Yearbook of Bibliology and Press Studies

Summary

This study presents the recent history of a popular Polish women's weekly "Przyjaciółka" [A Woman Friend], which has been published for half a century. The weekly was established in 1948 by Jerzy Borejsza - President of the publishing office - Spółdzielnia Wydawniczo-Oświatowa "Czytelnik". Borejsza intended to publish a popular weekly for women with the "lowest degree of general education who were important as a labour force" and voters. The weekly referred to "Mała Przyjaciółka", a biweekly magazine published in Alfred Ksycki's Printing Enterprise in Żnin in the years 1934-1939, and it imitated its form and content based on readers' letters which shaped the programme of the weekly, including such features as "Our Readers Write and »Przyjaciółka« Replies", "Among Ourselves", "Joys and Sorrows" and others.
This study is the first of the three-part history of "Przyjaciółka", which includes various periods during which the publisher was changed and alongside the programme of the weekly, its editor-in-chief and often the editorial board, graphic layout, publishing technique, etc. Also readership changed: women from rural areas and small towns, women workers, workers' wives, who changed their interests and gained new occupations in the process of their adult education and became economically independent, made greater demands on the editorial board. However, they still requested advice in the field of law, child upbringing, health protection and the management of household, because they remained wives, housewives and mothers.
Causes and circumstances of the high circulation of "Przyjaciółka" (at times over three million copies, all sold) are discussed. This high popularity was due, among others, to good advertising policy (information about the weekly was published in daily newspapers dedicated to rural population) and the distribution of the weekly was well organised. The first two issues were attached free of charge to "Rolnik Polski" [Polish Farmer]. The editorial board delegated reporter teams of "Przyjaciółka" to particular provinces together with the music group „Artos" which offered free concerts. The reporter team also included a physician, educator and lawyer, who provided advice on site. At the same time the weekly's employees received subscriptions.
The first part of this study includes the period between 1948-1950, when "Przyjaciółka" was published by the "Czytelnik" Publishing House and it describes the general social and political situation in Poland, the state of art and the literature concerning the weekly, various initiatives undertaken by the editorial board as well as the personal model of a woman and family propagated in the years of the Three-Year Plan 1948-1950.