In the Beginning

2011-07-25T11:39:00.000-04:00

Food City

Although I've resolved to no longer add to my collection of first issue serials, I found a freebie yesterday at Caribou, which if you are from Columbus, you might pick up: Food City from 614 magazine. It's a biannual, I think. I thought it would imitate Edible Columbus, also a relatively new magazine, but there's more emphasis on restaurants.

The first issue features four chefs, including Cameron Mitchell who went to Upper Arlington high school when my kids were there in the 80s, and always has an interesting tale on achieving your dreams. The issue I have includes 41 full page menus of local restaurants, in case you're bored with the usual stops....

Found some interesting food thoughts, like Elvis pie--peanut butter, chocolate and bananas. I used to make something like Elvis pie (not as pretty as their photo) but decided I liked it better without the bananas which always got a bit soggy.

Kimberly Stolz, the Managing Editor and one of the writers, must have a great job, because she tastes what she writes about. Also, I see that if you keep your blog focused (I don’t) you can get a real writing gig like “Breakfast with Nick.”

"Welcome to Food City, a biannual offering from (614) Magazine that celebrates all Columbus has to offer in the realm of repasts and restaurants, recipes and recommendations." Kimberly Stolz

Food City Columbus Issue 1, [Summer 2011] issn: na Price: Free subscription price: na frequency: biannual Subject: restaurants--Columbus, Ohio Publisher: (614) Media Group 458 E. Main St. Columbus, OH 43215 Wayne T. Lewis and Clark Gaines, publishers (614)magazine Managing Editor: Kimberly Stolz Editorial Director: Travis Hoewischer Copyright by Lewis & Clark Media LLC

2011-03-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Discovery

The subtitle for this in-house journal is "a publication for alumni and friends of The Ohio State University College of Education." Greg Bown, director of communications of the College and Editor of Discovery wrote about his trip to North Carolina and Hurricane Bertha and Hurricane Fran eventually getting around to his interest in this journal, but try as I might, I couldn't get his drift. . . something about the hurricanes made him appreciate more the ties between what we care about and what we know and seek to know.

This is not a particularly exciting journal, but it seems that OSUL could do a better job of keeping up with campus publications. Of the six years (through 2002), it only has 3 issues, according to the record.

Discovery
Premiere Issue, Autumn 1996, Vol. 1; no. 1
Status: journal, free
ISSN NA; OCLC # 36030140
Frequency: [quarterly]
Subject: The Ohio State University College of Education, Alumni
Published by: The Ohio State University College of Education
Address: 110 Arps Hall, 1945 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio 43210-1172
Editor: Greg Brown, Brown.47@osu.edu
Editorial Assistants: Stacy Wood, Nancy Swearengin

OSU has an incomplete set in the Book Depository through 2002. Link.

2011-03-07T14:00:00.001-05:00

Tracings

Tracings was the official newsletter of the Ohio State University Libraries from 1986-1990. Its theme was "bringing together the University Libraries and the academic community," and its aim was to be both informative and instructive. The first issue had an update from Director William J. Studer on the collection, the archives, preservation, automation, user education and a plan for expanded physical facilities. Jill B. Fatzer, Assistant Director, explained the Main Library reorganization. Brief articles expanded on some of these topics, including a story about preservation by Sally Sims which included a photo of Wes Boomgaarden and Harry Campbell, whom I just saw last Thursday in a tour of the new Technical Services Building on Kinnear Road. Noelle Van Pulis submitted an article on "direct access to LCS" from home and office, which was quite innovative then. Soon, books will be the unusual item in libraries.

Tracings
Winter 1986, Volume 1, Issue 1
Status: newsletter, free
ISSN NA
Frequency: 3x academic year--January, May, October
Subject: The Ohio State University Libraries, library staff, Collections
Published by: The Ohio State University Libraries
Address: 200 Main Library, 1858 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1286
Editor: Robert Thorson
Staff: Mary-Beth Bunge and Sally R. Sims

OSUL has 2 copies, in Thompson, and in Archives. Permanent link.
According to the record, Tracings ended in 1990.

2010-01-28T13:42:00.005-05:00

The Garage Slab

One morning the coffee machine wasn't working at Panera's so I went down the street to Caribou, and noticed a stack of magazines, The Garage Slab for Fall 2009. They weren't first issues, but since I'd never seen one, I picked it up (free). I had written a number of blogs on the garages of Lakeside, and this actually had a photo of one of them. I really enjoyed my copy, went back to get another, but they were all gone. So I e-mailed the editor and blogged about the one I had. The editors were appreciative of my praise and last week brought over a stack for me to give away, and also brought me a premiere issue (although it first appeared as a newsletter). If you have a thing for garages, or live with someone who is a bit obsessive about his tools, cars, hoses, etc., then this is for you.

According to Pete's write up in the first issue, this is a rebirth/reissue of a "thank-you" newsletter he started in 2001 after a garage-warming party. He published it for 2 years until their day jobs took them away and Pete "pulled the garage door down and turned out the light." In 2009 the old crew decided to bring The Slab back to life with a new look and numbering system. If you have some great photos, a nifty garage or and important story, check it out with Pete or Ryan, editor@the garageslab.com.

The Garage Slab
April 2009, Volume 1 Issue 1
Continues/resurrects The Garage Slab [newsletter, ca. 2001]
Status: Subscription and/or free circ
ISSN NA
Subject: garages, architecture, popular culture, entertainment, automobiles
Publication schedule: quarterly
Published by: Greasy Shirt Publishing, LLC
Address: 2414 East Main Street
Bexley, Ohio 43209
614-327-8706 (for advertising)
The Garage Slab
$12.95 for four issues
Editor: Pete Foster
Web/Layout Designer: Bob Durrant
Business Development Managers: Ryan Hill, Mike Gast
Contributing Editor: Patrick Hayden

2010-01-18T12:51:00.003-05:00

Edible Columbus--watch for it

I saw a prototype of a new magazine today--"Edible Columbus." "Is that a new magazine?" I asked. "Yes, but it isn't out yet; I'm the publisher." I thought I'd swoon. I'm a first issue collector and here I was about to see a birthing! [No website yet, try this for Edible Brooklyn.]

So we chatted a bit--she's a former New York chef who discovered a "series" of Edible. . [insert name of city or region] magazines and she bought the rights for Columbus. She explained the concept--it will focus on locally grown, sustainable sources with seasonable eatables, great traditions, recipes, related items like gadgets and ingredients, day trips, and events. Some of these events will be held in her mother's newly opened tea room which has room for classes! Right here in Upper Arlington. Swoon twice--a new place to go for coffee or lunch. This will start as a "free-circ" and I suggested she get it in the local public libraries as part of the serial collection to be sure it gets cataloged.

2008-12-31T10:38:00.007-05:00

Lily; beautiful living through faith

If you bought a copy of Lily in Spring 2006, that would be two of us. I can't find any record that it existed, not in a news release or a demise story, although one of the columnists does list her article on her vita. I suspect the field--soft Christian with parenting advice, health tips, decorating and recipes, was just a bit over crowded. It sort of has that Oprahish, scrapbookish spiritual look.

"From the editor" by Wanda J. Ventling: "I, too, have a heart for God, and it has been my desire to create a widely available Christian-lifestyle magazine that meets both spiritual and practical needs since I wrote a business proposal for one in college.. I believe God planted this seed, and He has been faithful to bring an incredible group of people to nurture Lily's development." Ms. Ventling's name appears on several other Meredith publications as a writer or editor.

Articles written by well-known Christian authors such as James Dobson, Gary Smalley, Joyce Meyer; includes book and movie reviews.

One of the tips is in the lower left corner of the cover, "Meredith Specials." Sometimes these become magazines, sometimes not.

Lily; beautiful living through faith
Spring 2006, Premier Issue
Status: Newstand
ISSN NA
Subject: Christian lifestyle, creativity, family, parenting, women
Publication schedule: quarterly
Published by: Meredith Corporation
Address: 1716 Locust Street, LN-218
DesMoines, IA 50309-3023
866-508-7454
no website
$5.99 single
Editor: Wanda J. Ventling
Editorial Director: Gayle Goodson Butler
Chairman and CEO Meredith: William T. Kerr

2008-12-29T10:49:00.006-05:00

Where Women Create

Jo Packham started her publishing career at her kitchen table 30 years ago, developing her idea for cross-stitch publications. In January she joined forces with Kellene Giloff and Jenny Doh of Stampington & Company's Somerset Studio to develop a magazine about the studios and galleries of women who create. The first issue includes 11 women who have built businesses and communities around them.

"So you now hold in your hands one of my oldest, most treasured dreams and if you are a woman who creates, then this is your magazine; a thousand stories told from the hearts and hands of as many women. No matter what you make or what medium you use, this is your safe haven, this is a gallery to showcase your wares, a classroom to learn something new, a source of motivation, reassurance, and inspiration."

Whew! All I want is a few more bookshelves. I don't even have draperies, and my walls are beige with my husband's and my paintings. I can't even imagine working in these types of studios, but there ya go! Something for everyone!

Where Women Create; inspiring work spaces of extraordinary women
Winter 2008, Volume 1, number 1, Premier Issue
Status: Newstand
ISSN NA
Subject: creativity, work spaces, studios, women
Publication schedule: quarterly
Published by: Stampington & Company
Address: 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B
Laguna Hills CA 92653
949-380-7318
http://www.wherewomencreate.com
http://stampington.com
$14.99 single; subscription: 4 issues $59.99
Creator, President & Editor in Chief: Jo Packham
Publisher and President, Stampington & Co.: Kellene Giloff
Printer: Quebecor World, Midland, MI

2008-12-29T09:58:00.007-05:00

Cooking for 2

We've set a table for two. The editors of Taste of Home "have been hearing the same request over and over from readers. Could you give us more recipes that serve only two people. . . Why not publish a new cooking magazine devoted solely to delicious small-scale recipes?" When this Premiere Issue c2004 appeared on newstands the winter of 2005, (display until February 28, 2005, next issue March 1, 2005) Reiman Media was already publishing Taste of Home, Quick Cooking and Light & Tasty.

In addition to lip-smacking good recipes, the issue includes a reference page on reducing ingredients by 1/2 or 1/3, shopping for two tips, and good web sites.

Taste of Home's Cooking for 2
Premiere Issue Winter 2005
ISSN: na
Canadian GST No. 876052820RT
Subject: Cooking, recipes
Publication schedule, quarterly
Reiman Media Group
5400 S. 60th St.
Greendale WI 53129-1404
$3.99 for Premiere Issue, $4.99 Canada
Subscription $19.96/year; $29.98 for 2 years; $39.98 for 3 years; specials on insert cards, $9.98/year
http://www.cookingfor2.com/
Executive editor: Kathy Pohl
Food Editor: Janaan Cuningham
Chairman and Founder: Roy Reiman

The Reiman Media Group web page reports: "Reiman Publications was started in 1965 by Roy Reiman in the basement of his Hales Corners, Wisconsin home. Today, the Reiman Publications family of companies (located in Greendale, Wisconsin) employs over 500 people in full-time and part-time positions including Editorial, Print Production Scheduling, Circulation Marketing, Prepress and Country Store. Affiliated companies include World Wide Country Tours, LLC, Homemaker Schools and Reiman Advertising and Promotion (RAP).

We publish 13 national magazines, many of which have a rural focus, plus a variety of cookbooks and "coffee-table" books."

It was announced in 2002 that Reader’s Digest Association Inc acquired Reiman Publications LLC for US$760 million cash, and also completed US$950 million in syndicated financing that was partially used to fund the Reiman purchase. Link. Initially, there was little change in the folksy format or style, but the most recent Taste of Home I saw looked like any other recipe magazine, including lots of ads and coupons.

2008-12-29T08:53:00.007-05:00

MPLC Connection

This newsletter is intended to keep the library boosters of the Marblehead, Ohio area informed about the progress of their library. Volume 1, issue 1 came out in Fall 2005 and reported that they had a building, the 1914 quarry hospital building in downtown Marblehead. Also there was an update on the book shop, Ex Libris in the Kukay building.

Although I can't find an article about it on the web, I think the original plans for the hospital building fell through due to remodeling and safety costs, and the Ex Libris book shop has since moved to a house and they are now loaning books. The organization has a web site, and is still raising funds for a library building. This grass roots effort on the part of volunteers is the way many communities started their public libraries.

MPLC Connection
Fall 2005 Volume 1, Issue 1
Newsletter
Marblehead Peninsula Library Committee
Subject: libraries, membership
Frequency: unknown
Published by: The Committee
Address: P.O. Box 74
Marblehead, Ohio
Membership Individual $5, Family $10, Bookworm $25, Book Lover $50, Book Collector $100
President Lorrie Halblaub [from Port Clinton News Herald]

2008-09-19T13:22:00.005-04:00

Preen

"Preen is a fashion arts, lifestyle quarterly magazine for the young independent woman that has a curatorial eye for the world around her" says the Preen web page.

The premiere issue which says it is bimonthly was sold in US, UK and Canada and featured writers Terry Richardson, Zee Cassavetes, Cass Bird, KT Auleta, and Amanda de Caderaet. But all was lost on me. The only article I even paused at was the one on cakes at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. However, I checked the web, and 1.5 years after appearing, it is now in issue 7, which is not a bad track record, given the small number of women who would want to dress out of their grandfather's closet and Frederick's catalog.

Welcome to Preen: "The past must be invented, the future must be revised. Doing both makes what the present is." John Cage, composer

Cover: "Redefining fashion rules 100% unique"

Preen; a fantastic trip
Spring(?)2007, Premiere Issue
Status: Newstand
ISSN 1933-9100
Subject: Fashion, lifestyle, arts
Frequency: bimonthly
Published by: LSM Mag. Corp. (initials of publisher)
Address: editorial office, 22311 Brookhurst Ave. Suite 105, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
$5.99 single; $7.99 Canada, subscribe online
Editor in Chief/publisher: Lilly Sein McElroy
Creative director: Mary Fagot

2008-08-20T09:54:00.004-04:00

Boho; a new American spirit

Gina La Morte (The Style Doctor), the editor-in-chief and publisher writes in her first issue welcome, "I created this magazine to inspire girls like you and help you realize that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. . . Caring for our Earth and being a fashionista are not mutually exclusive. Going green isn't about a trend, it's about a genuine concern for our Earth. . .Being a boho is all about enjoying the eclectic mix of things you love in life while still wanting to make a difference in the world around you."

In an interview with DM News she expanded on just how old the readership of the eco-eager magazine will be, because I was thinking it was high school age.

First, let me say, this is an extremely handsome magazine. The paper is recycled, the colors a bit retro (1970s) for my taste, but it is easy to read with a nice mix of type face, photos and drawings. La Morte has worked in the fashion business with and for many non-profits and foundations, and she must have called in a few markers for some full page ads.

Second, "going green" is not a trend, it is definitely mainstream, and it is quite lucrative. American businesses are falling in lock-step with the whole eco-friendly, save a tree, cap your carbon mentality. It is a huge bandwagon upon which they are all riding.

Even with the internet and the help of sites that track magazines, I'm not quite sure of the publisher, Seed Media. Could it be Seed Media Group that publishes science magazines like Seed? That seems a little unlikely, but perhaps the ecology link brought them together.

Although the reader is encouraged to express her own personal style and live the life she wants as a true bohemian, with increasing government hysteria over the climate and restrictive regulation of commerce, particularly those linked to the petroleum industry (just about every commodity in our everyday lives), there's little chance of that in a young woman's future. Unless she has lots of green. The folding stuff, that is.

