Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[LizzieMaine]

These days, in good condition, they usually go for $10-$12 or so, though if you're willing to settle for a wrinkled/stained cover you can get them as low as $5.50. Most of mine I got when they were a quarter a piece, but that was a very long time ago, and if there's an issue I don't have that has an article I need, there isn't much choice but to pay the going rate.

Those prices have been pretty stable over the last couple of decades, at least, though the supply is of course dwindling.

About half the upper floor at the Barn is devoted to periodicals. They keep a pretty complete stock of the post-WWII Post, with spottier stock of prewar issues, but there's usually a good selection of the older issues to pick over. They do tend to piece out damaged copies to sell the ads as "art prints," so most of what you find are in better condition. Colliers they aren't as deep in, but theyre's usually a couple of piles, mostly 1940s vintage.

They specialize in "Life," and claim to have the most complete stock in New England, with nearly all issues from 1936-72 usually in stock, most in multiple copies.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

We still have our share of used book stores here, but it's frustrating when you go in and all you see are forgotten "best sellers" from the '90s. If I didn't want to read them in 1994, I sure don't want to read them now.

Those are what I call yard sale books which are typically the aforementioned bestsellers, self-help books (by the ton), 15-20 year-old textbooks, unremarkable cookbooks (Microwave Magic 2000) and childrens books of very recent vintage that the kids have outgrown. The kind of books that after you've read them once you're done with them.

NYC still has a decent number; although, to your point, less than in years past. That said, the used book business - especially older or more obscure books (not necessarily rare or valuable) versus what Lizzie's notes in her post (best sellers from the past few decades) - seems to have move to and be flourishing online.

I buy a stupid number of used books a year and now just go online but almost always end up buying from a used book dealer somewhere in the US, Canada or the UK. And if I have questions, they are engaged and very helpful and with a very, very tiny percentage of exceptions, the dealers are honest and nice.

And the prices for some of those books online are insanely ridiculous. I've seen books that are realistically worth $25-30 or maybe $50-60 at most with an asking price of $250-300, and even as much as $500! By unfortunate coincidence they tend to be the books I'm looking for -- military history, aviation, automotive, etc.

 

[Krash1974]

General public Super 8 usage. All film, now that I think about it.

 

[tonyb]

General public Super 8 usage. All film, now that I think about it.

Pretty much. Film is now a specialty product.

 

[scottyrocks]

Videotape is not that popular either, anymore.

 

[tonyb]

These days, in good condition, they usually go for $10-$12 or so, though if you're willing to settle for a wrinkled/stained cover you can get them as low as $5.50. Most of mine I got when they were a quarter a piece, but that was a very long time ago, and if there's an issue I don't have that has an article I need, there isn't much choice but to pay the going rate.

Those prices have been pretty stable over the last couple of decades, at least, though the supply is of course dwindling.

About half the upper floor at the Barn is devoted to periodicals. They keep a pretty complete stock of the post-WWII Post, with spottier stock of prewar issues, but there's usually a good selection of the older issues to pick over. They do tend to piece out damaged copies to sell the ads as "art prints," so most of what you find are in better condition. Colliers they aren't as deep in, but theyre's usually a couple of piles, mostly 1940s vintage.

They specialize in "Life," and claim to have the most complete stock in New England, with nearly all issues from 1936-72 usually in stock, most in multiple copies.

That makes me feel a little better about the buck per I paid for a dozen or so old Life mags.

I bought a couple of boxes full of old Colliers and Life and a couple other titles dating back to the '30s for $15 a few years back, so something less than a quarter a pop.

A few weeks ago I handed over five bucks for the April 3, 1943 issue of The New Yorker. That's more than I'm accustomed to paying, but you can't get lunch out for five bucks these days. So I bought the mag and made myself a sandwich.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Last year a local library was cleaning out its periodical files, and I got home one day to find the almost the entire 1946-49 run of Life on my front porch in hardbound volumes. Each year is usally three very heavy folio-sized books, so that was a lot of material to lug upstairs. They're handy to have all in once place like that, but each volume weighs about ten pounds and it's hard to sit in bed leafing thru them looking for something interesting to criticize. But for free, I'm not complaining.

They were supposed to send me the rest of the 1940s run -- the later ones had already been pulped, alas, and they didn't have the 30s issues -- but I haven't seen them show up on my porch yet. It pays to have word out around town that you're interested in this stuff, but you'd better have a sturdy bookcase handy.

