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Vintage Magazines?

Miss Vixen

New in Town
Messages
31
Location
The Crystal Coast, NC
I also love to collect old magazines. I just got a *fresh* pile of Life magazines 19-51-1955 in the mail yesterday. I also have a lot of old 1950s womans day magazines. I can go for hours pouring over the old life magazines. The advertisements are PRICELESS!! love the ones about Bad Breath... hahaha two young people dating and they show the bubble cloud over the guys head *I wonder if I should tell her that her breath is not fresh* lolol the ads for health aids also crack me up as well as the Cigarette commercials where the DOCTOR is in his office smoking :eusa_clap I also collect vintage cookbooks and just got 14 books from 1945-1951 from the *Culinary Art institute* they are in mint condition and I cannot believe they are 63 years old!!! it is like someone got them and shoved them in a preservation box and never looked back. The receipes are fantastic and I laugh at some of the ingredients that I have never heard of like *Scalded Milk* and *Sour Milk* Good to see a lot of you also love the old magazines!!

Vix
 

Carlisle Blues

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,154
Location
Beautiful Horse Country
Mine are all music mags ..... discussions, techniques and sheet music.
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kittypackard

Familiar Face
Messages
57
Location
Hollywood, CA
vintage mag mad

ohhh what a euphoric feeling to find myself amidst a sea of kindred spirits! to answer the original question, and to concur with all the other comments .... YES. i ABSOLUTELY use vintage mags for everything from recipes to decor tips.

(as we speak, there are about 30 minutes left on a 1940 Photoplay magazine featuring Carole Lombard that I'm bidding on Ebay ... i will NOT be outbid!!!)
 

Vintage Betty

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,300
Location
California, USA
I've collected vintage magazines (and books, etc) for decades. I am currently cataloging my collection, which mostly focuses on vintage fashion. My earliest magazine edition that I've catalogued so far is 1855, but if you also include newspapers under the same category, I have them going back to the Civil War era at least.

I only have 400 or so issues catalogued by title and date so far, but believe I have 500 issues of vintage magazines alone, not counting newspapers, books, etc.

I was particularly lucky about two years ago as I found a book dealer at the exact right time who was moving to a different country. I purchased her 120 magazine collection from France and about 15 antique fashion books for a steal. The postage cost more than the purchase and my postman practically broke his back delivering the huge box to the bottom of my stairs! :rolleyes: lol
 

Matt Deckard

Man of Action
Messages
10,045
Location
A devout capitalist in Los Angeles CA.
30's National Geographic... back when they took pictures of the explorers as much as the bugs and scenery. The adventure gear and ads are always the main draw for my eyes.

Following would be my stacks of Esquires from the 30's and 40's. Never did like hanging out at the library much to read them so I started getting them about 10 years ago and would get comment after comment about the stack by my desk at work. Nothing better suited save the Sears Roebuck catalog that shows how to dress for success back in the day.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,165
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Foofoogal said:
I have a ? on these old magazines. Would storing them in a vintage suitcase help preserve them? Do you put yours in some sort of sleeve?
http://www.sandysfancypants.blogspot.com

Sleeves offer some physical protection, but the biggest enemies of old paper are sunlight and oxygen. I keep most of mine tightly stacked in a dark, cool, dry closet with minimal air circulation. The ones I have out for reading/display in my living room I rotate from time to time -- and when they're out they're never in direct sun. This is especially important for newsprint/pulp paper publications -- sunlight can really do a number on them.

A suitcase would be fine -- not only would it keep out light and air, it would also keep paper-nibbling bugs at bay.
 

Gene

Practically Family
Messages
963
Location
New Orleans, La.
I mostly collect WWII stuff like Yank, Life, Air Force, and newspapers. I've also got some sheet music and lots of ephemera like letters, documents, etc.

I keep them in a closet in a plastic storage bin in a box in plastic sleeves, I don't want to take any chances (but then it's hell to get them out and look at them too!)
 

chanteuseCarey

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,962
Location
Northern California
I have several Life issues from the WWII period. I got several issues of Child Life from 1920-1945 for our children, a few Delineators from the 1930s, and a few miscellaneous other ones. DH likes Etude, and discovered a number of Yank newspapers from WWII that his father had. I also have collected over 100 issues of a child's weekly newspaper called Le Semain de Susette (its all in French) that was published from 1905-1960, with only a hiatus during WWII when Hitler wouldn't let it be printed.

The only modern magazines I subscribe to are The English Home & English Garden, Australian Smocking and Embroidery & their sister magazine Inspirations. I have collected many, many issues of Sew Beautiful since it started in 1980-something.
 

Warbaby

One Too Many
Messages
1,549
Location
The Wilds of Vancouver Island
I, too, am a vintage magazine junkie. I have quite a few issues of Ladies Home Journal, McCalls and other ladies' magazines from the 1920s (prolly a couple hundred or so). Also several complete years of The Studio from the late teens and early 20s. I have a particular weakness for early science and technology magazines like Technical World.

mcTechWorld_Oct09.jpg
 

Blackthorn

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,520
Location
Oroville
I've been looking for a copy of the National Geographic, March of 1927, for years. I thought I found one on Ebay but when it arrived, it was of March 1972. :rage:

In that issue my friend's mother is sitting on a fence in Ireland, as a young girl. She later immigrated to Boston and she always hated that picture, but her kids love it.
 

Lusti Weather

One of the Regulars
Messages
193
Location
Illinois
I love vintage magazines; I collect vintage pinup (the avatar I'm currently using is actually a scan from my collection), fashion and movie mags. They're so inspiring!
 

Coopsgirl

New in Town
Messages
48
Location
Texas
I store mine in mylar sleeves and I get them from the Bags Unlimited website. They have everything you need for storage. I keep my miniblinds closed in my livingroom where my magazine rack is and I also have dark curtains so the sunlight won't damage all my old stuff. I also have three lamps along with my main light fixture otherwise I'd be stumbling around in the dark I guess. :eusa_doh:
 

Forgotten Man

One Too Many
Messages
1,944
Location
City Dump 32 E. River Sutton Place.
I have a small collection of mags from the early 30s to the late 40s. I have two VANITY FAIR issues, one from 1930 and one from 1934… I find VANITY FAIR of those years to be pretty interesting and full of great photos and ads.

Also have a handful of LIFE from 1940 to 1943. I have the Lindy Hop issue with the dancers on the cover, also have the 8th Air Force issue with all the bomber crews on the cover.

Most of mine are in plastic stacked in a rubber made bin under my bed. They don’t get pulled out much. I do have a 1928 copy of National Geographic on my coffee table… has an article about Charles Lindbergh and many ads for house hold appliances!

Foofoogal asked if old mags are a good reference to learning more about the past… my answer is YES! One of the best resources for finding information about the world of the era you want to know more about is in old magazines! The way they wrote most of the articles and the topics will give you an education about the era you are interested in more then movies. They are enjoyable and one can learn quite a lot from them.
 

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