Boho; a new American spirit
Fall 2008, Issue No.1
Status: Newstand
ISSN NA
Subject: Fashion, environment
Publication schedule [monthly]
Published by: SEED Media
Address: NA
$4.99 single; subscribe online, 30% less than newstand
Editor in Chief/Publisher: Gina La Morte
Vice President: Glenn Wolski

website: http://www.bohomag.com See for subscription details

2008-06-02T15:03:00.005-04:00

Ty Pennington At Home

This premiere issue which went on the newstands in May 2007 is also Vol. XVII, No. 1 of Woman's Day New Ideas Series. From his website: "Hey people! So I've been traveling the country and bringing my style to families who need help for the last couple years, I finally took the time to collect some of my favorite ideas, and some of my current ideas, together. The result is my new mag "Ty Pennington At Home". Pick it up now for tips and tricks on how to bring some style to your pad... without costing yourself a fortune." We learn in the feature "Ty's Team" that his girlfriend Drea Bock is his manager, and that ADHD (who knew?) is his big cause and he's named his gallery ADHD for Art Design Home Decor. Ty was born in the 60s, and I think his magazine and style is just a bit too much 1970s for me--it's everywhere, as are his cross over endorsements for various products. There's just no way I'd stencil a lamp shade in chartreuse and aqua blue--I think I did that in 1969.

Ty Pennington At Home Premiere Issue, [May 2007] issn: na $4.99 US, $5.99 Canada subscription price: na frequency: na Subject: home decorating, home remodeling, lifestyle Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 Woman's Day New Ideas Series pointclickhome Woman's Day Special Interest Publications Editorial Director: Ty Pennington Editor in Chief: Olivia Monjo Group Editorial Director: Jane Chesnutt HFMUS Chairman: Gerald de Roquemaurel

2008-05-13T17:14:00.008-04:00

Quick Cooking

Taste of Home's Quick Cooking appears to have two Premiere Issues, both published in 1998. The covers are different, but the only content that is different is that one is Premiere Issue 1998 (3) and the other is Premiere Collector's Issue 1998 (5); the pagination and recipes are identical.

I'm guessing the one on the left was first, because its price is $2.99; the other is $3.95. I picked them up at the library sale for 50 cents, but wouldn't you be mad if you bought the second one on the basis of the cover and discovered you'd just paid for one you already had?

"Almost from the day we began publishing Taste of Home bimonthly, its readers began pleading with us to publish another cooking magazine on the months "in between" each issue. . . so they could receive this practical kind of food magazine monthly. . . Finally we s=responded, with the Premiere Issue you're now reading. . . The main difference is that Quick Cooking puts a huge premium on time. It's aimed at families where busy parents return home after a stressful day at work and want to put a good meal on the table fast."

I think I just might try that peach cake on p. 22 (see cover on the left above). Based on the publisher's web page, this title has been changed to Simple and Delicious.

Taste of Home's Quick Cooking; rapid recipes with homemade taste Premiere Edition 1998 and Premiere Collector's Issue 1998 ISSN: 1099-632X (supplied) Canadian GST No. R123204331 Subject: Cooking, recipes Publication schedule, bimonthly Reiman Publications 5400 S. 60th St. Greendale WI 53129-1404 $2.99 for Premiere Issue; $3.95 for Premiere Collector's Issue Subscription $17.98/year; $29.98 for 2 years http://www.reimanpub.com Executive editor: Kathy Pohl Food Editor: Coleen Martin Publisher: Roy Reiman

2008-05-09T10:23:00.003-04:00

Not a first, but. . .

From the AIArchitect This Week site: "Better Homes and Gardens, the country’s leading “enthusiast” magazine reaching more than 39 million people monthly, and Wells Fargo & Company announced the 2008 Home Improvement Challenge on April 14. The annual contest continues an 86-year tradition of seeing first-hand how America tackles home improvement projects. (And one question entails whether they employed an architect!) Better Homes and Gardens editors award the most innovative efforts in nine categories. Entries for projects of any size and scope are accepted in the following categories: additions, bath, decorating, exterior face lifts, green improvements, kitchen, outdoor improvement, projects under $5,000, and renovation. One winner in each category will be awarded a $2,500 cash prize. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $40,000 in cash and will be featured in Better Homes and Gardens. Entries are accepted through January 31, 2009. Visit the magazine’s Web site for details and entry forms.

E.T. Meredith, the founder of the company that publishes BHG went into publishing as a teenager. He was the Secretary of Agriculture under President Woodrow Wilson. He ran for senator and governor of Iowa, but lost. In 1928 he was considered as a Democratic nominee for president, but he died that year at age 51. His bio at his Iowa archives reports, "He was a champion of farm relief, tax reform, prohibition, military preparedness, tariff reform, arid land development, the World Court, and the League of Nations. Fruit, Garden and Home published by Meredith became Better Homes and Gardens magazine in 1924 as more and more town folk wanted a home magazine, but didn't have farms. The first issue cost a dime on the newsstand, and a one-year subscription cost 35 cents.

2008-05-05T16:17:00.006-04:00

Players Club; Keep Living the Dream

No price on this Premiere Issue, which I picked up for $.50 at the Friends of the Library sale cart--it's "niche" publishing and will probably have a distribution of 20,000 to a very elite group, depending on advertising of luxury goods (actually all magazines depend on advertising).

Lenny Dykstra, "a star outfielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies in the 1980s and 1990s, has teamed up with Doubledown Media to produce The Players Club, a magazine aimed at helping players manage their millions.

The idea behind the magazine is this: professional athletes are often scorned for their out-size contracts and lifestyles. But once their playing days are over, more than a few of them have trouble finding new jobs, struggle to keep their families together and find that they have spent their savings." (NYT, Dec. 7, 2007)

The relationship between Dykstra and Doubledown Media may be brief, according to a May 1, 2008 story at Porfolio.com. "Now Dykstra and Doubledown are in a legal battle over control of the second, yet-to-be-published issue, with Doubledown accusing the baseball great of skipping out on his debts.

Dykstra struck the first blow, filing suit in federal court on April 25 accusing Doubledown of breaching their contract by withholding the issue and interfering with the magazine's business relationships. On Tuesday, Doubledown, which publishes Trader Monthly and The Cigar Report, hit back with a counterclaim alleging that it was Dykstra who breached their agreement in failing to pay more than half a million dollars he owed."

It's tough starting a magazine. Not a good plan to sue your partner if you're giving out financial advice. I just checked the Doubledown webpage, and Players Club isn't listed as one of their products. Sigh.

Dykstra's "From the Founder" article on p. 19 states:

Players Club Premiere Issue, April 2008 issn: 1941-7128 subscription information 815-734-5821 Subject: athletes, investments, celebrities Doubledown Media 240 West 35th Street, 11th Floor New York, NY 10001 http://doubledownmedia.com Players Club 245 Park Avenue, 39th Floor New York, NY 10167 Founder: Lenny Dykstra Editor-in-chief: Randall Lane

2008-04-15T05:35:00.004-04:00

The Spiritual Journey

I haven't seen it and don't own it. Spiritual Journey is the title of a new magazine of the Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum (OCD) Spirituality Institute of Krakow, Poland. The first issue contains nine scholarly articles on spiritual and Carmelite themes. They are written in diverse languages. However, all the works are summarized in another language, according to the News page on the order's English website.

"The editor, Fr. Grzegorz Firszt, says in the introduction that, "The publication is mainly directed to specialized groups, to religious communities, to ecclesiastical seminarians and to other ecclesiastic groups. However, it is also directed to individual people and to those interested in these themes." This issue also contains messages from the Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow, the Father General of the Order and the Father Provincial of Krakow."

A Discalced (dis-kalst) Carmelite is one who is part of the Carmelite order, which originated in the early 13th century and was reformed by St. Teresa: "In 1562 a Spanish Carmelite nun, known to us as St. Teresa of Avila, assisted by another great Carmelite, St. John of the Cross, established what was to become a new branch of the Carmelite Order, the Discalced Carmelites. "Discalced" comes from the Latin word meaning "unshod." They were so called because the most distinctive thing about their appearance was the fact that, because of their more austere way of life, they wore rope sandals of the poor in place of leather shoes. The Discalced Carmelites, both friars and nuns, aim at a more retired and contemplative form of life. The Carmelite Order today has two branches of their family: the Ancient Observance (O.Carm.) and the Discalced (OCD)." Carmelite Digest

I'll poke around to see if I can get a first issue for my collection. I was reading about the Discalced Carmelites because I've been reading "The Impact of God" which is about St. John of the Cross and the meaning of his poetry. Being a Protestant, I'm somewhat acquainted with the groups and divisions in that branch of Christianity, but reading about religious orders in the Catholic church and their various rules and reforms is a bit like stepping into religious quicksand for me--I'm quickly over my head.

2008-03-24T12:07:00.010-04:00

Homegrown Hospitality

Don't get attached. It's already changed its title and frequency, and it just came out in summer 2007. Originally intended as a special issue for Paper Crafts (no details on frequency), it is now a quarterly called Home and Heart.

Scrap/craft blogger Julia Stanton writes at her blog:

Homegrown Hospitality

Home and Heart

Artist Stephanie Ackerman has a blog by this name--don't know how that affected the title of the magazine. She writes the letter to the readers of the premiere issue, saying she's a busy person with scrapbooking, doodling, baking, laundry, etc.:

I realize everyone has time to do what they enjoy--like blogging, or golf, or tennis, or committee work. But I find it hard to imagine that crafting memories is a "lost art" because I see dozens of magazines devoted to this on every newsstand. When my children were young, the craft ideas were all for them. The women I knew (most hadn't gone back to work yet) knitted, cross-stitched, sewed, baked and organized their neighbors for various good causes--I just don't recall so much emphasis on crafts--although there was in my grandmothers' day, whose magazines were filled with craft and quilting projects.

This issue has features on Family--preserving or starting traditions; Friends--ideas for get togethers and special occasions; Home--quick and creative ideas for organizing and decor. An adorable idea for a bread wrap (for a gift) on p. 52; soup recipe sharing on p. 46.

Here's the new title and cover--on newstands in mid-March--Home and Heart. Submissions for August have closed, but it will be about holidays, I think. They probably won't use the word "Christmas" but I'm guessing that will be one of the traditions featured.

Homegrown Hospitality June/July 2007(?), Premiere Issue ISBN 1-933516-60 7; ISSN 0148-9127 (Paper Crafts Magazine special issue) Subject: Crafts, paper, home decor, recipes Publication schedule: na CK Media, LLC. 14850 Pony Express Rd Bluffdale, Utah 84065 212-448-4573, 801-984-2080 $5.99 single; no subscription information http://www.homegrownhospitality.com Chief Executive officer CK Media: David O'Neil Editor-in-Chief: Stacy Croninger Artist: Stephanie Ackerman e-mail: editor@PaperCraftsMag.com See Stephanie's blog for more information http://homegrownhospitality.typepad.com/homegrown_hospitality/

2008-01-09T09:28:00.001-05:00

50 Business 2.0

Usually this blog is about new and premiere issues, but Business 2.0 (October 2007) actually issued a "Collector's Item: Our Final Issue." I have the feeling from the content, that the staff didn't see it coming. There's a farewell photo, entitled, "So Long, 2.0, Blood, Sweat and Tears," and a letter from editor Josh Quittner. He writes that Business 2.0 was launched nearly a decade ago by Jim Daley and Chris Anderson to cover the "new economy." Time, Inc., its current parent, decided to close the magazine with Vol. 8, no. 9, October 2007. He says he'll be going to Fortune magazine with 9 others to staff a tech bureau in San Francisco that will help feed the magazine and its website. That looks like about 28 or so were out looking for jobs. Good luck, belatedly, guys.

2007-05-23T16:08:00.001-04:00

49 Salon City

When is a Premiere Issue not? "This is our premiere issue. We've actually been sold on newsstands in Hollywood for six years—but now we're coming to you in an all-new look with an even sharper editorial focus. To us, it is a premiere issue in more ways than one." So when you open it, the table of contents page says Volume 7, issue 1, which ought to confuse the cataloguers. The subscription page says, "Salon City attracts a unique audience of over a million influential readers. . . its mission is to celebrate beauty, truth and goodness by publishing stories that elevate the image of people everywhere.

What's new in truth and goodness?

Whew! Did we need another vacuous woman's magazine on face, fashion and frivolity?

Salon City Premiere Issue, April 2007, national edition issn: 1532-9380 $3.99 US, $4.99 Canada $12 a year, subscription for 12 issues, plus $4 postage and handling Subject: entertainment industry, fashion, image Salon City Star PO Box 2385 Beverly Hills, CA 90213 advertising & editorial, info@saloncity.com http://www.saloncity.com/ Editor: Steven G. Casciola Publisher: Steven G. Casciola Creative editor: Annie Casciola

2007-05-23T13:26:00.000-04:00

48 Healthy Life

is dedicted to providing the reader in central Ohio "with relevant information about fitness, beauty and medicine" according to publisher/editor-in-chief Jane W. Peters. The first issue was a freebie in April and I personally know the handsome young doctor on the cover. The first article "Botox; the fountain of youth" carries her by-line. Dr. Soto is an internist with a specialty in "anti-aging medicine and cosmetic treatments." She also is a consultant for Sinclair Broadcasting and you can often see her during the Tuesday evening news. This is followed by an article on healthy eating in restaurants, how to slow down the aging look with proper skin care and chemical peels, how to experience "extreme pampering" at a spa, the importance of daily consistent exercise, and an article on early onset Alzheimer's Disease. It's very thin on content and advertising, but with the right marketers, it has a focus in an area with a lot of interest.

Healthy Life [Premiere Issue] Complimentary Copy, April 2007 ISSN: na Publication schedule: na Subject: fitness, health, Columbus, Ohio Healthy Life Publishing Company 794 Northwest Blvd. Columbus, OH 43212 no information on cost or subscription no website information Editor-in-chief: Jane W. Peters Publisher: Jane W. Peters

2007-04-20T16:56:00.000-04:00

Child will disappear soon

According to Media Life Magazine, "Meredith is closing Child, one of five titles it picked up from Gruner + Jahr in 2005. Its June/July issue will be its last and 30 people will lose their jobs. It will remain as an internet destination, explains a Meredith spokesperson. "We felt in the long term as a brand it would be more sustainable as an online product. It’s something we’ve been looking at for a while."

Overall the parenting category has been suffering for some time as both readers and advertisers migrated online, and that suffering has only been heightened by the entry of two new titles, Cookie, from Conde Nast, and Wondertime, from Disney.

Ad pages for the parenting category were down by 11.1 percent through February after finishing 2006 essentially flat, and Child in particular was suffering, with ad pages down 15.2 percent in 2006 and 33.7 percent for the first two months of 2007. Child's circulation was also on the slide, falling down 18.5 percent for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006, versus the year-earlier period."

Article here.

2007-04-09T15:04:00.001-04:00

47 Lake Erie Living

This one dropped through the mail slot; I didn't even have to look for it. The sub-title is, "good life on a great lake." The contents of the first issue include an article about building a dream home inspired by something seen on HGTV (one of my favorite channels), floating homes on Lake Erie, the Penfield House in Willoughby Hills, "Wright near the Lake," a Frank Lloyd Wright house we visited two years ago, the Schedel Arboretum and Gardens near Toledo, a guide to Lake Erie gulls (will make a good reference for our paintings), an article about Lakeside where we have our summer home, a story about Tibbels Charter fishing service out of Marblehead, Port Clinton's Walleye festival, and an article on boat ownership, including selecting the best one for you. It's really spectacular for an enjoyable first issue.

Editor Sharon Doddroe in her letter to the readers says this magazine only took four months from concept to life and that the people working on it have a history there. "We plan to highlight all the people, places and events that make Lake Erie the unique region that it is. We want to develop a community of people who love the lake and to share their information."

The other night in Liberty Bookstore I think I counted about 100 regional, state and city magazines, so this is a very active niche in marketing and publishing. I hope this magazine prospers and does all of us Lake Erie folks proud.

