Old MagazinesOld Magazines Are a "Snap-shot of Life!"
Old magazines are great! They are a "snap-shot" of life itself!
That's it! That's why we enjoy collecting magazines. That's the feeling we get when we browse through one of our many, many old magazines. That's why we collect them!
A (very little) History of Old MagazinesLet's go back, (just for a moment) and look at the early stages of magazine development. In the early 1700's, America, was not even yet America! Even so, the concept of a magazine was beginning to take shape! The early magazine was not much to look at! Mostly, they were lengthy passages from books "copied" into a magazine format. ...boring!...Plus, there was another major problem here! Can you guess what it was? Yep! Most of those people back then, couldn't even read! And the ones that could, had already read the books that the magazines were copying! As a result, the early version of the magazine, didn't really catch on!" GO FIGURE! Fast forward a few years! Our country matured quite rapidly...even though we had several major wars that got in the way! As a nation, we really didn't settle down until after the Civil War.
What took So Long?First, much more of the general population could now read...literacy had improved! Manufacturing techniques had improved, as well! So had the postal system! And, the people of this nation were becoming more comfortable with themselves!Plus, publisher's were now getting smart! They began to write interesting articles about subjects that the common man would want to read! Articles about farming, animals, common machines, religion, politics; these were all subjects of the time that people were concerned with!
These articles continued to gain interest as time went on. Now, sprinkle in a little humor, a few advertisements, and some real-life photograph's! The result? In the early 1900's, magazines grew to become quite popular and interesting to read! They remain so, to this very day! C'mon! Who doesn't love looking through a magazine?
Why Do People Collect Old Magazines?Here are a few reasons!
How Much and Where?When shopping for vintage magazines, you will find that prices vary greatly. Like most antique collectibles, the cost of an old magazine is directly related to the age, condition, and the general demand of each issue!Most antique dealers selling vintage magazines know which magazines will sell, and mark them up accordingly. So, don't expect to find any "steals" there. However, you may find an occasional bargain at a shop that normally doesn't sell or specialize in magazines. If you do, look them over closely and buy what you can! Those opportunity's don't come around very often! Instead, go check out a few flea markets or neighborhood garage sales. Many people are willing to sell you "the whole stack" for a minimal price. They may be simply "tired" of lugging them around and storing them!
LIFE Magazines......they are still a hot collectible!There is a magazine collector for almost any vintage magazine out there! But the most popular, by far, is LIFE Magazine! They were popular then, and now! And probably always will be!
LIFE magazine's are probably the easiest to find of all vintage magazines. They are large, colorful, and normally have outstanding eye-catching covers! Many older, more common issues, can be found for a few dollars! For example, we just paid $4 for a 1969 issue of a Life magazine (Apollo 12 on the Moon). But why stop there? Go log in at ebay and do a search for LIFE magazines. We just did it and there were 6924 results! Amazing! Prices range from $1.00 (plus shipping) for a single issue, to well past $2000.00 for special collections. Hot collectible topics continue to be: WWII, JFK, The Beatles, various political issues, and many other famous people, including of course...Elvis Presley! Should that copy be personally autographed, then you have an "extremely hot" collectible on your hands! Preserve it well!
Preserving Old MagazinesDue mainly to their physical size, preserving magazines is slightly different than smaller paper ephemera items, see (paper preservation). But in general, the rules remain the same:
Random Notes...
To cut...or not to cut! That is the question! Many collectors and dealers buy vintage magazines solely, for the vintage advertising ! Then, they cut out the ads and re-sell them individually. Why? Simple! They can make much more money selling a few individual ads versus selling the entire magazine! But is that the right thing to do? Well, a true ephemera collector will, no doubt, argue the opposite. Tearing apart a magazine is like tearing apart the true integrity of the magazine itself! It just isn't the same! Who's right? Who's wrong? You decide! Ultimately, it is your choice...your decision! Our Advice? Hmmn! Tough one here! We believe in keeping the original magazine fully intact! We like to see the "whole Picture", so to speak! However, (long ago), we have purchased individual ads ourselves! The ads added in nicely to a collection of ours that we may not have normally been able to find! Once again...you must decide! Return from Old Magazines to Paper Examples |
