CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Look (American magazine)

magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ2740768 ↗
Source-derived summary

Look was a biweekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa, from March 1937 to October 1971, with editorial offices in New York City. Look began as a tabloid-style magazine emphasizing sports, movie stars, and sensationalism; after World War II, it became more family-oriented and covered social and political subjects, as well as personalities, food, fashion, and sports. It published many important articles about racial injustice and the civil rights movement. “A large-sized magazine of 11 in × 14 in (279 mm × 356 mm), it was a direct competitor to market leader Life. Look ceased publication in 1971.

Origin

Gardner "Mike" Cowles Jr. (1903–1985), the magazine's co-founder (with his brother John) and first editor, was executive editor of The Des Moines Register and The Des Moines Tribune. When the first issue went on sale in early 1937, it sold 705,000 copies.

Although planned to begin with the January 1937 issue, the actual first issue of Look to be distributed was the February 1937 issue, numbered as Volume 1, Number 2. It was published monthly for five issues (February–May 1937), then switched to biweekly starting with the May 11, 1937 issue.

Editorial summary

“Look (American magazine)” enters the record as magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Look, American and magazine can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1937, 1971, 1903, 1985—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1937. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Look, American and magazine.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Look (American magazine)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Look, American and magazine provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2740768. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937, 1971, 1903 and 1985.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Look (American magazine)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Look (American magazine) primary sources, Look (American magazine) archive and Look research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Look (American magazine)”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Look (American magazine)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.