Lake Erie Living Premiere Issue, Volume One, issue 1, April - May 2007 ISSN: na Publication schedule: 6 times a year Subject: Lake Erie, tourism, Ohio Long Point Media LLC 2947 Interstate Parkway Brunswick, OH 44212 $3.95; intro rate 6 issues + travel guide $17.95; 2 years $33.70; 3 years $45.95 www.LakeErieLiving.com Editor: Sharon Doddroe Publisher: Mark Priebe

2006-12-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Cool Hunter moving to a paper edition

Cool Hunter plans on expanding from cyberspace to news stands with the launch of the 50-60 page Cool Hunter magazine with issue 1 slated for March-April 2007. Hope I can find one for my collection of premier issues.

2006-10-21T17:08:00.000-04:00

45 Craft Magazine

$15 is a bit much for me to indulge in for a premiere issue, so I'll just refer you to Stacy Sews for a review of this one.

She writes: "Craft not only showcases 'famous' designers, such as Sublime Stitching's Jenny Hart but also the designs and creations from up-and-coming talents on the internet. Littered throughout the magazine are fun projects you can create on your own, such as a cute and cuddly Robot Amigurumi, making your own cider, and a DYI medieval armor - there are 23 projects in all. Additionally, there is plenty of eye candy - completed crafted items, fun tools and accessories, and various items from etsy shops."
Thanks, Stacy.

Carla Sinclair is editor-in-chief Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Web site: Craft Magazine Newsstand price: $14.99 Subscription: $34.95/4 issues

2006-09-10T11:12:00.001-04:00

44 Hallmark Magazine

The premiere issue of Hallmark Magazine, September/October 2006, Vol. 1, no.1, was given to me by my friend Bev, who loves to surprise people with little personal gifts, knowing I collect premiere issues. It will have strong ties to its products and expects to have 550,000 out there for the next issue via newstands, subscriptions, and Gold Crown stores. Hallmark Cards is based in Kansas City, but the publishing will be out of New York. There are many delightful articles in this beautifully designed magazine, but when I got to the end there was an excerpt from Alice McDermott's new novel, After This, with soft watercolor illustrations. Such a pleasure to see fiction in a woman's magazine.

It is divided into secions: Inspire; Renew; Nest; Connect; and Nourish, each with a beautiful graphic and quote. Too early (or late): "If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn (September 23), you won't catch a cold all winter." I already have a bad cold. The obligatory beauty secrets, but a slightly different outdoorsy article on pretty kayaks, a Martha-type article on decorating with leaves and twigs for fall. One of the most interesting articles was on collecting post cards of your growing up area as a way to preserve memories. Don't think I've seen that one outside of a genealogy magazine. A number of the writers featured in this issue aren't the usual free-lancers, but authors of books either recently published or about to be. It's a strong platform for women writers.

The Editor-in-Chief, Lisa Benenson, writes on p.11: "For almost a century, we at Hallmark have been committed to helping people appreciate life's best moments. That's why, in the months and years to come, I hope you'll pick up Hallmark Magazine and find resouces for making the most of all the joyful chaos in your own life--stories that inspire you, and ideas that you want to make your own."

Hallmark Magazine
Premiere Issue, Volume 1, number 1, September/October 2006
ISSN: na
Publication schedule: 6 times a year with occasional special issues
Subject: Life style, Hallmark products, women
Hallmark Publishing
1412 Broadway, Suite 2010
New York, NY 10018
$3.95; intro rate 10 issues @ $1.99 ea.; $36.50 a year outside USA
www.halmarkmagazine.com
Editor-in-Chief: Lisa Benenson
Publisher: Carol Campbell Boggs
Hallmark Publishing President: Nancy O. Small
Hallmark Cards, Inc. President & CEO: Don Hall

2006-05-08T14:51:00.001-04:00

43 Amber Waves; The economics of food, farming, natural resources, and rural America

Although I recognize it's being published at my expense, I enjoy seeing a handsome, well-designed magazine such as Amber Waves. The Premier issue is dated February 2003, and it is available on-line.

Keystone of arched entry to USDA's Whitten Building, Washington, D.C.
I loved working in the Agriculture Library at Ohio State. It's now called something else--maybe the third name change since I worked there in the late 70s. When I was there it was food (both plant and animal) and natural resources and forestry. I was the agricultural economics bibliographer for three and a half years, paid by the U.S. Department of State on special contract to establish an agricultural credit and technology file (ACTS), mostly from third world countries, and to assist the ag econ faculty. It was truly a dream job--great people to work with, wonderful students, publishing and teaching opportunities, half time with the summers off, and for some reason, working half time gave me a full year's credit in the retirement system.

But enough about me. Susan E. Offutt, the ERS administrator writes in the first issue that Amber Waves consolidates three venerable ERS periodicals into one weblinked publication, providing a platform for serving its long time audience and a way to reach new readers (the on-line version reached me, although I don't remember how). One of the previous titles was Food Review. Its purpose is to relate ERS research to current events--and today's readers want information in smaller bites and conveniently packaged. (I'm thinking old time journalists must feel like old time Lutherans trying out contemporary songs a worship, thinking, will this never end?)

The first issue contains feature articles on rural America, household food security (that means access to food, not safety), the importance and regulation of clean water, and farm subsidies (now called Production Flexibility Contracts or PFCs). Smaller sections of well-designed graphs update the reader with material from Agricultural Outlook in Indicators. Findings contains one page articles on current research. Gleanings is a section of short abstracts about research, meetings, and new publications. Profiles features photos and bios of ERS employees.

Amber Waves; the economics of food, farming, natural resources, and rural America. February 2003, Premier Issue, Volume 1, Issue 1. ISSN: 1545-8741 Online ISSN: 1545-875X [supplied] Subject: United States Agriculture Publication schedule: 5 times a year, February, April, June, September and November United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service 1800 M St., NW Washington, DC 20036-5831 $49.95/year www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves The Internet edition includes links to web-only resources. Sheila Sandaran, Executive Editor Susan E. Offutt, Administrator, Economic Research Service, USDA

2006-03-11T17:04:00.000-05:00

42 C-BUS Magazine

When I picked up C-BUS at Caribou this morning, I thought I was just going to check out what was going on in town, and then noticed it was a Premiere Issue!

Derek Grosso, the Publisher and Editor of C-BUS and CEO of 206 Publishing, and Patrick Preston, Principal of 206 Publishing say it was like being a first time parent, starting a magazine from scratch. C-BUS is just a faster way to say Columbus, although I've been here since 1967 and I've never heard that nickname. Clumbus, yes. It apparently means Connecting Columbus and is a magazine to connect the young professionals and adults on the edge of greatness. The new and the unknown.

So they've featured a 22 year old who has borrowed $500,000 to start a restaurant in the university Gateway district using a plan he developed in a marketing class. Of course, his parents put their house up as collateral for a Small Business loan. (How do poor kids get loans to start a business?). There's a lunch time interview with some 20-somethings on "relationships." Suggestions for a good date in Columbus: ranged from a small quiet lounge, to BW3's for beer and wings, to something fun like miniature golf. But there was a longer article on the top 5 romantic and fun dates in Columbus. I don't think anyone would rush in for their suggestions which ranged from ice cream at North Market to the palm collection at the Franklin Park Conservatory. Sage advice in a Spring training article--"calories in must be less than calories out." Cool jobs featured Abercrombie & Fitch employees who can wear flip-flops to work. Are these the folks with the near naked catalogs? The cover story was on the Columbus Crew, The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Columbus Destroyers, which I think is soccer, hockey and football.

I always want my premiere issues to succeed, but I don't know, this is awfully light weight. It doesn't even have a bricks and mortar address.

C-BUS Magazine Spring 2006 Issue, Premiere ISBN: na Subject: Columbus OH Publication schedule: quarterly 206 Publishing LLC P.O. Box 2423, Columbus, OH 43216 One copy free, additional copies $2.95 each Free subscription with qualifications http://www.CBUSmagazine.com Publisher and Editor: Derek Grosso Principal: Patrick Preston

2005-12-12T20:05:00.000-05:00

41 Journal of Women's Health

The first thing that greeted me in this first issue was a three page spread for Premarin, advocating its use in preventing osteoporosis, created from natural sources, i.e., mare's urine. Things have changed since 1992 when the first issue of this still published medical journal appeared. Women's health as an area of special concern was still relatively new in 1992 and since there really is a Mary Ann Liebert behind the Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publisher, this was probably a good match for her and the Society for the Advancement of Women's Health Research.

"Why a Journal of Women's Health? The answer is quite simple. It is time, and the time is now. . . The study of gender differences in physiologic response as a means to understanding basic biologic mechanisms has been virtually ignored." from editorial.
Current cover very similar to first in 1992
Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established these specific focus areas, which were published in the Journal of Women's Health Volume 15, Number 3, 2006 which should guarantee many articles for publication in this journal.

• Sex-specific responses to environmental conditions
• Occupational influences on the health of women
• Immune-mediated inflammatory cascade and how it is influenced by the culture and the products women use
• Sex differences in pain and pain relief
• Obesity, especially life elements that cause women to overeat
• Health of women in special sets of environmental circumstances, such as women prisoners, rural populations, minorities
• The genesis of the sex-specific prevalence of some diseases
• The influence of the sex chromosomes on molecular biology
• Age differences in responses to hormones
• Remedies for the symptoms of menopause
• The function of sex hormones in the immune, nervous, and cardiovascular systems
• Analysis, by population groups, of the data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)
• The nervous systems of the brain, gut, and immune system
• Implications of stem cell research for immune systems
• The mechanisms of pregnancy, why women stay pregnant, what causes preterm birth
• Dental health and diseases
• Bone health and osteoporosis
• Depression and its comorbidity with many other diseases

Journal of Women’s Health Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 1992 ISSN: 1059-7115 Subject: Women’s health Publication schedule: Quarterly Official publication of The Society for the Advancement of Women’s Health Research Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers 1651 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10128 $95/year on subscription for four issues Editor in chief: Anne Colston Wentz, MD Senior Editor Florence P. Haseltine, PhD, MD

2005-12-11T11:18:00.001-05:00

40 Real + Life Decorating

Deciding whether a "special" is a true premier issue as I think of it, is tricky. They come and go. But sometimes they surprise and become a regular monthly, quarterly or bi-monthly filling in a niche. There are many decorating magazines out there, and this one says "It's time to get real." The editor, Jill Waage, writes in the Premier issue, Fall/Winter 05 "No gimmicks, no highfalutin price tages. This magazine is full of real people with real stories and great solutions you can use to make your home current and comfortable. . ." Jill has kids--she knows that "They spill. They smudge." She continues, "Real life isn't perfect, and decorating in real life is never really "done." You will make mistakes--and that's OK. We'll teach you how to make deicisions with resourcefulness, confidence, creativity, and a realistic budget."

OK, Jill. Watcha got? The first thing I see on p. 6 is a lamp that looks like that mushroom thing we bought in the early 70s. Well, 35 years is long enough for retro, if not antique, but truly it was one of the most ugly things we ever owned, and I'll never miss it no matter how often they reappear. P. 7 has some interesting clickable websites. P. 8 has a furniture-arranging kit for $99.99 (eek!), but I am married to an architect and we just use home made cardboard pieces drawn exactly to scale. They really do save your back and relationships. Some features about the decorators we see on cable; lots of reuse, repaint and storage articles. It is Better Homes and Gardens with a new, younger hair do. It will have great appeal for the young and first time nesters. One of my problems with the parent magazine is the overload of ads--makes it difficult to read. Perhaps because it is new, this title isn't carrying that weight--bad for them, but good for the reader. When the pages exceed 50% ad to text, I lose interest.

Meredith Publishing is one of the oldest names in farm and home magazines--beginning with Farmer's Tribune in the 19th century and starting Successful Farming in 1902. My grandparents subscribed to both of these. The founder E.T. Meredith eventually joined the cabinet of President Woodrow Wilson as Secretary of Agriculture, and in 1928 he was considered as a Democratic nominee for president, but he died that year at age 51. Fruit, Garden and Home published by Meredith became Better Homes and Gardens magazine as more and more town folk wanted a home magazine, but didn't have farms. The first issue cost a dime on the newsstand, and a one-year subscription cost 35 cents.

According to the Meredith web site, today "The Meredith Publishing Group features 24 subscription magazine brands, including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Fitness, Country Home, Traditional Home, More, Midwest Living, Parents, Child and American Baby.

Meredith publishes more than 150 special interest publications. Our special interest publications focus on decorating, gardening, crafting, remodeling, cooking and other subjects.

Meredith Books publishes nearly 350 home and family and special interest consumer books. One of the best known titles is the red-plaid Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book."

Real + Life Decorating; Better Homes and Gardens Specials Premier Issue Fall/Winter 05 ISSN: NA Canada Post # 40069223 Canadian BN 12348 2887 RT Subject: home decorating Publication schedule, October and March Publishing Group of Meredith Corp. 1716 Locust St. Des Moines, IA 50309-3023 $4.99; $7.99 Canada http://www.reallifedecorating.com/ Editor: Jill Waage Editorial Director: Gayle Goodson Butler Editor-in-Chief: Linda Hallam Art Director, Designer: Lynne Pekarek Belknap Meredith Group President: Jack Griffin Meredith Corp. CEO: William T. Kerr

2005-10-04T09:14:00.000-04:00

Another Premiere Issue site

While using Google's new blog finder feature this morning, I found this site which is also about premiere issues. Great cover photos. Stop by and take a look. I'm way behind in listing my collection; have a huge pile on the floor behind me, including Intersection USA (cars), Suede (fashion, has already died), I Do for Ohio Brides, and Journal of Women's Health (1992). Someday. . .

2005-06-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

38 Domino; the shopping magazine for your home

Deborah Needleman, the editor in chief of the new Domino (Spring/Summer 2005 Premiere Issue), says she is constantly rearranging her furniture and reading home magazines, but was always looking for a way to hook up with the things she saw an admired--like Lucky, the shopping magazine does. Now she edits such a magazine for the home. If you see something you like in her magazine, she’ll tell you what else looks good with it and where to buy it. For instance, take the flower, allium, an ornamental bulb flower that blooms in the spring. The page that features the flower, also shows a pillow, paper plates, woven ribbon, vases, a table lamp and an art print that use that shape; a rope theme includes a lounge chair, an ottoman, a dining room chair, a Hookah lamp, a photo of sisal twine, ceramic cups with rush handles and a rattan sofa. Clever, huh? You could spend days or months tracking down like minded motifs, but Domino has done the heavy lifting for you. All you need is your credit card and the internet.

Flipping through, I see a lot of glue-gun ideas; retro numbers, colors and shapes from the 1970s; some really sweet ideas for showers, hostess gifts, and displaying small items; some great, but not complicated, recipes; and terrific ads in keeping with the overall look of the magazine. I grew up in homes with radiators, but had no idea you could still buy attractive ones. This is such an educational hobby! I saw only one really ugly article--the photos all looked like they were from the set of Dharma and Greg. This issue included cute little stickers to put on the pages of interest, and punch out cards for cheat sheets.

Domino Spring/Summer 2005, Premiere Issue, Volume 1, No.1 ISSN 1554-7361 Subject: Home décor; Shopping Publication schedule: Five times a year, May/June, September, October, November, December Conde Nast Publications, division of Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc. Conde Nast Building 4 Times Square New York, NY 10036 $3.50 single; $12.00 for 12 issues; 24 issues for $20.00 (charter) http://www.domino.com/ Editor in Chief: Deborah Needleman Vice President and Publisher: Beth Fuchs Brenner

2005-05-12T12:08:00.001-04:00

37 Red; for the best things in life

Diane Lane on the cover of Red

Red is a new lifestyle magazine for women by Hachette Filipacchi Media which appeared on news stands in April 2005 with a press run of 300,000. This is not to be confused with another spring newcomer, "Red" a new lifestyle publication that will strive to "engage Dallas' social professionals to continue their quest for an abundant and enriching lifestyle."

This U.S. premiere issue is a "redesigned British import for modern women that really speaks their language." I must be bilingual, because I didn't have any problem figuring out the formula of the usual important issues for women--shopping, fashion, beauty/health, decorating, food, and travel. And the interview with the movie hunk Michael Vartan (Monster-in-law) reveals how deep this magazine goes. His most recently read book is DaVinci Code and he watches Animal Planet on TV. In his latest movie he plays a clueless surgeon. What a stretch!

