyjaciółka" in the years 1951-1989. It includes events related to the change of the publisher, when in March 1951 the press activity of the "Czytelnik" Publishing Agency was taken over by the Workers' Publishing Co-operative "Prasa". From that time the RSW and its agency - the National Press Publisher became the publisher of the "Przyjaciółka" weekly. This almost 40 year's period in the history of the weekly, when it appeared in over two million copies, can be divided into several sub periods, resulting from the socio-political transformations which occurred in Poland: the years 1951-1956 - the Stalinist period; 1957-1970 - the period of "smali stabilization"; 1971-1981 - the time when "Przyjaciółka" became a family weekly; and the last sub period - 1982-1989 - from the resumption of the publication after the marshal law to the change of the political system as a result of the elections in June 1989. In these sub periods occurred changes of the general editor and his deputy as well as the editorial staff, programmes, the thematic profile of the weekly and its graphic layout. Models of the woman, mother and family propagated in the weekly underwent transformations.