Editorial form of the “Przyjaciółka” weekly – inspirations and changes. Part 1: 1948–1956

Abstract

The press hit of the PRL readers, the weekly “Przyjaciółka”, has received many studies mainly relating to its content, analyzed in various contexts and perspectives. The subject of its publishing form – the editorial shape, graphic design, lettering or typography – of important tools of visual communication, carrying a specific propaganda message of the political administrator of the journal, was discussed much less frequently. These elements were outlined in chronological order, with particular reference to the period when “Przyjaciółka” was published under the name of the Instytut Prasy Spółdzielni Wydawniczo-Oświatowej „Czytelnik” (March 1948–February 1951) and in the first years at the Robotnicza Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza “Prasa” (March 1951–1956). The starting point for the analysis is the direct predecessor of “Przyjaciółka”, the pre-war nationwide biweekly “Moja Przyjaciółka” from Żnin in Wielkopolska region, published in the years 1934–1939. Its graphic design was prepared by young graduates of the Poznań “Zdobnicza” College, who created, inter alia, for this magazine original cover illustrations. Although “Przyjaciółka” weekly, faithful to the conventions of realism, did not transfer this kind of solutions to its covers and used photographs, on its back cover for many years it published reproductions of paintings, and its draftsmen in the discussed and later period included: Władysław Buśkiewicz, Jadwiga Lipowska, Antoni Uniechowski, Grażyna Staszko, Ada Święcicka, occasionally Maja Berezowska. High circulation, reaching even 2 million copies of a single issue, made it, after all, a tool for shaping the taste of an aesthetic multi-million audience.