The cover girl, Diane Lane, is 40. Don't recognize her? Me either, but she is Barbra Streisand's step daughter-in-law having recently married Josh Brolin, the son of Barbra's husband. I did a survey at the coffee shop and everyone under 25 knew who she was. The over 50 crowd didn't--we apparently don't see enough movies.

The ads contain a lot of red, stunning, grown-up clothes and jewelry. This is not your daughter's magazine, unless your daughter is the age of mine (37). Even with all the red color, I'm not sure how this magazine will distinguish itself from the other lifestyle choices on the news stand, like Elle. On the masthead, this magazine has an unusual number of women in charge of various departments, or else it is title inflation.

Editor Alexandra S. Postman writes in the editor's letter: "We are single career women and stay-at-home moms, city dwellers and suburbanites. . . we are Diane Lane. . .we are the multiple choice generation. . . we are growing up without feeling old."

Red; for the best things in life Premiere Issue, May 2005 ISSN: n.a. Subject: Lifestyle, women Publication schedule: bimonthly? Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. Inc. 16 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 http://www.hfmus.com $3.99; $12.00 for 10 issues Editor: Alexanra S. Postman Art Director: Guillaume Bruneau Chairman: Gerald de Roquemaurel President & CEO: Jack Kilger

2005-02-16T11:13:00.001-05:00

36 The Green Magazine, Golf Beyond the Links

My brother is a golfer--so is my son. It is hard for me to find the attraction. Walking in the sun with nails in your shoes, carrying a heavy, awkward bag, squinting into the sun at a little ball with dimples, making your way through grass, weeds and water that could be put to better use for housing or agriculture. We live across the street from a lovely course and I enjoy the vistas and the tress and the club house lunches. But it is still a mystery to this non-athlete.

Rafael Marinez, the publisher, writes in Volume 1, Issue 1, June/July 2004: "The Green is not simply a golf magazine; it is a lifestyles publication that brings together the passion we share for our careers, travel, financial life, fine living, and yes, golf. But we intend to be your source for golf beyond the links."

If you thought it was about rich, white guys, look again. The publisher, the cover story, and three of the five main contributors are noticeable minorities. Vision Media & Communications has targeted the Black and Hispanic communities with this magazine. Martinez is Dominican Republic born and a business man who loves golf; he noticed some years ago that golf magazines were "lily white."

According to Folio, lifestyle magazines (264 magazines in 2004) are led by crafts, taking the stats from the 17th edition of the National Directory of Magazines. Crafts led category growth, up 25 percent to 129 publications, followed by Golf, up 24 percent to 135 publications. So that's a pretty crowded field for chasing a little white ball.

The introductory article includes interesting (marketing) statistics for blacks, Latinos and Asians. Over 14 million of them play golf, 15% of them for the first time in 2003; half of all minority golfers are under 30, and 9% are under 12; 20-30% of all minority players earned upwards of $100,000 a year, with blue-collar workers accounting for 17% of all minority golfers; Tiger Woods may earn $6 billion during his career and his popularity has resulted in many blacks taking up the game. The ads in The Green include a lot of bling.

I saw the second issue on the newsstands, but am unsure if this journal is still published. The website is not active. One web article noted that three minority golf magazines were launched in 2003-2004. Another confusing point for a launch is similarity of titles. There is another popular golf magazine titled, On the Green Magazine, and a financial guide called The Green Magazine.

Update: I saw Volume 2, issue 1 at Barnes and Noble Feb. 24, 2005. So it is still being published. This issue appears to be historical and the cover has some nice photographs.

The Green Magazine June/July 2004, Volume 1, Number 1 ISSN NA Subject: Lifestyles, Golf, Minorities Publication schedule bimonthly Vision Media & Communications, LLC 48 West 37th Street, 12th Floor New York, NY 10018 $4.99 single; $29.99 one year http://www.thegreenmagazine.com/ President: Ina J. Samuels-Martinez President, CEO: Rafael N. Martinez

2005-01-10T20:01:00.001-05:00

35 Hotel Amerika

Hotel Amerika, with a cover price of $9.00, was picked up for a quarter at a local library book sale. According to some pre-pub publicity the title, which is published by the Creative Writing Program at Ohio University in Athens, fills the hole left by The Ohio Review which ceased publication in 2001 after 30 years. The premier issue of Hotel Amerika, appeared in the Fall of 2002 with a cover photo of David Wojnarowicz who died of AIDS in 1992, and the cover is the only mention of him in the issue.

Ohio University offers a Ph.D. in Creative Writing, as well as an M.A. The Creative Writing Program is small providing an alternative to larger M.F.A. programs. M.A. candidates complete two years of study and write a thesis of creative work in their genre. The Creative Writing Program also hosts the annual Spring Literary Festival.

This year, two writers whose work appeared in Hotel Amerika were selected for inclusion in the Pushcart Prize Annual 2004 and two poems from Hotel Amerika are included in 'Best American Poetry 2004.' So in just two years, the young journal has made its mark.

In an interview with OU‘s Outlook Lazar says, "Our aesthetic philosophy is very catholic. We publish work that is extremely formal, conservative, avant-garde and experimental, as long as we think it's the most challenging, interesting work we can find. Dull language is the original sin." Possibly, but after reading one essay about an abortion that happened 40 years ago (in a first marriage), an essay that seemed to go nowhere and have a lot of dull language, I sort of lost interest. Definitely not my type, but I’m glad the people who have worked so hard on it have been successful.

And no, I don’t know why they spell it that way.

Hotel Amerika Fall 2002, Premier Issue, Volume 1 Number 1 ISBN 0-9724052-08 ISSN 1541-2261 Subject: literary magazine Publication schedule: two issues/year Department of English 360 Ellis Hall, Ohio University Athens, OH 45701 $9.00 single; $18.00 subscription http://www.hotelamerika.net/ Senior Editor: David Lazar Editor: Erin Belieu

2004-12-08T13:08:00.001-05:00

34 The Hosting Standard

When my daughter’s father-in-law was taken to the emergency room while a Thanksgiving guest in her home in November, she remarked to me that the attending doctor looked like he should still be in medical school. Well, all doctors look like junior high kids to me. As does the publisher of The Hosting Standard, whose photo appears in “Letter from the Publisher” on p. 8 of the premiere issue, September 2004.

TopHosts.com has launched this magazine to provide the latest information on the hosting world. “Toronto, Canada-based VerticalScope Inc., the parent of TopHosts.com and The Hosting Standard, is a leading international media company that creates authoritative industry portals, directories and content services, covering a wide array of vertical industries. . . [It] currently prints over 750 million pages per year through its various print magazines, and has successfully launched magazines into some of the most competitive consumer markets with titles such as Modified Magazine, which currently has a readership of over 1,000,000 car enthusiasts per month.” (from website)

Rob Laidlaw, the publisher, writes in the first issue: “Web hosting is in the forefront of IT (information technology) as companies begin to unveil their web presence, and make their businesses ready to deliver enterprise solutions over the Internet. There are few new technologies that do not rely on web hosting as the backbone to their operations. Web hosting is the backbone of the economy of the future.”

I personally could have done without the article, “Adult Hosts No Midlife Crisis,” which is about, let’s face it, hosting porn--a lucrative but degrading business, in my opinion. It gives new meaning to the term “filthy lucre.” Other features in this first issue are Search engine strategies, Net calling, Marketing a web hosting company, the Chinese Spam, some excellent interviews, spotting the frauds and various industry tips and clips.

The Hosting Standard September 2004, Debut Issue, Issue 1 ISSN: na Subject: Internet web hosting Publication schedule: Twice a year; next issue April 2005 Vertical Scope Company 111 Peter Street, Suite 700 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5V 2H1 T. 1-416-341-8950 F. 1-416-341-8959 $4.99 U.S.; $5.99 Can. $14.95/year; $19.95/2 year http://www.thehostingstandard.com/ Publisher: Rob Laidlaw Editor in chief: Cliff Boodoosingh

2004-11-30T11:05:00.000-05:00

Magazine Publishing Trends in 2004

According to Publishing Trends, "DM News reports that the number of lifestyle magazines published 2003-04 grew to 264 from 206, citing the National Directory of Magazines published by Oxbridge Communications. Directory Editor Deborah Striplin attributed the 28% growth to a post-9/11 nesting trend.

Crafts is a booming category, with magazines in this niche up 25% to 129. Golf titles were up 24% to 135. And political science and politics magazines were up 23% to 128 titles. But management titles declined 25% to 95 this year, from 127 in 2003. News magazines dropped 24% to 57. History magazines fell 23% to 128 titles, from 166.

At 971 titles, college student and alumni publications was the largest magazine category in 2004, followed by medicine, at 965 and religion/theology, at 724 titles. The number of Internet-only magazines grew to 168 from 124 last year. The directory lists a total 18,821 titles, of which 1,174 are new."

Publishing Trends October 2004

2004-07-15T13:31:00.000-04:00

33 Contingent Workforce Strategies

I went to work as a “temp” back in 1976 when my husband lost his job in the Spring and was out of work for three weeks. I don’t recall if I panicked (in those days we didn’t have any savings to speak of) or if it looked like a way to get out of the house. I do remember that the temp business was booming, and there were several agencies located in our community. Even though I had a master’s degree, I did strictly clerical stuff, and ended up with a terrific neck strain from typing on a Mag 3 typewriter for 8 hours at a stretch. Definitely not worth whatever I made.

The Publisher’s letter by Ron Mester in Contingent Workforce Strategies says the days of the “temp” are long gone--at least they aren’t back-up and emergency employees anymore, being called instead, “contingency” employees for “organizational flexibility, speed and capability.” Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc. which tracks, researches, analyzes and reports on contingent staffing is the publisher, and they have been in the business for 15 years, enough time put together a quality product, I think. A big issue for this industry will be benefits--some people hate their jobs, would probably love being part of a contingency workforce, but are tied to health and retirement plans.

The glossy, full-color magazine features interviews with key thinkers and corporate leaders, case studies and reports of best practices, strategies, tools, analyses, metrics, and new research exploring the effective use of a contingent workforce. The first issue went to 15,000 industry people, according to Wooden Horse. The economy is booming and that’s a good growth time for contingency workforce people. Mester says:

Whether you’re the CEO, an executive responsible to an entire business unit or function, an HR professional advising hiring managers, or a procurement professional ensuring that your organization is getting the most out of its significant contingent spending, [this] will provide you with the case studies, best practices, guidelines and benchmarks you need to take action and get results.

Contingent Workforce Strategies March 2004, Number 1.1 ISSN: Pending Publication schedule: 8 times a year Subject: Contingency workforce, temporary employment Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc. 881 Fremont Ave. Los Altos, CA 94024 Dist. to qualified executives Single issue: $26; $96/year http://www.staffingindustry.com/ Publisher and CEO: Ron Mester Managing Editor: Alan Kay

2004-07-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

32 Grok

By September 2000, the date of the print special issue Grok, my portfolio was tanking--it didn't wait for the Bush Administration, despite what the current ABB crop of economists try to tell us. Grok was the spin-off from The Industry Standard, my favorite morning coffee house read in 1999 and 2000.

In his book Starving to Death on $200 Million James Ledbetter writes:

On a regular basis, it [The Standard] would publish a "special report" on a single topic, such as the role of the Internet in health care, travel, advertising and marketing, and the like. Because these were scheduled months in advance, the ad department could sell to businesses in those fields; during The Fat Year the special reports became huge moneymakers. Essentially, the idea behind Grok was to isolate the special reports and make them into their own magazine. Hence, the first issue of Grok, to debut in September 2000, was devoted to the entertainment industry, the second to education, and so on.
Like too many magazine ideas cooked up by already-successful publications, the motivation for Grok seemed entirely ad-driven. And in fact, Battelle had told people that we were creating it "because we need another bucket," adopting the lingo of IDG without any apparent irony. In retrospect, Grok seems like a profoundly stupid idea.

Figuring out the genealogy and life span of Grok is a little like trying to map my husband's genealogy. After collapsing in 2001, The Industry Standard was resurrected this year as an on-line magazine. There was an on-line column, then e-zine called Media Grok [b. Sept. 1998] that may have been ressurrected twice, evolving into Grok Unspun. The piece in hand apparently had a 5 issue run. It is a glut of expensive ads, even though by the fall of 2000, The Industry Standard had lost about half its size compared to the spring issues. Most of the companies with ads in Grok burst in the dot com bust of 2000. It's like browsing a cemetery list.

Bob Cohn, the editor, wrote in the premiere issue:

"Helping readers make sense of this explosion [of the internet economy]is the mission of our weekly magazine [The Industry Standard]. But as the Internet seeps into every corner of the economy, we're finding it impractical to deliver in-depth coverage of so many topics and still meet our commitments as a newsweekly.

That's where Grok comes in. Each month we'll focus on a single aspect of the Internet Economy. (This month: entertainment. Coming soon: education, wireless, retain.)"

Grok; special reports on the Internet Economy [first issue] September 2000 Ceased after 5 issues, in 2001 ISSN [Industry Standard] 1098-9196 Publication schedule: not listed $4.95; [no subscription price for Grok--mine came with Industry Standard] Subject: Internet Economy, special reports The Industry Standard 315 Pacific Avenue San Francisco, CA 94111-1701 Editor in Chief: Jonathan Weber Editor: Bob Cohn Chairman, President, CEO [The Standard]: John Battelle

2004-07-10T14:39:00.000-04:00

31 Wired

The Premiere Issue of Wired magazine in 1993 just about knocked my eyeballs out. I didn’t like it at all. Strange colors, floating margins and side bars, and ads indistinguishable from serious articles. Now it is one of my favorites. The editors weren’t looking for me--they wanted the Digital Generation, according to Louis Rossetto, the editor/publisher:

“Why Wired? Because the Digital Revolution is whipping through our lives like a Bengali typhoon--while the mainstream media is still groping for the snooze button. And because the computer “press” is too busy churning out the latest PCinfoComputingCorporateWorld iteration of its ad sales formula cum parts catalog to discuss the meaning or context of social changes so profound their only parallels probably the discovery of fire.

There are a lot of magazines about technology. Wired is not one of them. Wired is about the most powerful people on the planet today--The Digital Generation. These are the people who not only foresaw how the merger of computers, telecommunications and the media is transforming life at the cusp of the new millennium, they are making it happen.

Our first instruction to our writers: Amaze us. Our second: We know a lot about digital technology, and we are bored with it. Tell us something we’ve never heard before, in a way we’ve never seen before. If it challenges our assumptions, so much the better.”

Looking at this issue almost 12 years later, most instructive is the article “Libraries without walls, for books without pages” by John Browning. I should have read it then instead of tossing the magazine into my growing pile of first issues--I’d have had a clearer idea of where my career was going. His brief overview of the history of libraries and technology mentions Fred Kilgour and the Ohio College Libraries Center (now OCLC in Dublin, OH). When I arrived at Ohio State in 1967, OCLC was in its infancy on the third floor of Thompson Library where I was a cataloguer of Slavic material. I think there were 3 staff people, and I used to go to lunch with one woman who was also new to the area. So maybe Rossetto was looking for me, and I didn’t catch on.

But in 1993 when this journal appeared, Marc Andreesen was an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I’d attended school and worked in the 60s. He was working on a project for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) developing the graphic interface browser called Mosaic. When Browning wrote his article, he was imagining just text and its digital future. As visionary as Browning's article was, he probably could not have foreseen what libraries are able to do today.

Yet the final article of this issue is on HDTV--the complaint being we didn’t need better resolution, but better programming. And we still don’t have either--at least not in my home.

