Face Lifted

When shrewd, alert little George Backer bought the New York Post last June, he knew that it was losing around $500,000 a year, knew also that he would have to sink more money in it. A city councilman (representing the American Labor Party) and philanthropist, president of the Jewish Telegraph Agency, George Backer at 37 was rich from the proceeds of his Manhattan real-estate business. He thought he could spare the money.

First thing he did was to hire some of the liberal features that Roy Howard's World-Telegram had dropped, including Cartoonist Rollin Kirby, Columnist Heywood Broun, who died after writing one column for the Post. Advertisers, including R. H. Macy & Co., responded by giving George Backer their accounts, upping the Post's linage.

This week George Backer (assisted by Industrial Designer Norman Bel Geddes) gave the Post a thoroughgoing beauty treatment, spent something over $60,000 to lift its typeface, departmentalize its news. In a 32-page edition (biggest since Publisher Backer acquired it), with a handsome new logotype atop p. 1, bolder headlines, no rules between columns, the Post made its bid to head off such newspaper innovations as Ralph McAllister Ingersoll's new evening tabloid, P. M., announced for next June (TIME, Jan. 22). Stories inside were squared off, divided by rules (like boxes) with separate departmental heads. Up from 7 pt. to 8 pt. went the Post's type throughout.

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