Margaret Fishback, later Margaret Fishback Antolini (March 10, 1900 – September 25, 1985), was an American poet and prose author from the late 1920s until the 1960s. During the 1930s, she was reputed to be the highest-paid female advertising copywriter in the world.
Born in Washington, D.C., she earned a degree from Goucher College before joining Macy's as a divisional advertising copywriter in 1926.[1] During the 1930s, she was reputed to be the world's highest-paid female advertising copywriter.[2] She was published in The New Yorker, the New York Herald Tribune, and several well-known women's magazines.[3] According to a large collection of her papers held by Duke's Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History, "Fishback contributed to advertising campaigns for Arrow Shirts, Borden's, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Clairol, DuPont, Gimbels, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), Hanes Hosiery, Martex, Norsk, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Seagram's, Simmons Beautyrest, and Wrigley, among several others."[4]
Fishback died in Camden, Maine, at the age of 85.[5] Fishback was married to Alberto Gastone Antolini, the chief rug buyer for Macy's, from 1935 to 1956. They had one son, Anthony Antolini.[6]
An extensive selection of Fishback's poetry first published in periodicals later appeared in book form. Among these collections were the following:
Fishback also wrote some books for children and collaborated with artist Hilary Knight to produce A Child's Book of Natural History (USA: Platt & Monk, 1969), a revision and extension of A Child's Primer of Natural History by Oliver Herford. She wrote a book of etiquette, Safe Conduct: When to Behave—And Why, and a humorous guide to parenthood under the title Look Who's a Mother! A Book About Babies for Parents, Expectant and Otherwise.