Wired Premiere Issue, 1.1 [March April] 1993 ISSN: 1059-1028 Publication schedule bi-monthly Subject: Technology and Social Change Wired USA 544 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94107 $4.95; $19.95 6/year http://www.wired.com/wired/ Editor/publisher: Louis Rossetto President: Jane Metcalf Executive Editor: Kevin Kelly

2004-05-25T16:31:00.001-04:00

30 Essence

The Hollingsworth Group, consisting of Jonathan Blount, Cecil Hollingsworth, Edward Lewis, and Clarence O. Smith, jumped on the coming wave of feminism in the media, and brought out Essense, one of the first “black is beautiful” magazines addressed specifically to the African American woman of the 1970s.

The Publisher’s statement:

"Essence will include the most significant developments in public affairs, education, entertainment, and the arts as they relate to our Black community, as well as fiction, poetry, and features on Black heritage, travel and careers. . .personal problems with your men. . . It will serve you as a fashion and beauty authority, presenting the clothes, cosmetics, and hair styles that are suited to your particular good looks, taste, and many varied skin tones. . . food. . . home decorating. . .showcase for Black talent."

Leafing through my 34 year old, Volume 1, Number 1, May 1970 issue, I’m pleasantly surprised to see it has worn well. There is a wonderful photo collection by Gordon Parks which includes Rosa Parks, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (I can get chills just remembering her voice), Black Muslim women in white veils, and Kathleen Cleaver (now a grandmother of 6 and a lawyer).

Many of the articles, even those on fashion of skinny maxi knits in brilliant colors and functional inexpensive wicker furniture, could be rerun today. The articles on the tensions between the sexes by Louise Meriwether and Alvin Poussaint can still be trotted out and rebroadcast in the hip-hop music scene.

Looking at the current web page (June 2004), it seems to have wholeheartedly embraced the fluffier aspects of its 1970 statement of purpose--fashion, high profile musicians, and a lot of skin exposure--of many shades.

ECP is the current publisher of ESSENCE, “the preeminent lifestyle magazine for today's African-American woman.” with a “monthly circulation of more than 1 million and a readership of 7.6 million -- 29% of which is male (the cover of three buxom females will explain that statistic).”

Essence Volume 1, number 1, May 1970 ISSN: 0014-0880 (supplied) Subject: African American women--lifestyle Publication schedule: monthly The Hollingsworth Group, Inc. 102 East 30th St. New York, NY 10016 60 cents; $6.00/year, $10.00/2 years http://www.essence.com/essence/ President: Jonathan Blount Editorial Director: Gordon Parks Editor-in-Chief: Ruth N. Ross

Update: Apparently, hiring a white woman was controversial, but the editor in chief explains her choice. Link.

2004-04-30T13:15:00.001-04:00

29 Millionaire

The economy hasn't been this hot since 1984, so maybe it is time to do a conspicuous consumption journal from the 1980s. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal in October 2000 the term millionaire was suffering from brand dilution, so the owners of the Millionaire magazine changed the name to Opulence. Forbes Magazine also commented in 1999 about the inflation in the number of millionaires:

in the old days (around 1980), maybe you were rich if your net worth exceeded $1 million. Even if you had a modest bank account, you were really well off if you made more than $75,000 a year. After all, a $75,000 salary put you at four times the median annual income of the time, and assured that you could afford the accoutrements of success, such as a four-bedroom house, a new $18,000 car and a maid to come and clean once a week. "Looking back from the vantage point of the 1990s," remarks Robert Frank, "it is surprising how modest our aspirations were in the 1980s."

In 1987 the publisher Douglas Lambert wrote (and still says essentially the same thing on the web site):

"You've had an exhilarating climb to the top. But for you, the climb is never quite over--not as long as there is one more challenge, one more opportunity, one more adventure. You deserve all the good things in life." Then he goes on to tell you what that is--exclusive fashions, elegant hotels and restaurants, art collections, financial trends, and successful people for friends.

The web site says the most recent issue is Vol. 7 no.5, so something isn't right--the journal I have in my hand is over 14 years old. No one is home at the Opulence website, so perhaps the magazine has returned to its former, undervalued title.

Millionaire October 1987, Vol. 1 No. 1 Status: unclear ISSN: na Subject: Lifestyle, consumerism Publication schedule: 10 times a year Millionaire Magazine, Inc. 105 S. Narcissus Ave. West Palm Beach, Fla. 33401 $4.00; 12 issues $30.00 http://www.millionaire.com Publisher/Editor in Chief: Douglas Lambert Editor: Pat Broderick

2004-04-30T13:06:00.000-04:00

What's a blog and what's in it for me?

That's what the owner of a B 2 B magazine wrote back when I asked for a copy of his first issue magazine. It was very specialized, but had a large business market. I am always surprised at what is out there and thought it would be an interesting addition to my collection. I wrote back:,

A blog is net speak for "web log," or a diary on the internet. Blogger.com is my host, and it is owned by Google (plain text like mine is free). If you click on the URL I gave you, you'll see very small ads at the top of the page. Google/Blogger supplies those based on the content of my articles. I have no control over that. Because blog entries are diaries, the most recent entry is always the first you see. Some are very elaborate with photos, columns, dancing bears. There are about 10 million blogs (I have four)--about the war, about poetry, about horses, about education, etc.--anything you can imagine. Some people think they are changing the face of information (not me). I'm guessing 9 million are written by teen-agers full of angst and hormones. Nothing in it for you, that I know of. However, your magazine will be in there with the heavy hitters like Oprah and Maxim. Most first issues never see a second, and I wish you a lot of luck! Since you have a very specific niche and market, I think you'll make it.

Mr. Crabby Editor said he didn't want to raise his profile by being in my blog and he didn't care about Maxim and Oprah and he was already in his second issue, thank you. Another editor of a B 2 B said, sure, no problem, and gave me a password to her website and a year's subscription.

Hmmpf. Mr. Crabby Editor must think a lot of people read this! Should I take that as a compliment?

2004-04-27T19:43:00.000-04:00

How we age with our magazines

Two premiere issues in my collection are More and My Generation, both directed at the young senior demographic, people fighting hard to stay “young.” Here’s an interesting observation in the article 'Selling the ‘Boomer Babes': more, my generation, and the 'New' Middle Age” by Carolyn Kitch in Journal of Magazine and New Media Research, Spring 2003 at Ball State University.

“[T]he mission of magazines such as More and My generation is to celebrate not middle age itself but the reader’s ability to avoid looking or acting middle-aged. Such a goal is built on consumer products that presumably allow the reader to continue to drink from the fountain of youth. This powerful commercial proposition—fueled by a huge Baby Boom audience that, if we believe demographers and social critics, is supremely self-absorbed—is behind the phenomenon that is being credited as “progress” in the mass-media depiction of middle-aged women.

In depicting middle-aged women as vibrant and beautiful, both publications have attempted to correct a long-held stereotype and fill a representational void. Yet their focus on the prevention of aging—and on congratulating readers as being “smart” and “savvy” for wanting to stay young—falls squarely within familiar marketing techniques that combine fear and flattery. Such an appeal always has been central to the selling of younger-women’s magazines and the marketing of those younger audiences to advertisers. Now it has been replicated for older female audiences. At the same time, older women now have unrealistically perfect ideals of beauty that previously were available only within a younger age group. Such outcomes are arguably more cause for concern than celebration.”

2004-04-27T19:15:00.000-04:00

28 Scrapbooking & Beyond

Jerry Cohen and partners started All American Crafts Publishing Inc. in 1981 in New York City with two main publications: Crochet Fantasy and Fashion Knitting/Knit 'N Style. Their most recent offering is Scrapbooking & Beyond, Premier Issue, June 2004. According to the company’s website, Mr. Cohen's wife, Madeline, is in charge of Public Relations, and their son, Darren, is Chief Executive Officer. With just over 30 employees, all the magazines are produced in-house.

Jane Guthrie, Editor, writes in the first issue

I must admit that most of my photo albums were created years ago and in a very traditional way; black pages and photo corners, with whatever journaling found on the back of the photos. Times have certainly changed. Over the past few years I have been collecting, well hoarding actually, the most glorious papers and trims that I could get my hands on. As the former editor of Craftworks (now Create & Decorate), magazine, I often found myself scouring the local craft stores for ideas and supplies. Now I find myself standing before paper racks for what seems like hours, shifting from one foot to the other and finally leaving the store with both arms filled with scrapbooking purchases.

Her passion for the craft must be shared by many; this was one of eleven scrapbooking magazines I found at Barnes and Noble today. Somewhere I read that there was a surge in craft magazines after 9/11--people seeking comfort, sanity and solace in handiwork and high touch skills as opposed to high tech.

Not being familiar with the craft myself, even browsing the ads was a pleasure and an education--adhesives, pewter stickers, patterned papers, clip art, vellum tape, special lamps, handmade books, literature sorters, backpacks for scrap bookers, embossing systems, light boxes, glue dots, and finally, soft safes in which to store your treasured book that will resist temperatures and flames up to 3000 degrees.

And the subscription agent is Kable News, located in Mt. Morris, IL, my hometown.

Scrap booking & beyond Premier Issue, June 2004 ISSN: Subject: Crafts, Scrapbooking Publication schedule: assumed bi-monthly All American Crafts, Inc. 243 Newton-Sparta Road Newton, NJ 07860 $5.99, $22.97 for 6 issues http://www.scrapbookingandbeyondmag.com/ Publisher: Jerry Cohen Editor: Jane Guthrie

2004-04-26T16:18:00.001-04:00

27 Horizon; a magazine of the arts

As I flip the pages the dank smell of dampness reminds me I probably purchased this after our street flooded in the 1970s. We had no basement, so we were the only family that didn’t put belongings out at the curb. When the first issue of Horizon appeared on the horizon in September 1958, I was too busy enjoying myself at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana to pay attention to Keats or Brueghel or even Kerouac or Ginsberg, all of whom were featured in the first issue. Isn’t it amazing. Willem de Kooning’s and Jackson Pollock’s paintings look as strange today as they did then! “The painter was not painting an object but his own state of mind,” the author explains.

“Culture, the concern of this new magazine, is both achievement and dream, a work of the hands and a movement of the spirit, the special property of man since the great miracle of the Sixth Day. . . Culture is art and ideas, past and present, taken in sum as a guide to life. It is history too, the science which Dionysius tells us is ‘philosophy teaching by examples,’ with philosophy suspended between the I-believe of theology and the I-know of science. [I think that is reversed in 2004].” wrote the Editors of Volume I, number 1.

The bright red cover had a color insert of the first Englishwoman to brave the skies, Mrs. Letitia Ann Sage, floating over London in 1785, represented in the painting “The Three Favorite Aerial Travellers,” by J. F. Rigaud. The ballooning article from p. 114 to p. 128 is quite wonderful. And here is an article on overpopulation by Julian Huxley, “Man’s challenge: the use of the earth,” in which he decries deforestation, overpopulation, bad cultivation, over consumption of fossil fuels, the shrinking wilderness, and over production. Having just “celebrated” the 30th anniversary of Earth Day, that certainly has a familiar ring to it. This first issue contains a “Genesis” portfolio of great nature photographs complete with the first 31 verses of Genesis 1 and a page from Paradise Lost by John Milton, first edition, 1669. The retrospective about Broadway compares the 50s with the 20s and 30s and finds the 50s pallid and over sexualized.

Ohiolink indicates only one library in the system has cataloged this journal--and that was done incorrectly, stating the eleventh volume of September 1959, which means the cataloger misread Roman Numeral II as an 11. The holdings statement for City College of San Francisco noted: "Keep forever." That's sweet.

Horizon; a magazine of the arts September 1958, Volume I, Number 1 ISSN: 0018-4977 (supplied) Status: Ceased with v. 32, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1989) Subject: Culture Publication schedule, bi-monthly American Horizon, Inc. American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc. 551 Fifth Avenue New York 17, NY $3.95, $18.00 http://prestwidge.com/horizon/mtoc.htm collector’s web site Editor: Joseph J. Thorndike, Jr. Managing Editor: William Harlan Hale Publisher: James Parton

2004-04-18T19:53:00.000-04:00

Magazine Covers--a Lost art?

"Take a look at your local newsstand and here's what you'll see: racks upon racks of magazines that look almost identical. Whether they focus on music, fashion, cigars, fitness, women, or men, most magazines typically feature a grinning celebrity on the cover peeking out from behind squadrons of coverlines. It wasn't always like this."

You've probably forgotten that magazine covers used to be art. Follow the clicks and links at this site. Lots of interesting cover art at this site. Many historical articles about magazines at the Journal of Magazine and New Media Research, Ball State University.

2004-04-16T11:41:00.001-04:00

26 Plain Talk

I thought it would be a nice change of pace--checking into the history and influence of a journal from the 1920s, but so far, I haven't been able to find out much about Plain Talk, October 1927, Volume 1, Number 1. There doesn't seem to be a cataloged copy in OhioLink, but WorldCat says the Ohio Historical Society has it. Ulrich's Periodical Directory doesn't mention it. I have been able to locate several old copies at ABE.com, the premiere issues going for $20-$30 (mine was found at a yard sale for $.25 and is in tough shape, missing the back cover). By 1930 it was in volume 7, no. 1, which makes for an odd enumeration scheme. In the mid-1940s, there was an anti-Communist journal by the same title, but probably not related. Some of that magazine's articles have been anthologized.

Plain Talk was edited by G.D. Eaton who wrote on p. 18:

What! Another magazine? . . .with a mission, dedicated within the limits of human fallibilities and prejudices, to Tolerance, and naturally to locking horns with Intolerance. To this end it will be inconsistent, foolish, incongruous, unreasonable, good-humored, bad humored and even hodge-podge, but never dull. . . We shall truckle to no advertisers, kiss no political toe, walk no fences, boost no friends, fear no enemies."

There is some joking about shooting the editor or publisher, and while tracking down this elusive magazine I did learn that Walter Ligget, who was murdered, had worked for Plain Talk. The coupon on p. 128 describes it as honest and fearless, interesting, informative and bright, and that one needn't be a highbrow nor a radical to read it.

Authors of articles in the first issue included Clarence Darrow (on Prohibition), Will Durant, A. Hyatt Verrill (archaeologist, explorer) on socialism, Mella Russell McCallum (on atheism), a Methodist writing about the possibility of a Catholic president, Don Sietz (on graft), Baron E. de Cartier, the Belgium ambassador, providing thoughts on the kindness and generosity of Americans, particularly toward Belgium. The November issue promised articles by Louis Bromfield, Morris Fishbein and articles on atheists, alimony and Chatauquans.

Plain Talk October 1927, Volume 1, number 1 Status: ceased with Vol. 16, no. 7 (August 1938) per WorldCat ISSN: Publication schedule monthly Subject: Politics Plain Talk, Inc. 188 West Fourth St. New York, NY $.35; $4.00 President: B.A. Mackinnon Editor: G.D. Eaton

2004-04-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

25 George

Last week I had breakfast in my home town with friends from high school. Sylvia, now retired from nursing, is a church musician and Lynne works in magazine fulfillment. Lynne is also a cancer survivor, but recently participated in the Heart Walk in her area, and wore my name on her shirt. Her big heart also gave me the Inaugural Issue of George, October/November 1995, which I attempted to buy in 1995, but which was sold out.

According to the Editor's Letter, John Kennedy Jr. and his partner Michael Berman had attended a 2-day seminar called "Starting Your Own Magazine" and learned "you can successfully launch a magazine in just about anything except for religion and politics." But still they wanted to make politics accessible by covering it in an entertaining and compelling way, by making it a lifestyle magazine and defining politics broadly, and definitely outside the "beltway."

When it closed shop with the February/March 2001 issue, it was because it never really found its market, and was in financial trouble even before the tragic death of its founder in July 1999. Advertising pages had plummeted, dropping from 419 pages for January to November in 1999 to 251 for the same period in 2000, according to Folio. George actually did better than most start-ups, which have a failure rate of 50% in their first year, and 70% of those failures didn't even make it to the second issues.