 

[EngProf]

Speaking of bookcases, I was going to comment that we had so many used book stores here in Nashville that I was running out of bookcases to keep all the old books in that I buy.
In addition to the exclusively book stores, almost all the "antique" stores (and we have a lot of those) have several booths full of old books.
Rarely does a weekend go by that I don't find 2-3 or more good old books. I really am running out of room.
(Last weekend I bought six WWII-era "Astounding Science Fiction" magazines. $2-$4 each)

 

[Fading Fast]

Speaking of bookcases, I was going to comment that we had so many used book stores here in Nashville that I was running out of bookcases to keep all the old books in that I buy.
In addition to the exclusively book stores, almost all the "antique" stores (and we have a lot of those) have several booths full of old books.
Rarely does a weekend go by that I don't find 2-3 or more good old books. I really am running out of room.
(Last weekend I bought six WWII-era "Astounding Science Fiction" magazines. $2-$4 each)

Other than that we buy our used books more online (although, still enjoy rummaging through old books stores when we can), you're describing our problem as well. We've basically lined our apartment with bookshelves and still have space issues.

 

[Fading Fast]

...And the prices for some of those books online are insanely ridiculous. I've seen books that are realistically worth $25-30 or maybe $50-60 at most with an asking price of $250-300, and even as much as $500! By unfortunate coincidence they tend to be the books I'm looking for -- military history, aviation, automotive, etc.

While I've come across the insanely overpriced book now and again (especially from single sellers on Ebay), most of the aggregator sites like ABE or Amazon have a natural transparency that either reveals an overpriced book for what it is or discourages that behavior in the first place.

To be sure, I have no doubt at all as to what you are saying happens - and I have no idea what subset of books you look for - but since our average purchase is +/- $10 and an expensive purchase for us is $40-50, I might just not be at the price point where the shenanigans happen.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The prices start to go up rather sharply when you're looking at first-editions-with-dust-jackets of books older than, say, 1960 -- part of this is just scarcity, given that the further back you go, the less likely the jackets have survived the beatings of time, but I think there's also a bit of OMG FIRST EDITION $$$$$$, no matter how obscure the book is. Granted, just about any genre you can name has fanatical collectors who will drive prices up, but it's hard for me to believe there's *that* much demand for routine 1930s nonfiction.

Some of the stuff I go for is pretty rare, though, and you can justify the price on that basis -- for example, agitprop pamphlets from the mid-thirties were made to be read over once and thrown away, and it's remarkable when you find such material at all, let alone in better condition. One catalog I get, from a dealer who specializes in '30s radical literature, has as its tag line "Fighting Commodity Fetishism with Commodity Fetishism," which at least gives you a good idea of what you're in for.

 

[Fading Fast]

We see that ⇧ all the time, where "VG first edition with VG dust jacket" sell for multiples of what a second edition or even "second printing" go for.

I get it - there are collectors and the desire and "specialness" is having that first edition in the best condition possible. For those in that world (I believe Nicole Kidman is a collector which gives you an idea of the $s one needs to play), good for them, I have no doubt it's fun.

We've stumbled across some first edition with good-condition DJs that are reasonably priced and it's fun to own them, but we get about the same joy out of a second printing one for 1/10th the price. Our joy comes from the fact that it's old and is a small connect to the time period, the fact that the book has a history (even if we don't know it; although, sometimes there are clues like a note in a margin you discover on page 82) and we buy to read - so (using an investment term) the intrinsic value of the book sometimes justifies the purchase alone. Also, some of the books are just neat works of art - cool DJs, interesting covers, page design, graphics, etc.

Fortunately, once you drop right below the "VG first edition with VG dust jacket" world, used books are an amazingly affordable hobby.

Another thing I've noticed is that away from the "big" ones - a signed first edition "The Great Gatsby", etc. - even rare books don't have the insane pricing of the art world. A lot of incredibly cool books - signed first editions - can be bought for a few thousand dollars. Way, way, way outside of our budget, but if painting or furniture or jewelry was your thing - the price of the really cool stuff there starts much, much higher. For a hundred grand, you could build an impressive first edition library or have one mid-level piece of art or painting.

 

[tonyb]

It's just fine by me that "condition is everything" in the world of collectible old paper. Besides books and magazines, I have a weakness for old advertising and propaganda (is there a difference?) art. If a poster, say, that shows signs it was used for its intended purpose can be had for a small fraction of the price of a pristine example, I'll take the one with the torn corner, thank you very much.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, there comes a point where condition becomes irrelevant. If the moment you open a "mint" magazine to read it it ceases to be "mint" then what's the point? I'll never understand the comic-book collector mentality of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a book that's sealed in a plastic casing so you can't ever actually read it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yep, there comes a point where condition becomes irrelevant. If the moment you open a "mint" magazine to read it it ceases to be "mint" then what's the point? I'll never understand the comic-book collector mentality of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a book that's sealed in a plastic casing so you can't ever actually read it.

