PPA was incorporated under the Companies Act 1908 and 1913 on 21 November 1913, as The Society of Weekly Newspaper and Periodical Proprietors. It began life in under the chairmanship of Sir George Allardice Riddell (later Lord Riddell) (1865-1934), secretary of the Newspaper Proprietors' Association (now the Newspaper Publishers Association), based at 6 Bouverie Street.
The office at 6 Bouverie Street and all its contents was destroyed in the Blitz of May 1941 (the night of 11 May according to General Council minutes). A claim was registered in respect of the Association's lost equipment which was insured under the War Damage Act for £650.
After a brief spell at the offices of Punch, the Periodical Trade Press and Weekly Newspaper Proprietors Association re-located to Imperial House, Kingsway, in time for the 1941 AGM where a loss of £22.6.8d was reported for 1940. The Newspaper Proprietors' Association moved elsewhere. The cost of re-equipping the association was estimated at £1,000, to be funded by a levy of 50% of each member's annual subscription.
At the time of the relocation, the association, under the presidency of Lord Southwood, consisted of two councils – the Council of the Periodical and Weekly Newspaper Press, and the Trade and Technical Press Council. There were also several committees, including the Finance Committee, the Circulation Managers' Committee, the Joint Advertising Committee (formed in conjunction with the Newspaper Society in 1926 to administer an advertising agency recognition scheme), and the Advertisement Committee.
The Periodical Trade Press (PTP) and Weekly Newspaper Proprietors Association (WNPA) and Newspaper Society Joint Advertising Committee effectively disbanded after irreconcilable differences led to approval of a separate PTP and WNPA scheme on 27 October 1942. The Periodical Proprietors Association became the Periodical Publishers Association on 29 August 1967.