Considering the age of this first issue, it does contain a very timely article: "Mother Teresa" by Stephen Rodrick, about Teresa Heinz' passion to change the world with her deceased husband's $675 million. Although mention is made of her marriage to Senator John Kerry in 1995, I believe the article was written and ready to go before that, because he gets little mention. What makes this article so interesting (and is completely confirmed in today's Wall Street Journal) is that it doesn't lionize her the way the Democrats do, nor demonize her the way some Republican pundits do. She comes across as a woman thoroughly changed by the tragedy of her husband's death, determined to bring his dreams to fruition, then making them her own.

The People section really brings home that almost a decade has passed--Bill Clinton playing the saxophone, Sonny Bono and wife Mary, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, Tom Brokaw and Garry Trudeau, and so forth. Would we care today about Newt Gingrich's lesbian half-sister--but she got a huge article in George--and didn't even seem to think she was being used.

George October/November 1995, Inaugural Issue Status: Ceased with first issue in 2001 ISSN: Subject: Politics, Lifestyle Publication schedule bimonthly Hachette Filipacchi USA Inc. 1633 Broadway New York, NY 10019 $2.95; $9.97 6 issues Editor-in-chief: John F. Kennedy, Jr. Executive publisher: Michael J. Berman Editor: Eric Etheridge Publisher: Elinore Carmody-Gibbons

2004-04-06T17:12:00.001-04:00

24 People Weekly

People is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, and I have the first issue dated March 4, 1974, 35 cents, with the gorgeous, delicate, shimmering Mia Farrow as Daisy of Gatsby, the movie. The first thing that strikes you is that it is completely black and white except for the cover and the advertising.

So why did the editors think they had something good going in 1974?

People is the first national weekly magazine to be started in 20 years. Our flourishing sister publication Sports Illustrated had the last big national launch in 1954.. . . will focus entirely on the active personalities of our time--in all fields. On the headliners, the stars, the important doers, the comers, and on plenty of ordinary men and women caught up in extraordinary situations. . . Editorially, we hope to come at everything fresh. To reappraise, to ask "Who is this person" and give an honest, up-to-date answer. . . Believe us, quote us, enjoy us.

And in 1974 that was the Loud Family, grandparent of today's reality TV. Life in Palm Beach with all the trophy wives. Patty Hearst parents at a news conference. An update on Marina Oswald. Strom Thurmond's hair transplant. The Exorcist. Gloria Vanderbilt and her 4th husband. Playboy bunnies and their union activism. The death of Jim Croce.

The April 12, 2004 commemorative issue with Jessica Simpson on the cover is expected to have 3.7 million buyers/subscribers, according to Media Industry Newsletter, with many TV tie-ins. The 30th birthday party will run through November.

People Weekly March 4, 1974, Vol. 1 No. 1 ISSN: na Publication schedule weekly Subject: Lifestyle Time Inc. 541 N. Fairbanks Court Chicago, Ill. 60611 $.35; $15/year http://people.aol.com/people/index.html Editor-in-Chief: Hedley Donovan Chairman of the Board: Andrew Heiskell Managing Editor: Richard B. Stolley

2004-04-05T13:24:00.000-04:00

23 Word & Image

Not only is Word & Image still being published (Volume 1, Number 1 was the January-March 1985 issue), but it hasn’t changed its cover design or the editor in twenty years according to the photo on the web site. The first editorial said

“The scope of this new journal is potentially vast, since it proposes to attend to any interesting encounter between verbal and visual languages. In practice, three of the four issues each year will be focused upon one specific topic. . . [such as forthcoming] reading of pictures as signs, advertising, poems on pictures, children’s art and writing, iconicity in literature, and emblems . . .but every fourth issue. . . to the wider reaches [it] hopes to explore.”

The theme of the first issue was Ut Pictura Poesis, "as is painting so is poetry" (Horace, Ars Poetica), spanning the 15th through the 20th centuries. This is not a journal like some in my collection you can flip through and bloggosize or blogdify. It requires a quiet place and mind.

The final selection is an article by Robert Druce based on a poem by Martin Booth (Orbis Pictus) based on a pedagogical work by Comenius published in 1658, Orbia Sensualium Pictus, perhaps the first picture book intended for children. Booth died earlier this year, and Druce was listed in the obituary as one of his mentors. Dr. Hunt, the first and present editor of Word & Image, held a chair in English literature 20 years ago, but is now Professor and Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

It is my recollection that I purchased this issue at a Friends of the Libraries book sale at OSU. I’ve checked OSCAR, the OSUL catalog, and the Fine Arts Library does have a complete set as do several other academic libraries in Ohio.

Word & Image January-March 1985, Volume 1, Number 1 ISSN: 0266-6286 Subject: Communication in art Publication schedule quarterly Taylor & Francis Ltd. 4 John Street, London WC1N 2ET $40 personal subscription; $80 institutional subscription http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/02666286.asp Senior Editor: John Dixon Hunt Editor for this issue: Michael Leslie

2004-04-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

22 Balance

I'll toss this in because it arrived yesterday. Balance, Spring 2004, is called the inaugural issue and premiere issue of TIAA-CREF's next generation--a new look, features and name for Participant. According to Herb Allison, the Chairman, President and CEO, it reflects the restructuring of the organization, new products and better delivery.

I've just received the CREF (that's stocks) 2003 Annual Report. Just in case you've been blaming the slump on the current administration, I point out the chart that shows the huge, almost 30%, drop in total returns in 1999 and 2000. Much more than 2001 and 2002. But 2003 looks like it was up over 50%, higher than any year in the 90s.

Balance; quarterly news and tools from TIAA-CREF Spring 2004, Inaugural Issue, Premiere Issue Subject: TIAA-CREF news and products Publication schedule quarterly Supercedes: Participant Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund 730 Third Avenue New York, NY 10017-3206 http://www.TIAA-CREF.org Free to members Managing editor: Tori Rosen Chairman, President, CEO: Herb Allison

2004-04-02T05:01:00.001-05:00

21 Yolk

The Special Premiere Issue of Yolk (for the new generasian) appeared in 1994 as Volume 1, Number 1 with Margaret Cho on the cover and an interview about her new (then) ABC sitcom on the inside. What's with the title? I've never met an Asian that looks like the color of an egg yolk, but that's the derivation. Larry J. Tazuma rambles on about how he never liked the name "Larry" so he chose a name that, well, no one else seemed to like either.

". . . the yolk of an egg is yellow. . . some say [it] symbolizes the birth of something. . . [some say] it's a body building term. . . [others say] yolk represents the Asian American struggle to break free from our shells. . .our skin color is really the only thing that connects Asians with other Asians and Asian Americans. It goes beyond geographical lines. . ."

Philip W. Chung, editor, was at first skeptical when approached to participate, but then warmed up to the idea.

. . .Yolk has arrived despite obstacles that might have crushed lesser mortals. How we did this, even I do not know. We are a group of mostly twentysomething, mostly Asian American men and women with some publishing experience, no money and few resources, but with our determination, passion and hard work we have made it thus far."

The early issues covered issues important to younger AA's, as did this first one--AIDS, ethnicity (Korean/Latino), prejudice, sex and the inventor of Play-Doh (a Chinese American). Not a reading menu that would interest me, but then middle age librarians weren't the target. It appeared to have a healthy ad and design budget at the beginning.

However, Yolk laid an egg and had to be given a re-birth in 2001, according to its web site, as an entertainment, lifestyle and pop culture magazine (which I thought it was). Sexy, scantily-clad Asian women became the only cover subject--what a concept! After 15 issues it ceased in late 2003, a victim of the illusive advertising dollar. However, Informasia Media Group, Inc. has put all the issues on a website where they are available for reading.

Yolk 1994, Vol. 1, No. 1, Special Premiere Issue ISSN: 1077-6907 Subject: Asian lifestyle and pop culture Publication schedule quarterly Status: Ceased 2003 after 15 issues InformAsian Media, Inc. PO Box 862130 1984 North Main Street Studio 202 Los Angeles, CA 90031 $3.95;$18.00 for 6 issues http://www.yolk.com/about.html Chief Operations Manager: Tommy Tan Editor: Philip W. Chung Managing Editor and Marketing director: Larry J. Tazuma

2004-04-01T04:59:00.000-05:00

20 Egg

I remember a year when the children were small, we hid one egg so well for our Easter egg hunt in the house, that we never found it until it started to smell! So it may have been for this magazine, Egg, Premiere Issue, March 1990. Although you would have a difficult time hiding or misplacing this journal--it is very large, about 11 x 11 with a sexy pair of legs on the cover. According to Hal Rubenstein's note to the reader on page 8, there had been some buzz in the bizz--was it about cooking, was it for the intellectually gifted, was it about biology, computer languages, women or Fabergé.

Egg is about fun. That's it. Fun. . . Doing whatever it is that interests you because it makes you happy. [long list of celebs you might enjoy meeting] Our goal is to get you to share our enthusiasms, steal our curiosity, use the book as a guide to what you may not have the time to find out for yourself.

Then Malcolm S. Forbes, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief (who died two weeks before it was published) chimes in on p. 15. He tells a long, rambling story about trying to find nightlife in New York on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday by trial and error and who the people are in the making/shaking cities around the country having a good time.

So, that's why Egg. If you're into the fun of being alive. . . discovery. Singers. Swingers. Platters, Players. Clubs. Balls. Films. TV. Fashion. Art. Galleries. Stage. Stagers. Resaturants. Chefs. Food. Drink. Design. Designers. Architecture. Buyers. Sellers. Makers. Those about to be.

In a March 1 Folio article about the strange, brief life of Egg, Rachel Lehmann-Haupt writes

Egg launched in 1990 running 496 ad pages for the year, 20 percent over its target, according to Sharon Phair, its ad director. The first cover featured TV personality Mary Hart, and was headlined “On Golden Calves: Whose legs are worth $2 million?” a tongue-in-cheek interview about why America was obsessed with Hart's legs. The magazine was square, about the size of a record album and art directed by a newcomer, Douglas Riccardi, who had worked as a graphic designer for Tibor Kalman's M and Co. . In 1998, the editors of the now defunct POV magazine resurrected Egg after buying the name from Forbes Inc. for a dollar. The editors published four issues.

One of the celebrities you meet (low editorial budget, big ad budget) in the first issue is Sy Sperling. Never heard of him? He's the guy on the late night infomercials for Hair Club for Men. Surely you haven't forgotten, "He's not just the president of Hair Club for Men. He's a client!" Also a comedian. In the interview, he discusses staying humble after becoming a celebrity because of the ads: "I never lose touch with my roots. . ."

Egg re-premiered in April 1998 as a bi-annual, still focused on nightlife, but without the LA/NY focus. It kept the logo, but lost the square share.

I also have in my collection the premiere issue of Yolk.

Egg March 1990, Premiere Issue ISSN: 1046-5278 Subject: Nightlife, Lifestyle Publication schedule, monthly, bimonthly June/July, December/January Status: ceased after 11 issues Egg Magazine, a division of Forbes Inc. 7 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 $2.50;$10 for 10 issues Chairman and Editor-in-Chief: Malcolm S. Forbes Editor: Hal Rubenstein

2004-03-31T14:11:00.001-05:00

19 Heeb; The New Jew Review

How do you start a new magazine? Get a $60,000 grant from Steven Spielberg and take a pejorative term like “Heeb” and make it your title. It worked for Jennifer Bleyer, a 25-year-old Columbia graduate and freelance writer. She writes in Volume 1, Number 1, Winter 2002:

“There is absolutely no uniform experience of being or feeling jewish in this country. In meeting tons of people through this magazine, I’ve been exposed to every possible gradation of humor, discomfort, nostalgia, animosity, devotion, authority, pride, curiosity, unfathomable skepticism and immeasurable love toward this thing that we have in common. . . So here it is--a little mirror held up to the new jewish world, with all its dirt and glitter. . . check your neuroses at the door.”

According to a July 30, 2001 article in The New York Observer, the initial funding for Heeb came from the Joshua Venture fellowship program, jointly supported by Mr. Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, as well as several others. Heeb is among the first of the eight grants the program awarded earlier this year [2001].

I’ve looked through the first issue--but can’t begin to describe what it is about. Check out the web site, which says Heeb is now in its fifth issue. So, whatever it is about, it caught on.

Heeb; the New Jew Review Winter 2002, Volume 1, Number 1 ISSN: 1535-0134 Subject: American Jews Publication schedule quarterly Heeb Magazine, Inc. P.O. Box 20074 Brooklyn, NY 11202 http://www.heebmagazine.com $4.50; $17.99 for 4 issues Editor: Jennifer Bleyer

2004-03-31T09:25:00.001-05:00

18 Working Woman Weekends

1987. Seems like yesterday. The children were both graduated and gone. I was having empty-nest syndrome big time. I thought I would die. I don't think I gave a hoot about having my week-ends free, because I was just thrilled to have a new job that I loved as Head of the Veterinary Medicine Library at Ohio State. Other women obviously need some help with their week-ends, and thus this magazine. John Stoltenberg, the editor, wrote in the Winter 1987 Premier Issue (don't you love a guy telling us about how to live our week-ends?):

A new weekends life-style is emerging in this country--and it promises to enrich the lives of many people who have made serious commitments to their careers. . . Weekends was conceived in part because effective R & R and getaways worthy of the name call for just as much commitment and purposefulness as a successful business deal. Wonderful weekends don't just happen; smart career people decide to make them happen. . . [Husbands and wives] joint commitment to their careers has forged a new sense of partnership--a new collegiality--that has completely transformed their expectations of weekends.

Is it only me? Or does this guy sound just a bit condescending, like women couldn't battle a week-end respite without some help? So I googled John. Turns out he is a white male, self-described as a gay feminist and has written two books on the topic, Refusing To Be A Man and The End Of Manhood. He has an M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary, so he also has written, not unfavorably, on Promise Keepers, a Christian men's group.

Weekends offers snippets on short trips, vehicles, outings, relationships with family members, a celebrity bio (Diane Sawyer), winter holiday get-a-ways, romantic places, entertaining and recipes, and some health tips. There is nothing here that wasn't covered in the supermarket magazines Family Circle and Woman's Day of 17 years ago.

According to Ulrich's, Weekends ceased after a brief life, as a publication of Hal Publications. Working Woman had a fairly long run of 30 years, from 1972 to 2001. It incorporated (in 1997) Executive Female (0199-2880), which superseded (1978-1979) Executive Female Digest (0160-8134).

Working Woman Weekends Winter 1987, Premier Issue, Supplement to Working Woman (0145-5761) ISSN: (na) Subject: Women--Lifestyle Status: Ceased 198? Working Woman/McCall's Group 342 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10172 Editor: John Stoltenberg Working Woman Editor-in-Chief: Anne Mollegen Smith Publisher: Carol Anderson Taber

2004-03-30T19:49:00.001-05:00

17 Taste of Home

There were two premiere issues of Taste of Home, one a premiere newsstand issue, Vol. 1, no. 2, April/May 1993 (cover is May/93) and the other called simply Premiere Edition 1993 (2). They have different covers and different content. This magazine features practical, down home recipes, with ingredients most cooks have on hand. It includes step-by-step instructions and special articles on frugal recipes, cooking for diabetics, brown bags, picnics, collecting, using herbs, using garden produce, and regional and seasonal favorites. The newsstand copy says

Putting out the first issue of a new magazine is a lot like putting your first meal on the table for your in-laws. Your stomach is a little tight. . . Our whole staff was like a bunch of new brides when we mailed the first issue. . .to people throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Of course, this is a magazine that boasts of being edited by a thousand country cooks. I have a subscription to this magazine, and that is still the policy 12 years later. There are removable pages in Taste of Home that can be cut apart into recipe cards. Of course, I wouldn’t do that, but I have photocopied some, and used the “Favorite Broccoli Salad” on p. 37 many, many times.

I got these first issues from Ruth, who turns 90 this year and lives in my home town in Illinois. She used to work for a magazine fulfillment agency and apparently also liked first issues and gave me her copies. She had also visited Reiman Publications in Wisconsin, the publisher of a number of glossy, nostalgic magazines. Ruth and my father grew up on adjoining farms in Pine Creek, Illinois, and her nephew and I were neighbors when we were little.

