The magazine was expensive for the time; subscribers paid $3 per year (for comparison, "The Saturday Evening Post" was only $2 per year). Even so, it was the most popular journal in its day. Under Hale's editorship, the list of subscribers to "Godey's" reached 150,000. Hale took advantage of her role and became influential as an arbiter of American taste. She used some of her influence to further several causes for women. For example, she created a regular section with the heading "Employment for Women" beginning in 1852 to discuss women in the workforce.