The National Geographic Magazine

[Matt Deckard]

I was always a fan of this periodical, though I never subscribed. Filled with stories of people going to places that I had never seen. for me it was the written form of the adventure you'd find in Indiana Jones movies... an escape to places I wanted to be.

I recently got a stach of The National Geographic Magazines from the year 1936. How different the ads and the stories are. It is at the cusp of exploration where you see pictures of cultures untainted by heavy western influences and tanned men and women in pith helmets and safari jackets really exploring uncharted territory and catalogueing temples and cultures and art and rituals for the first time. Of course there is the random tire ad here and there... makes the magazines very alive. Alot more text and story to tell and much much less photography, though when you see the photos they are breath taking.

The vintage ones i find are less about new scientific discoveries and more about discovering the world...

 

[Irena]

We have many from 1947-1949. Very interesting, and informative. Only a few have pictures on the cover, I prefer the ones without. And the advertisments! I especially enjoy the ones for train and trailer travel.

It is refreshing to read stories from a time when "politically correct" was hardly an issue.

The National Geographic that we have we got for free from the public library in Steele, North Dakota (I have connections). They had many more, but our travel trailer had limited space. I also got a 1939 Webster's Sutdents Dictionary - it is my primary dictionary.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The greatest birthday present I ever received was from my parents. Back in 1977, when I was 10 years old, they gave me a life subscription to the National Geographic Magazine. In those days, a life subscription cost $350.

Storage has been a hassle, however. I've ended up giving hundreds of issues away to schools, church groups and shelters.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I believe it's around $1000 now.

 

[matei]

I used to love National Geographic. The pictures, stories... very interesting.

My wife did/does as well, and was a subscriber up until recently. The magazine has gotten a wee bit political for her taste, and then they started this "zip code usa" thing where they focus on a particular part of the US. Hmmm...

I personally think that the zip code feature is a bit lame - surely there are more interesting places on the earth than some of the US towns they feature.

When we lived in NY, the public library there was giving them away. You could find really old issues mixed in with more modern ones. My wife came back and cleaned out the whole lot!

They caught on right after that, and now they cost .10 cents or so apiece.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Growing up on a farm in Iowa, the previous owners left a steamer trunk up in the attic full of them...dating from about 1913 to the early 50s. I would stay up there for hours going through them. And of course, for me and many other young lads the photographs in the magazine showed us our first glimpse of a topless woman.

 

[Twitch]

Wow, yes perusing old publications is a time warp for sure! I have some from WW 2 and the collective "can do" national spirit leaps off the yellowed pages. The ads are such a trip too.