Taste of Home; the magazine edited by a thousand country cooks! Premiere Edition 1993 (2) April/May 1993, Vol. 1, No. 2, Premiere Newsstand Issue ISSN: 1071-5878 (supplied) Canadian GST No. R123204331 Subject: Cooking Publication schedule, bimonthly Reiman Publications 5400 S. 60th St. Greendale WI 53129 $2.95; $16.98/year http://www.reimanpub.com Food editor: Mary Beth Jung Senior Editor: Bob Ottum Publisher: Roy Reiman

2004-03-30T11:40:00.001-05:00

16 Special Issues

I'm rearranging my shelves this morning to make my collection a little more accessible. I found a stack of magazines that I had saved for one reason or another, and some special issues of Time Magazine, which at that time I must have thought important to save, but now see how poorly written they were.

For example, I saved the Time Special Anniversary Issue "The Most Amazing 60 Years in History." They meant, of course, 60 years of Time Magazine coverage. Unfortunately, the senior writer, Otto Friedrich, neglected to tell the editors to put the date on the journal, so I have no idea when it appeared. There are copyright dates of 1983 on the cigarette advertising, but the cover, the colophon, and the running title at the bottom of each page are mute. So I got out a magnifying glass and peered at the tiny reproduction of the cover of volume 1, number 1 and discovered it is dated March 3, 1923.

And it only gets worse. The articles are rambling and not tied to any dates--I guess they thought the readers of the 1980s would know when Lindbergh flew, the Russians revolted, Rosa Parks rode the bus, the H-bomb was tested or Minute Rice was invented. Instead of chronological, it is divided into 6 broad categories, with overlaps so large, they make no sense. So it appears that a "history" issue that should begin with 1923, starts with 1939, indeed a very fine year, but apparently chosen because it was the preface to World War II, the defining moment for the editors of this issue. It skips from 1950 to 1968 then back to 1930, 1949 and 1956 and so on. I'm getting dizzy. Then 1927, 1948, 1963, pausing for a large fold out of the 1983 Chrysler Laser XE (another clue?), a model I don't remember. Now back to 1923 with a story of von Ludendorff and his side-kick Adolf Hitler, women protesting sex discrimination, and the war on diabetes slogging through 1980. Start over at 1944 on to 1982 where the discussion pretty much ends with how the personal computer is changing lives and offices.

Because this special issue is now over 20 years old its only value is to point out how worthless it is as an historical source, somehow giving it worth in the history of magazines. Odd.

2004-03-29T10:18:00.001-05:00

15 Angus Journal

In the 1970s I was the Agricultural Economics Bibliographer in the Agriculture Library, The Ohio State University. In those days things were so simple, I’m not sure we were required to use “The” before pronouncing Ohio! The library has a long name now I can’t even remember. One of the genres of agriculture literature that library didn’t include in its collection policy then was “breed journals” and “herd books.” The library would need to be double the size.

At some point, the volume 1, number 1 of Angus Journal, July 1979, came into my hands. Why an Angus Journal? From a speech given by Mike Sweet to the Board of Directors and staff of the American Angus Association in March 1979 we learn the reason goes back to the very first magazine published in this country, American Magazine, A Monthly Review of the Political State of the British Colonies, February 13, 1741. Mr. Sweet also referred to the Continental Congress, where instead of flipping a coin to see who would tell King George what they had in mind, the founders wrote it down, “the best editorial I have ever read.“ .

“. . .they had to write it down on paper and sign it. They had to communicate via the written word. There was no misunderstanding their intent, reasons, purpose or goals. . . Gentlemen, a few short weeks ago we weren’t magazine publishers and now we is. And we have an awesome responsibility. What are we going to do with the Journal?. . . It is an entirely revolutionary idea in the livestock industry for a magazine to give the reader and the advertiser his money’s worth. . . the first issue of the association-owned Angus Journal [will have to be] a Cadillac publication. . .our own self-portrait, in living color.

Frank C. Murphy seems to be the premier illustrator of Angus cattle, and one of his bulls appears on the cover. You can download his art of Angus cattle and calves as clip art at a special web site which includes a screen saver. The first, bull with head turned to the right, is a black and white of this issue's cover.

This is not a true first issue, the association had purchased the superseded (as of vol. 60, 1979) Aberdeen-Angus Journal (0001-3161) from the publisher. The web site says

The Angus Journal is our flagship publication. Started in 1919, it was purchased in July 1979 by the Association. With a mailed circulation of more than 16,000, the award-winning monthly magazine serves as the breed's official publication and the voice of the Angus industry. Through the Angus Journal, we strive to serve all members of the Association -- be they breed founders or new members, owners of two-cow herds or owners of 2,000.

Angus Journal July 1979, Vol.1,No.1, Charter issue ISSN: 0194-9543 (supplied) Subject: Agriculture--Livestock Publication schedule, monthly Angus Productions, Inc. Frederick & Brookside St. Joseph, MO 64501 $1.50; $7.50/year http://www.angusjournal.com/ General Manager/Editor: Mike Sweet Associate editors: Linda Wells, Ann Gooding

2004-03-28T22:39:00.001-05:00

14 Discover Horses

So I take a chance here and declare Discover Horses a first issue magazine, published by American Horse Shows Association and Fleet Street Publishing Corporation. The President of the association, Jane F. Clark writes

“this special guide features the writing, photographs, illustrations and expertise of a host of to-notch equestrian publications, organizations and individuals committed to horses. They enthusiastically answered our call for material that would serve as a warm introduction to the world of horses.”

There is a special relationship between women/girls and horses. (I know about this from personal experience--I wanted a horse all my life--13 years--until I actually owned one and had to pay for its upkeep.) This is one of the few magazines I’ve seen where the president, executive director, executive editor, editor, the publisher president, executive vice president, editorial director and almost all the staff and writers are women. Of the twenty contributers--writers and photographers--five are men. Wendy Carlson contributed an “Adventures in the Saddle” article with her own photography--and most of her subjects are women. Equine artist Victoria Von Kap-Herr has a clever article on outfitting the horse and rider, all with paper doll illustrations.

Discover Horses 1995, Volume 1 ISSN (na) Subject: Horses Publication schedule not announced American Horse Shows Association 220 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10017 Fleet Street Publishing Corporation 656 Quince Orchard Road Gaithersburg, MD 20878 $3.95 President (AHSA): Jane Forbes Clark Executive Editor: Mary Kay Kinnish Publisher president: Ami Shinitzky

13 Who Owns What

I have in my hand a journal for children about horses, Discover Horses, Volume 1, 1995. The problem is, I can’t be sure it is a first issue of an on going magazine, or just a guide or a special issue. The colophon says Fleet Street Publishing Corporation, publisher of Equus and Dressage Today, both known to me from my days as a librarian in veterinary medicine. So I google. Primedia comes up with a equine series by that name.

Does Primedia own everything, I wonder? Not exactly, but a lot. Check out Who Owns What at the Columbia Journalism Review. Type Equus or Dressage Today in the search window and up comes Primedia. Or on the main page, click on Primedia for a huge list of special interest magazines, automotive, sports, crafts, outdoors, equine, history, and even about.com. Primedia also owns Folio, the magazine about magazines.

2004-03-28T17:02:00.001-05:00

12 Reality Check

I have the first issues of some of the most successful magazines on the newstands today, all published within the last few years--O [Oprah], Real Simple and Lucky. Publishers are always looking for that new idea to replace the ones that are failing, and they look at the other media--like reality TV. So I think I‘ll add this one in while the topic is hot--by next year it may be gone (we should be so lucky).

This week I purchased the premiere issue, Winter 2004, of Reality Check published by Primedia. I never watch reality TV, but I’d have to be in a coma not to know how popular it is. The cover story is “The real Clay Aiken,” and the cover is removable to become a poster of Clay.

Only time will tell if this is a stand alone magazine or just a special edition of Soap Opera Digest. It has almost no ads and contains no editorial comment about the intention, so I looked at Primedia’s Circulation Management, March 16, 2004, and found

The premiere issue of Reality Check was launched as a single-copy stand-alone by Primedia in mid January 2004. 371,000 copies were distributed to supermarkets, specialty stores and mass-market retail stores in the US and Canada. If successful, another issue will follow soon.

From that story I learned that reality TV has been getting a lot of coverage in Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly, which of course, I wouldn’t have known. Editorial staff for Reality Check is from those Primedia publications.

Reality Check Winter 2004, Premier Issue ISSN (na) Subject: Reality TV Primedia Inc. 249 W. 17th Street New York, NY 10011 $2.99 http://www.primedia.com/ Editorial Director: Lynn Leahey Editor in Chief: Robert Schork Publisher: Linda Vaughan

2004-03-28T12:45:00.001-05:00

11 Midwest World Magazine

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea--putting the Tryon Palace Gardens of New Bern, NC on the cover of a new magazine called Midwest World Magazine. Volume 1, Number 1, is dated May 1973, and the editorial offices were in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. If it is one thing I’ve learned in over thirty years of collecting premiere issues, it is that you need to have a clear focus. Were there no pretty parks in Indianapolis or Chicago or Cincinnati?

The editor, John W. Hansford, wrote in “Notes on creating a magazine” that

“We set out to publish a magazine about Ohio and its closest neighbors. . . [second thoughts] Why not the whole Middle West? And why not add part of Canada and the Middle Atlantic states and a few of the border states? . . . The Midwest is a state of mind.”

It appears I picked this magazine up at a library sale, because two photographs have been sliced out--maybe for a school project by a child. The photos really aren’t very good, another problem with focus of another type. Ulrich’s shows no listing for this title, however, Bowling Green University did catalog it and shows a volume 2 with a cease date of 1974 with a question mark.

However, considering that I selected two journals at random from my shelf, this one and #10 The Great Lakes Outdoors, we think it is fate that we Bruces must visit the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, because both premiere issues wrote about it. Great Lakes Outdoors featured the wild orchids of the Bruce Peninsula, a long finger of land that points northwest toward Manitoulin Island and separates Lake Huron from the waters of Georgian Bay, and Midwest World included an article on The Bruce Trail, a scenic 435 mile hiker’s haven stretching from the U.S. border at Queenston Heights to Tobermory on the Georgian Bay.

Midwest World Magazine May 1973, Volume 1, Number 1 Status: ceased 1974 ISSN (na) Subject: Midwestern United States (loosely defined) Publication schedule, monthly Midwest World Publications 2606 Fair Avenue Box 6644 Bexley, Ohio 43209 Printed by West-Camp Press, Inc. Westerville, Ohio $1.00; $6 a year; $11.75 2 years; $17.50 3 years. Publisher: K. F. Bredenbeck Editor: John W. Hansford

2004-03-28T08:45:00.001-05:00

10 The Great Lakes Outdoors

One of the fun things about looking at old “new” magazines is trying to determine 1) are they still alive and 2) what happened to the people who had the idea to launch them. So it was with some surprise I discovered that the associate editor of The Great Lakes Outdoors, Elaine S. Buck, is a family lawyer whose office is about a mile from my home.

The Premier Issue, 1991, of The Great Lakes Outdoors reflects some lofty goals beginning with the cover. It is not a photo of a dead deer with two smiling hunters in camouflage. The featured cover story written by Elaine Buck is about the art and nature of artist John A. Ruthven, who at that time was 67 and living in Brown County, Ohio, and the owner of the boyhood home of Ulysses S. Grant. Buck points out that Ruthven is so respectful of life that he collected roadside kills and has mounted approximately 2,000 bird skin specimens for a museum.

The editor, David J. Buck, writes in “A Great Lakes Perspective” that

“There is a story to be told here, a complex story replete with heroes and scoundrels, successes and blunders, incredible beauty and total devastation. But most of all, the story includes some very basic misconceptions. [Lists environmental disasters of the area and the corresponding problems of environmental hysteria and promises readers an unbiased, unemotional approach.] We want to provide you, our reader, with this insight. We will explore the wildlife, natural resources, and natural history of the region through editorial that is both informative and visually exciting. We think it is vital that this complex system be understood and demystified, appreciated and enjoyed.”

Unfortunately, this journal ceased after the first year according to Ulrich’s. I’m going to stop by Ms. Buck’s office and see if there is a second issue of this truly lovely magazine.

The Great Lakes Outdoors 1991, Premier Issue, Voume 1, number 1 Status: Ceased after vol.1 ISSN: (na) Subject: Environmental studies, Conservation Publication schedule, 6 times a year Great Lakes Outdoors 1580 Fishinger Road PO Box 21285 Columbus, OH 43221-0285 $20 per year Editors: David J Buck, Elaine S. Buck

2004-03-27T17:09:00.001-05:00

9 Counter

We know what the future of the book is--you’re staring at it on your screen. The past, however, will forever be much more fascinating. I have Number One of Counter published by the University of Iowa Center for the Book. In fact, if I were to buy numbers 7-11, I’d own the complete run, because it ended publication in 2001. Just six issues is like having a full course in matters of the book, and enough to make the non-specialist like myself weep.

My first issue is an octavo, six-page tri-fold with photographic portraits and a tipped-in paper sample. The major article is a discussion of commonplace books and the role of book studies in the English course, an interview with Professor Max Thomas by Susanna Ashton. I probably received my first issue because I was a member of SHARP, Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing. The second issue went to 12 pages.

The first page message to the reader explains the title

A counter, as most printers know, is the white space within a piece of type, the center of the letter “O” for instance. . . It is a recalcitrant and multi-faceted word, one whose many definitions reflect, we hope, the mix of materials & attitudes that will appear in this newsletter. ”

According to its web page, "Centers" at Iowa are concepts rather than locations, and The University of Iowa Center for the Book is only in part an exception. It oversees a number of facilities and produces tangible products, but primarily it represents a community of faculty, staff, students, and local book specialists with diverse interests in all facets of book production, distribution, and use.

Counter Fall 1994, Number I Status: ceased after no. 11, 2001 ISSN (na) Publication schedule, quarterly, but vol. 1 had 5 issues Subject: History of the Book The University of Iowa Center for the Book 154 English-Philosophy Building Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1408 free to Friends of the Center Director: Kim Merker

2004-03-27T11:35:00.001-05:00

8 Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project

When the staff of the SCP sent their newsletter to the typesetter back in the Spring of 1977, they had too much material for their usual format, so made the switch to a journal. I was on the mailing list so I have Vol. 1, No.1, "Thanatology: Death and Dying." I apparently didn't see this journal as part of my collection, and it is terribly marked up with green and blue ink, red pencil, and coffee stains. I did not keep it with my collection, but found it on my reference shelf.

If you were around in the 70s, you may remember that "life-after-death," without real death and out of body experiences were huge topics for best sellers and guests on talk shows. The writings of Elizabeth Kubler Ross, Edgar Cayce, and Raymond Moody (Life After Life) were giving a lot of people hope, not offered by Jesus, for an afterlife.

Authors Mark Albrecht and Brooks Alexander conclude the special topic on death with

"[M]an is saved only in being raised from the dead by the power of Christ to overcome death. Not a natural immortality of the soul, but resurrection from the grave is the message of Jesus and the Bible. It is only the death of Christ, the second Adam, that could transform death itself--the very penalty for sin--into a means of deliverance from its guilt, finality and power."

The web page provides this history

"Since 1973, the Spiritual Counterfeits Project [SCP] has been a frontline ministry confronting the occult, the cults, and the New Age movement and explaining why they are making an impact on our society. SCP was born from the counterculture of the turbulent '60's, as the first wave of Christian conversion hit those who had left Christianity for Eastern mysticism. Those who shaped SCP came to faith in the heat of that battle; they knew that this prized and costly new faith carried spiritual responsibilities. The battle facing the Church was the very thing from which those in SCP had escaped--the mystical worldview. SCP was created as the vehicle for bringing that message to a wider audience. "

Having changed its name almost immediately, the SCP Journal it is still publishing well researched articles in a handsome, glossy format with excellent graphics and writing four times a year. The latest themed issue featured on the web page is "The Two Jerusalems, A Biblical Look at the Modern State of Israel, Judaism and the Church" By Alan Morrison.

