The inaugural issue of Reader's Digest, cofounded by Lila Acheson Wallace, was mailed to subscribers from New York.
On February 5, 1922, the very first issue of Reader's Digest was mailed out to subscribers, marking the launch of what would become one of the most widely circulated magazines in the world. Lila Acheson Wallace and her husband DeWitt Wallace had spent months soliciting subscriptions by mail, working from a small office beneath a speakeasy in Greenwich Village, New York City.
The magazine's concept—condensing and curating the best articles from other periodicals into a compact, accessible monthly format—was innovative for its time, catering to busy readers who wanted substantive content without the length of full-length publications. Lila played a pivotal role in shaping the magazine's tone, selecting articles, and managing the business side of the operation.
The success of that first issue, printed with capital scraped together by the couple, proved the viability of their concept and set the stage for explosive growth. Within just over a decade, circulation would surpass one million copies, and eventually the magazine would be published in dozens of languages worldwide. This single mailing represents the founding moment of an enterprise that would generate immense wealth, funding decades of philanthropy in the arts, education, and public health under the Wallaces' direction.