Periodically Nostalgic

My last issue of Ladies Home Journal, the July issue with Miranda Lambert on the cover, is the last monthly issue; LHJ is going out of print after 131 years. This makes me a bit sad. In many ways, it was just another woman's magazine but I always loved reading the "Can this marriage be saved?" feature. This isn't the first time I've seen a long-standing publication "stop the presses." The Rocky Mountain News folded several years ago after nearly 150 years. Seeing another publication bite the dust makes me a bit nostalgic, but about magazines in particular.  

We've subscribed to several magazines besides LHJ over the years including Time Magazine, Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Redbook, Men's Health, Health Magazine, Runner's World, Trail Runner and a few cooking magazines. Two that have stood the test of time in our house are SI and Reader's Digest. My husband likes to read his weekly SI in the bathtub. I'm not as big a sports fan but occasionally read one of the "human interest" stories. In Reader's Digest, I enjoy the short articles, the drama in real life story and the jokes - perfect for those times when I want something quick to read. Our other choices, Health and the running magazines, reflect our interest in health and fitness. But magazines are also like a time capsule memorializing the athletes and other personalities of the time.

Unlike books, most of my magazines eventually end up being thrown away. I make an exception for the cooking magazines, saving them in binders until the binders get full. But over the years, I've kept a few Sports Illustrated issues because I liked the athlete on the cover. I actually thought I might frame them but never did.

• John Elway (I have 5 issues with #7 on the cover)
• Magic Johnson
• Michael Jordan
• Chris Everett
• Jimmy Connors
• Steffi Graf
• Bo Jackson
• George Brett

12/30/1996

June 12, 1989

October 5, 1992

We've also kept, still in its plastic wrap, an issue commemorating 9-11, "The Week That Sports Stood Still." (Also in the plastic wrap, a CD-ROM with 1000 free hours of AOL!) And as proof that you should never write a bad team off, I kept a college football issue from 1992 of The Best and The Worst with the words "Kansas State is reborn" on the cover. 

September 24, 2001

August 31, 1992

We stopped subscribing to Time Magazine years ago. We preferred to get our news from the local paper, I guess. But Princess Diana passed away when we were subscribers so I saved three issues with her beautiful, gentle face on the cover. I'm not usually that much into public figures but there was something special about her. 

September 8, 1997

So my last issue of LHJ will go into my memory box even though there was nothing special about this particular issue. It makes me nostalgic for the pre-Internet era of long enduring printed publications. It even takes me back to being a kid, reading my mom's magazines.