I've never seen this publication on the news stand, but it deserves a place in larger, evangelical church libraries. The SCP Newsletter is published 4 times a year.

Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project April 1977, Vol.1, no.1 ISSN (na) Subject: Christianity Publication schedule, alternates with newsletter Spiritual Counterfeits Project Box 4308 Berkeley, CA 94704 free; donation of $5 requested for annual subscription (in 1978) http://www.scp-inc.org/publications/index.php#journal Editor: Brooks Alexander

2004-03-26T12:56:00.001-05:00

7 Animals Agenda

I'm not sure what caused the demise of Animals Agenda in 2002, but its last cover superimposed a photo of a "final solution" concentration camp with a chicken farm. Probably the not so subtle anti-semitism of it sent them to the chopping block, if they weren't already floundering.

I have the Volume 1, Number 1, Winter 1979/80 of Agenda, its original title. It is a typewritten, duplicated 16 page little thing that begins

We are trying to start a publication that will serve as a forum for discussion of problems and issues facing the animal liberation movement. [inserts some history of the movement] Meanwhile, our movement is still in disarray. We should be doing much more to pull together toward formation of a cohesive, international political force. . . Every movement worth its salt has had at least one theoretical journal for the exchange of ideas among its advocates.

Jim Mason is the name behind the publication and he says 4 friends are helping him as an editorial board. Together they came up with the $65 to write, print and mail this first issue. It was mailed from Westport, CT.

Ulrich's International classifies this as "Animal Welfare," which is a big no-no in the biz. In fact, the first article in the first issue written by Mason is about what is wrong with the animal welfare organizations (AWO), which militant animal rights organizations believe exploit animals.

But Mason's dream of a quality journal was fulfilled and it ended a 22 years run as a refereed, indexed, academic journal with a respectable circulation of 30,000. Not bad considering its typewritten first issue.

Agenda [became Animals Agenda] Winter 1979/80, Volume 1, Number 1 Status: Ceased March/April 2002 ISSN: (na) Animals Agenda ISSN: 0892-8819 Subject: Animal rights, Animal welfare Publication schedule (na) James Mason P.O. Box 5224 Westport, CT 06880 http://www.animalsagenda.org/ free to mailing list; subscription plans in the future Publisher and editor: James Mason

2004-03-26T05:58:00.000-05:00

6 Builders Exchange-The Magazine

Now for a change of pace. This is one of those magazines I mentioned didn't come from a news stand--it came through our mail slot because my husband is an architect. I've checked on-line to see if Builders Exchange (the organization) is national, but I've only been able to find regional groups, and the Northeast Ohio BX created this very good looking "Premier issue" for December 2002.

Regardless of region, BX brings together segments of the construction industry to discuss problems and exchange ideas. Gregg Mazurek, the Executive Director of Northwest Ohio writes:

"Within these pages, we will explore all facets of the construction process including pre-design, the bidding phase, construction and finishing. Project profiles will showcase the talents of both the design community and the craftsmen, themselves. Along the way we will meet the people who create our monuments, present the new ideas that feed this industry and discuss the issues that affect all of us. . ."

The handsome journal actually has two "covers." The first enfolds the entire physical piece and is a reproduction of the beautiful penmanship from the Director's Meeting, December 7, 1887, lightly screened over a photo of the doors of the BX building in Cleveland built in 1915. The words "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" bleed through the penmanship.

The cover story written by Christy Paxton, Editor-in-Chief, on p. 33 is a look at the organization's 115 years history (beginning under a different name). She looks for ideas that tie the 21st century with the 19th and finds it here in the archives:

"Marconi is perfecting his wireless telegraphy; Dr. Crile has discovered a means of 'Raising the Dead;' a New York physician has found something that will cure blood poisoning; the Monroe Doctrine still stands, and it would appear from late advices from Colombia that we are to have a canal at last. Now, if someone will only step forward and explain how to exist with 1903 prices on an 1893 salary, we shall feel greatly indebted."

Another interesting historical article is about The Dunham Tavern at 6709 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, by Richard Tibbs, staff writer. The Dunham Tavern is believed to be the oldest building in Cleveland still standing on its original foundation. Because this is a builder's magazine, the article includes side bars of drawings for remodeling over the years and details of the various groups and individuals that have saved the building during its 180 year history, and a brief history of lath and plaster, something you won't find just any place.

Builders Exchange-The Magazine December 2002, Premier issue, Vol.1/Issue 1 ISSN (na) Subject: Trade/membership Publication schedule monthly Sabre Publishing Group 3 Berea Commons, Suite One Berea, OH 44017 Builders Exchange Inc. 981 Keynote Circle, Suite One Cleveland, OH 44131 http://www.bxmagazine.com (then) http://www.bxcleve.com/ $7.50 single: $40 annual with membership; $60 annual non-member Executive Director: Gregg Mazurek Publisher: Keith Dunbar Editor-in-Chief: Christy Paxton

2004-03-25T16:24:00.000-05:00

5 Why magazines matter

Frank Luther Mott, the guru of American magazines, wrote in his incredible History of American Magazines, (1930) that magazine history is important because

they provide a democratic literature. . .that must catch the slightest nuances of popular taste
they play an important part in the economics of literature by inculcating reading habits, and
they furnish an invaluable contemporaneous history of their times.

The first two American magazines were issued within three days of one another, according to Mott. Benjamin Franklin’s plan was anticipated by Andrew Bradford who issued his American Magazine before Franklin’s General Magazine, both published with the date January 1741.

Similar, less erudite, things happen today--four men’s magazines featuring “shopping for guys with fear of picking the wrong product” are emerging within months of each other, Best, Cargo, Sync and Vitals. They are known as “catamags” or “magalogs,” and are similar to Lucky, for the female shopper/reader. We’ll see if I can snag them for my collection.

2004-03-24T16:22:00.000-05:00

4 LowCarb Living

LowCarb Living--Smart Choices for Living Well, according to its website, was available on news stands on January 15, 2004. It also claims to be the #1 low carb lifestyle magazine--a bit pushy for a first issue claim--unless it is the only one in that category!

The President/Publisher, James Capparell writes

Our magazine's goal is to inform, support, and point the way. In every issue you'll read the latest news and research on topics of health, weight loss, aging, and longevity.

Capparell and his associate publisher, Susan Ford, started the magazine because they had success losing weight on a low carb plan. The Editor, Catherine LaCroix, mentions that 37 million Americans are on low-carb diets, and that is clear from the 20 full page ads, plus many smaller ads in 80 pages.

The premiere issue has a comparison of the South Beach and Atkins diets, both popular low carb diets with books, and spin-offs. Low carb isn’t new. When I lost 25 pounds in 6 months in 1960, I cut out all bread, desserts, second helpings, candy, ice cream and milk. That’s a lot of carbs, and all I had to do was “just say no.” I estimate now that I probably cut my daily calories in half, but I never gave up fruits and vegetables I liked.

The author, Michael Fitzgerald, provides a little history, a sketchy outline of the phases of each diet, and compares results. He touches on The Zone, Sugar Busters and Weight Watchers, but basically stays with South Beach and Atkins.

My own research turned up a recent conference on obesity (February 2004). The session "Special Diets in Weight Management: Do They Work?" examined key concepts of the Atkins diet, South Beach diet, and Mediterranean diet. According to Lisa Sanders, MD, Yale University, an estimated 40 million Americans have tried a low-carbohydrate diet, and 10-20 million are currently on a low-carb diet. Medscape Public Health and Prevention, Vol. 2 (1), 2004.

“Rigorous, long-term studies of low-carb diets have been published only recently, noted Dr. Sanders. . . [She] summarized the findings with respect to claims of the Atkins diet. In the 6-month studies, the low-carb dieters lost more weight than the low-fat dieters; however, at 1 year, weight lost was the same because the low-carb dieters had regained the weight they lost in the early part of the diet. In the 6-month studies, the low-carb dieters were able to limit their caloric intake to the same level as those on a low-calorie diet. The dropout rates were the same for participants in the low-carb and low-fat diet groups.”

My own experience (2 weeks) of trying a popular low-carb diet, is that I will kill for a cracker after just a few days and I‘m not safe to be around, so I don’t think it is for me.

LowCarb Living January/February 2004, Premiere Issue, Vol.1, no.1 ISSN (na) Subject: Healthy Eating Publication schedule bi-monthly Capp Media Inc. Editorial offices: 1563 Solano Avenue, PMB 379 Berkeley, CA 94707 $3.99 single; $17.97 6 issues [also says $27.97 http://www.lclmag.com James Capparell, President Editor: Catherine LaCroix

2004-03-24T15:23:00.001-05:00

3 Maxim Fashion

Greg Williams, in his “Editor’s Note” in the Premiere Issue, Spring 2001, reports that

“You’re not an average man. You know the difference between right and wrong. You know about quality, taste, and style. . . .To make your life better you’ve purchased this magazine. We’re happy about that. . . Clothes are a good thing and a fine subject for a magazine. When you wear nice things you feel happy and when you’re happy you’re a better person.”

As new journal announcements go, it is pretty tame and not too promising with a whistling in the dark through the grave yard attitude--he mentions the chilling economy (planned in 2000, birthed in Spring 2001). But the journal succeeded and is in its fourth year.

The issue features a cover article on Christian Bale, who performs in high-concept film roles, “America’s most stylish man,” (he’s Welsh) who appears here in a $1500 suit, a $500 shirt and $400 shoes. There is an article that dresses up the We-G-Boyz in outrageous clothing, which I would have guessed came from a dumpster--but in reading the small print I see that the cowskin suit was $7,000 and the python shoes about $700. An article about surfer/beach boys in Hawaii has them all attired in $100 floral shirts. But not to worry. The photography is so odd, murky and dark, you can’t see most of the clothes anyway.

The current web site claims “. . . Maxim Fashion is the leading men’s magazine in America dedicated to style and the very best in men’s fashion across the globe. Sophisticated, glamorous, smart, and authoritative, Maxim Fashion is published in a luxury format that reflects its dedication to beautiful photography, sophisticated design, and high-end living.”

I think this journal is “queer eye for the not-so-straight guys.” Even in New York and LA, I seriously doubt there are straight men who would dress like this. In Columbus, Ohio they’d be laughed out of town.

Maxim Fashion Spring 2001, Premiere Issue, Vol.1,no.1 ISSN 1474-5755 [supplied] Subject: Clothing--Men’s Publication schedule twice a year Dennis Publishing 1040 Avenue of the Americas 14th Floor New York, NY 10018 $4.99 single: http://www.dennispublishing.com/magazines/maxim_fashion Editor in chief: Greg Williams Chairman: Felix Dennis

2004-03-22T21:48:00.000-05:00

2 Men's Life

Barry Golson, the editor of Men's Life wrote in the premiere issue, October/November 1990, that the aim "is to put out a good all-around magazine for men in their 30s and beyond. . .We don't have a readership yet, though we know there are a lot of like-minded readers out there." Apparently, there never was a readership for this type of generalist men's interest magazine (adventure, career, women, kids, sports, ideas, humor), because this was the first and last issue.

In writing about the contributors, the editor offered a diverse range of voices--humorists, investigative journalists, financial writers and babe watchers. One writer, listed as contributing editor, was Mike Kelly, who I am guessing is the same who soon after this issue appeared began his travels in the Middle East and wrote "Martyrs' Day; Chronicle of a Small War" (1993) and was killed in Iraq in 2003.

Like Martha's pull out stencil card, this magazine has pull out "handy wallet guides" to tipping, dining at reasonable rates, and the parts of a chicken. The health article is on needing bifocals, the entertainment story is about Michael and Kirk Douglas, and the fashion break through is "The great American tie quiz" and a blazer buying guide.

I suspect this magazine had no focus, no pizazz, no punch and no audience. I'm not surprised issue two never made it to the news stands or mailboxes of America.

Men's Life October/November 1990, Premiere Issue, Vol.I, no.1 Status: Ceased after first issue ISSN 1051-8029 Subject: Men's Interests publication schedule bi-monthly Murdoch Magazines News America Publishing 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 $2.95 single; $8.99 6 issues Editor in Chief/Publication Director: Barry Golson Publisher: Leo Scullin

2004-03-21T18:42:00.001-05:00

1 American Thunder

The special premiere issue of American Thunder;, March 2004, welcomes readers with an unsigned article that concludes, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" It gets the number one slot here because I just bought it a few days ago, and it was the inspiration to start this blog.

It seems, at first glance and read, to be about stock cars, the drivers and the fans. However, because it is a March issue, there is an article titled, "Into the madness" with a photo of basketball players in a small window on the cover.

"American Thunder is for you: the man who is as devoted to your way of life as you are to racing. Covering everything from hunting and fishing to music and the military, American Thunder helps you make the most of your weekend."

They also throw in family time, latest tools, backyard accessories, home-entertainment systems, camping, technology, and homeowner instruction projects. See? It is Martha in drag car racing. You almost get weepy and want to salute the flag as the editor concludes:

You work hard to support your family and take pride in your work, just as your father did before you and NASCAR drivers do today. Your loyalty--to your driver, your church, your family and your friends--is unshakable. Your values have a nation in America and a magazine in American Thunder.

The focus is definitely the NASCAR fan, but with token articles on home repair, basketball, motorcycles, and raising up boys, it broadens the base just a bit.

American Thunder March 2004, Special Premiere Issue, Vol.1,no.1 ISSN 1548-1816 Subject: Men's Interests publication schedule 10 times a year American Content LLC 555 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104 $4.99 single; $27.97 one year http://www.getthunder.com Editor in Chief: Lucas Mast President and Publisher: Val Landi

2004-03-21T16:48:00.000-05:00

You collect what?

I collect first and premiere issues of magazines and journals. If you want to know if there is confidence in the economy, just take a look at what is appearing on the news stands in 2004. I've purchased about seven new magazines since December, and that's without trying. That means venture capital. That means investors. That means advertisers. That means jobs. That means consumers willing to buy. That means a crazy exuberance and hope in the future. And that's what I love about a new journal.

I probably started this hobby with a spin-off in the 1970s of Library Journal, but my collection isn't exactly tidy and is double stacked in limited space, so when I find it I'll let you know. Previews?

I have certain "rules" for collecting, which I often violate. I mean, who cares? I'm the team, the coach and the audience. But for the most part I collect what is available on news stands--available to the general public. I don't seek them out in yard sales, attics, or used-book stores. Having said that, I did find a bound volume one of Atlantic Monthly at a yard sale for $2.00 and couldn't resist.

It breaks my heart to find a Vol.1 no.2 on a news stand, but only once have I written to request a first issue (and never heard from the publisher). I don't collect "Special Issues," even though occasionally a publisher will develop one that is successful into a regular magazine. I don't collect porn, and tend to avoid those that appear to be just catalogs with occasional articles, even though I know that is a fine line, with advertising being the reason magazines exist.

The reasons people give for starting a new journal are wonderful, and that will probably end up being my focus, rather than ISSN or editor or publisher or cost. For instance, I have the "Preview Issue" of Martha Stewart Living, Winter 1990, published in the fall of 1989 for the coming holiday season. She quotes Samuel Johnson, the famous 18th century writer:

For at the end of the day, no matter who we are or what we do, we want to go home. Our philosophy was nicely stated by Samuel Johnson a couple of hundred years ago: "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition."

The issue is filled with wonderful recipes, projects, and decorating ideas. I don't think she ever changed her plan (I also don't think she is guilty, but that's another blog). The pages are drying out a bit, so I have to be careful when I open to the stencils of stars and moon to be carefully removed to spray paint a table cloth. I smile when I see the photo of the golden threads of spun sugar on cups made of brandy snaps holding black currant icecream topped with caramel syrup. Ah, Martha, nobody does it like you!