Was the submitted Butterick Pattern Book taxable when it was sold to the public in magazine format and contained advertising?

Plain-English summary

San Francisco auditing staff asked Headquarters Sales Tax Counsel about a submitted pattern publication. Counsel distinguished an April 9, 1953 letter, recorded on page 45 of the 1953 Index and Digest, that had held a pattern book was not a periodical.

The memorandum characterized the older letter as limited to a large reference book kept at a department store or other store selling yardage and patterns. Customers used it to select a pattern, it generally contained no advertising, and it was neither sold nor given to the public.

The submitted Butterick Pattern Book for Fall 1955 was different: it was sold to the general public, resembled a magazine, and contained advertising as well as patterns. The official page visibly prints that it “is priced at 351”; this page does not reinterpret the unexplained characters as a currency amount. California concluded that this submitted publication was not taxable.

Source and live-annotation limits

The official PDF does not include the August 30 auditing letter or its year, page 45 of the 1953 Index and Digest, the April 9, 1953 letter, the Butterick Pattern Book for Fall 1955, price or sales evidence, issue schedule, store reference book, patterns, advertising, publisher, seller, purchasers, invoices, distributions, returns, exemption claim, tax calculation or payment, audit workpapers, assessment, claim, appeal, or other outcome. The auditor initials and counsel initials are supplied, but no taxpayer or transaction party is identified.

The memorandum says the April 9, 1953 letter was intended for a large in-store pattern-selection book that generally lacked advertising and was not publicly distributed. CDTFA's separately published supporting letter for Annotation 385.0360, freshly fetched directly on September 5, 2026, instead expressly names the “McCall quarterly pattern book” and does not state the store-reference facts. The 1955 memorandum supplies no underlying record resolving that conflict, so this page preserves both source accounts.

The live annotation says publicly sold, magazine-format pattern books issued at intervals not exceeding three months qualify as exempt. The supporting memorandum does not state the Butterick book's issue frequency. The live entry also omits the August 30 auditing request, Butterick title and Fall 1955 edition, printed “351” price, advertising, prior letter and Index and Digest provenance, conflict with the published 385.0360 source, missing records, and outcome limits.

What this means for you

Pattern publishers, fabric retailers, and tax professionals

Distinguish a publication sold to the public from an in-store reference tool used to select merchandise. Preserve the publication, issue schedule, advertising, pricing, distribution, sales and audit records, especially when the supporting memorandum does not state frequency.

Common questions

Q: What kind of pattern book did the older letter address?

A: A large in-store book used by customers to select patterns, not sold or given to the public.

Q: Why was the submitted Butterick book different?

A: It was sold to the public, resembled a magazine, and contained advertising.

Q: Does this memorandum state how often it was issued?

A: No. The frequency statement appears in CDTFA's annotation summary, not in the supporting memorandum.

Q: Does the published 1953 supporting letter describe the same in-store reference book?

A: No. Annotation 385.0360's source names a McCall quarterly pattern book and does not include the later memorandum's store-reference facts.

Citations and references

• April 9, 1953 E. H. Stetson letter published for Annotation 385.0360, identified with 1953 Index and Digest page 45 — characterized by the 1955 source as addressing a large in-store reference book, although the 1953 source instead names a McCall quarterly pattern book
• August 30 auditing letter, Butterick Pattern Book for Fall 1955, issue schedule, price and sales records, tax and auditing records, and outcomes — described or implicated but not documented
• No statute, regulation, case, ruling, or other numbered legal authority appears in the supporting memorandum

Verbatim support

From the official Sales Tax Counsel memorandum:

It is used by customers to select a pattern which they wish to buy. It generally does not contain advertising. It is not sold or given away to the general public.

It is sold to the general public and has the general format of a magazine. In addition to the patterns, it contains advertising.

Unfortunately, the term pattern book is used in more than one instance and the publication which you submitted is not the type of pattern book which Mr. Stetson had in mind when writing his 1953 letter.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Annotation page: Annotation 385.0380
• Original supporting opinion: 385.0380 PDF

Original ruling text

385.0380

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

September 16, 1955

To:

San Francisco - Auditing (ESA)

From:

Headquarters - Sales Tax Counsel (BH)

Subject:

Pattern Books

This is in reply to your letter of August 30. Mr. Stetson's letter of April 9, 1953, on page 45 of the 1953 Index and Digest and which held that a pattern book was not a periodical, was intended to apply to the type of pattern book used by a department store or other store selling yardage and patterns and which is a large book not removed from the premises. It is used by customers to select a pattern which they wish to buy. It generally does not contain advertising. It is not sold or given away to the general public. You have submitted to us a publication called "Butterick Pattern Book for Fall 1955" and is priced at 351. It is sold to the general public and has the general format of a magazine. In addition to the patterns, it contains advertising. Unfortunately, the term pattern book is used in more than one instance and the publication which you submitted is not the type of pattern book which Mr. Stetson had in mind when writing his 1953 letter. The publication which you submitted is not taxable.

Bill Holden

BH:tj