I'm in your camp in that the few things we "collect" (used books, old tin toys) are only enjoyable to us if we can use them - read the book, wind up the tin toy and watch it hop / run / flip - and not worry about hurting their value as the ones we own are neither expensive to start with nor anywhere near a condition that will be damage by being read or run. But we don't buy tin toys unless they work - there's something sad (to us) in having one that doesn't work (and can't be fixed at a reasonable price).

"Using" the books or toys is the fun for us. Sure, if someone gave me a signed, first edition, VG with DJ "The Great Gatsby" I'd enjoy having it on the bookshelf, but in truth, I doubt I'd read it because I would be concerned that I'd hurt it and I would worry about it in general - so for me, where is the fun.

 

[tonyb]

I'm in your camp in that the few things we "collect" (used books, old tin toys) are only enjoyable to us if we can use them - read the book, wind up the tin toy and watch it hop / run / flip - and not worry about hurting their value as the ones we own are neither expensive to start with nor anywhere near a condition that will be damage by being read or run. But we don't buy tin toys unless they work - there's something sad (to us) in having one that doesn't work (and can't be fixed at a reasonable price).

"Using" the books or toys is the fun for us. Sure, if someone gave me a signed, first edition, VG with DJ "The Great Gatsby" I'd enjoy having it on the bookshelf, but in truth, I doubt I'd read it because I would be concerned that I'd hurt it and I would worry about it in general - so for me, where is the fun.

It's no contradiction for me to say I find certain material things precious and in the next breath say I have no room in my life for precious things.

Another way of putting is I would rather own my stuff than have it own me. I'll take good care of it, but I won't lose sleep over the prospect of it getting damaged somehow.

 

[tonyb]

Those are what I call yard sale books which are typically the aforementioned bestsellers, self-help books (by the ton), 15-20 year-old textbooks, unremarkable cookbooks (Microwave Magic 2000) and childrens books of very recent vintage that the kids have outgrown. The kind of books that after you've read them once you're done with them. ...

I've been to "pop-up" stores located in such places as industrial parks with temporary vacancies that sell books -- get this -- BY THE POUND!

There are indeed books you might actually want among the tons of wasted trees, but you gotta dig through the junk to find 'em. It's a bit like shopping the Goodwill "outlet" stores, the place where the merchandise is given one last chance at finding a new owner before it is sent to the rag man, or the landfill.

 

[3fingers]

My wife works for a "social service agency" that operates a large clothing center. They get huge quantities of donated clothing, a fair amount of which is unwearable for different reasons. There are companies that have industrialized the rag man's business to the point of picking up clothing in semi trucks.
It is ground up and used for various things, among them auto interior and industrial insulation and padding .

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The prices start to go up rather sharply when you're looking at first-editions-with-dust-jackets of books older than, say, 1960 -- part of this is just scarcity, given that the further back you go, the less likely the jackets have survived the beatings of time, but I think there's also a bit of OMG FIRST EDITION $$$$$$, no matter how obscure the book is. Granted, just about any genre you can name has fanatical collectors who will drive prices up, but it's hard for me to believe there's *that* much demand for routine 1930s nonfiction.

Some of the stuff I go for is pretty rare, though, and you can justify the price on that basis -- for example, agitprop pamphlets from the mid-thirties were made to be read over once and thrown away, and it's remarkable when you find such material at all, let alone in better condition. One catalog I get, from a dealer who specializes in '30s radical literature, has as its tag line "Fighting Commodity Fetishism with Commodity Fetishism," which at least gives you a good idea of what you're in for.

Interestingly many of the books on my want list whose prices have gone through the stratosphere are books on military history, aviation and some automotive books that were published within the last thirty years. One example is a book on the Porsche 917 racecar that was published in 2006. On Amazon the prices range between $195 and $500!

I'm not really big into the first edition thing as all the books I buy I buy to read though I am something of a stickler for condition as I do want my books to be in good nick and am willing to pay a little more for such a copy. I will go for certain editions with cover art that appeals to me such as the 1980s paperback editions of Raymond Chandler.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Paperback prices are all over the place. I've seen things that I personally bought off the drugstore rack in 1973 for fifty cents going in the hundreds online, and for no other reason than a minor variation in cover design from other editions. I guess most people were like me in that paperback covers were very rarely intact for very long on any book.