Adventure magazine’s office – The Butterick Building

Adventure magazine was published by the Butterick Co., which was a sewing pattern company that also published magazines. Their office cum factory was in the Butterick Building, built in 1903, which housed the printing presses and the editorial offices as well as the sewing lines. In its time, this was a skyscraper.

This is what the building looked like in 1905. Note the horse drawn carriage near the building. Ford’s Model T was to yet to be introduced; It would arrive in 1908.

Butterick Building c. 1905 (From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York)

Another view from street level. This one is from 1910.

Butterick Building c. 1910 (Image courtesy collectible seller on BidStart)

The plan of the first floor. The visitor entrance was on the intersection of Spring and MacDougal Street. There was a separate entrance for employees, and the building had elevators.

Butterick Building ground floor plan

This is what the lobby of the building looked like in 1910.

Butterick Building Reception Lobby (Image courtesy Ebay seller)

The presses were located in the lower stories of the building. It was the largest publishing operation in the United States outside of the U.S. Government.

Butterick Building, Printing Presses (Image courtesy Ebay seller)

The shop floor where the cut patterns were folded.

Butterick Patterns shop floor (Image courtesy Ebay seller)

The circulation department c. 1905

Butterick Publishing, Circulation Department (From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York)

The Delineator editorial office c. 1904. The Adventure magazine office probably had a similar layout. Note the fire sprinkler system on the ceiling (advanced for its time).

The Delineator editorial office c. 1904 (From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York)

A private office’s interior c. 1904

Private editorial office, Delineator magazine c. 1904 (From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York)

The building still exists today, though the interiors must have changed. It’s the home of Vogue Patterns, owned by the McCall pattern company. McCall took over Butterick’s and Vogue Patterns in 2001.

Butterick Building c. 2013 (Image courtesy Google Maps Street View)

3 comments

  1. These photos back up what I've long suspected; ADVENTURE in the teens and twenties was not a shoestring operation like many pulp publishers. The reception lobbly was very impressive and there were alot of employees. In one issue in the twenties, editor Arthur Sullivant Hoffman mentioned the seven male employees that worked on ADVENTURE. Plus there were clerical workers also. A quality magazine indeed.

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