[7] In the 1890s its content was re-centered on entertainment, and it began to target adults as well as children with pieces contributed by writers such as Jane Addams,[8] Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Booker T. Washington, and Jack London.

It did, however, retain a children's section, which included short poems and puzzles, and in faith to its beginnings, however, The Youth's Companion did not mention nor advertise drugs or alcohol, nor did it delve much into politics; when it did, it usually did so in a humorous way.

On September 8, 1892, the magazine published the first copy of the Pledge of Allegiance, written by staff member Francis Bellamy.

When he embarked on his own writing career, Gardner borrowed the name "Perry Mason" for his famous fictional attorney-detective.

[11] In the 1947, movie Life with Father, which is set in the 1880s, the children of the family mention reading The Youth's Companion.