“Robbinsdale’s brick sky scraper, where three million readers all over the United States look to find their jokes, love stories and blood curdling adventure yarns in the three magazines published here- Whiz Bang, True Confessions and Triple X- has added another story so that it one of the most impressive buildings in the city. Tourists swinging along the “pines to palms” route see the Fawcett sign first and know they have reached the home of that amazing little magazine that made Robbinsdale famous-Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang. The addition of the new third floor marks another forward step in the progress of the Fawcett Publications toward keeping the lead wrested from all competitors in their line of magazines.
On this floor is now established the personnel of the largest magazine to crack its shell and give forth its triumphant crow-Triple-X. Visitors find here a model of organization in an atmosphere of efficient accomplishment-and may follow the process of publishing a magazine from the time the hundreds of manuscripts are dumped out of the morning sack of mail to the final proof of the complete story, illustrated and in type, ready for the printing press. So rapid has been the growth of the organization that when the sign which first went up; “One Million Readers,” was scarcely dry another million had been added to the list by Triple X and the other publication Winter Annual. Looking back the organization seems to have risen like the creation pf Aladdin’s wonderful lamp. In July, 1922, the new building at the end of the Robbinsdale street car line which was to house the Security State Bank and the Fawcett offices was sufficiently large for publication needs. Six months later it was necessary to increase floor space by adding another building at the rear.
And all this from the modest beginning four years ago with an office force of two bookkeepers, an adressograph operator and stenographer. Captain Billy and Harvey Fawcet! According to Harvey Fawcett the business manager, the expenditures in Robbinsdale and Minneapolis for printing and publishing from January 1921 to March, 1924 was 2,250,000. For this year alone the estimated expenditures will reach a total of 3, 350,000. From these figures it is apparent that the Fawcett ‘skyscraper’ houses Robbinsdale’s most important industry. The payroll here amounts to $125,000 annually. Advertising alone runs into tens of thousand in putting these magazines in the public eye from billboards and newspaper columns.”
From The Northern Headlight, September 17th 1924
