d make them readers of their papers.
But they were equally frank in confessing that they were ignorant both
of what women wanted, and, even if they knew, of where such material
was to be had. Edward at once saw that here was an open field. It was
a productive field, since, as woman was the purchasing power, it would
benefit the newspaper enormously in its advertising if it could offer a
feminine clientele.

There was a bright letter of New York gossip published in the _New York
Star_, called "Bab's Babble." Edward had read it, and saw the
possibility of syndicating this item as a woman's letter from New York.
He instinctively realized that women all over the country would read
it. He sought out the author, made arrangements with her and with
former Governor Dorscheimer, owner of the paper, and the letter was
sent out to a group of papers. It was an instantaneous success, and a
syndicate of ninety newspapers was quickly organized.

Edward followed this up by engaging Ella Wheeler Wilcox, then at the
height of her career, to write a weekly letter on women's topics. This
he syndicated in conjunction with the other letter, and the editors
invariably grouped the two letters. This, in turn, naturally led to
the idea of supplying an entire page of matter of interest to women.
The plan was proposed to a number of editors, who at once saw the
possibilities in it and promised support. The young syndicator now
laid under contribution all the famous women writers of the day; he
chose the best of the men writers to write on women's topics; and it
was not long before the syndicate was supplying a page of women's
material. The newspapers played up the innovation, and thus was
introduced into the newspaper press of the United States the "Woman's
Page."

The material supplied by the Bok Syndicate Press was of the best; the
standard was kept high; the writers were selected from among the most
popular authors of the day; and readability was the cardinal note. The
women bought the newspapers containing the new page, the advertiser
began to feel the presence of the new reader, and every newspaper that
could not get the rights for the "Bok Page," as it came to be known,
started a "Woman's Page" of its own. Naturally, the material so
obtained was of an inferior character. No single newspaper could
afford what the syndicate, with the expense divided among a hundred
newspapers, could pay. Nor had the editors of these woman's pag