Old Magazines, what do we do with them?

[BedfordGeorge]

As a subscriber to the following magazines, Practical Caravan, Caravan, Caravan Club, Camping & Caravan Club, English Heritage and the National Trust, my collection of old magazines has just reached over 5 foot. Feeling the need for a clear out I realised that I would be throwing out a lot of valuable information if I just binned them. The problem was that if I was looking for information on a specific area we were planning to visit, it would not be easy to find from all of these magazines.

I therefore decided to work my way through them and to cut out any useful information I could find, and to file it away. The problem then arose that say a report on Cornwall was back to back with one from the Lake District, I either had to lose one, or photo copy a page. I also realised that the reports on various campsites and CLs were all back to back making it impossible to file them in specific area's.

My questions are :
1) What do other subscribers do with their old magazines, and how long do you keep them.
2) Do the magazine editors make any effort to collate the magazine in a way that would allow us to cut out the various articles in the magazines and file them away for future use?

I look forward to hearing your various comments.

Regards,
George

 

[Trevormc]

I usually pass then on.

Try copying to a file on your computer or to different county files, then you can dispose of them in any way you like.

Trevor

 

[Beehpee]

I used to drive her indoors crazy as I never wanted to throw them out then one day I realised I rarely if ever looked for info in the magazines but would simply Google anything I was looking for and have the info in far less time, I still love to read the actual magazines but tend to just give them away or often they end up in the recycling box, Google is brilliant for finding most things and now wonder how I ever managed without it.

BP

 

[chrisbee1]

You could try giving them to your local doctor or dentist. If their waiting rooms are anything like the ones I visit anything less than 2 years old will be classed as new and patients will have plenty of time to read them cover to cover whilst waiting to be seen.

 

[Dustydog]

I hoarded hundreds. En Route, Popular Motoring, Car Mechanics, Caravan and many more. Not worth a penny. Dumped a load and now recycle with friends and on site libraries.

 

[Mel]

I take them to the hospital in which I work and put them in waiting areas. There are rarely magazines that are of interest to both genders.
mel

 

[emmerson]

I've got some going back to 1964! I think the oldest is a "Motor Sport" from 1962.
These are all up in the loft. The more recent ones are still by my chair in the lounge, but periodically, Herself demands a clear out and they go in the recycling bin. She then fills the space with her mags and jigsaws!

 

[RogerL]

Fill the recycling bin and cancel the subscription.

 

[CyberCynth]

I used to take mine to my local Doctors surgery, for the waiting rooms, but one day the receptionist refused to take them. She told me the surgery now BUYS a selection of new magazines every month! I did take some to my local tyre fitters once, but the staff came on a bit Jeremy Clarkson, saying their customers weren't known as avid caravanners. It's sometimes difficult to find someone to pass them onto, as all my caravanning friends already have mags of their own. They invariable end up in the recycling bin I'm afraid.

 

[paws]

Your comment, emmerson, about Motor Sport magazines going back to 1962, bought back happy memories
Bill Boddy and of course DSJ... those were the days! or should I say: "The Bod and DSJ"

 

[emmerson]

Paws, the first page I turned to was Bill Boddy's editorial, then DSJ's letter from Europe! Two wonderful characters the like of which we'll never see again.
I bought the 90th anniversary edition, but shan't bother again; it's a mere shadow of its former self.

Btw, did you know that Jenks used to live in a hovel with no water or electricity?

 

[millar84]

I'm very much in the same boat! I have a huge amount of Caravan magazines taking up valuable space on a big shelf in the cupboard. The collection has grown so much, there is a massive bow in the shelf, which I'm sure will give way as I keep adding to the collection.

I'm not really one for holding on to things, but when it comes to anything caravan related I refuse to give it up!

Like you, I've decided to try & go through the magazines & cut out articles that might come in handy one day. I plan to make a scrap book. This does seem like quite a mission however & could take some time, but also can be looked at as a new hobby.

It's bad luck if you're articles you want are on both sides, I think the only thing you can do is photo copy or scan them.

I'm all up for using the internet for looking up certain things, but keeping these magazines/cut outs, is much better IMO. The collection in a scrap book is personal to you, so it's like your own guide to all caravan related knowledge. It can eventually be better than buying books!

All the best with it.

 

[rosies]

Along the A 62 at south cave there used to be a Caravan dealership with a accessory shop which had a table full of items for low cost sale such as pre read caravan magazines . When visiting the dealership ( large well known one ) and called in the shop then you could take in used , mostly caravan magazines , and give these to the necessary person who would re-price them to say usually 30p , these then absolutely flew out of the shop and all proceeds went to charity , Now that was a really good cause for used PC , pop C and others to go to . Of course whilst there you would ( if lucky and some were left ) load yourself back up with some and pay an extremely low price , taking them away to read . Many were quite old maybe back to 1984 or so but certainly really interesting and unbelievable stories . The next time you visited then you would take your magazines in and give the back restocking again at the low price and feel good about giving to charity .
Unfortunately the accessory shop has now become part of the dealership ( which has another branch in Knottingly Yorks ) and ceased this activity . A big shame !

 

[paws]

emmerson, Yes like you I tried a "recent" Motor Sport ,but alas it was longer to my taste....
I reckon Jenks thought that anything that could posibly get in the way of his racing or mildly eccentric engineering activies ( like for example running water or electricity) was just a distraction.....

Back in 1963 I was working down in Brighton, and went ( as one did) to the Brighton Speed trials along Madera Drive and met Jenks who was competing a strange looking motor bike.....on closer inspection, it was clear he had grafted a 500 cc BSA engine into a Norton Frame that he had modified considerably..... I can't now remember the details, but I seem to recollect that it went like stink... but not for very long!

I think he was a good engineer, if a slightly eccentric one........ I wonder what he would have come up with if he had been interested in caravans rather than cars and bikes!

I think he won his world championship in 1948 but as I was quite young at the time cant really remember much about it..... but my memory of his win in the Mille Mignia (with Moss driving) in 1955 remains a delightful memory!

Perhaps there is a highly modified caravan around somewhere, that he used perhaps for some of his foreign trips...... obviously he would have had nothing to do with hook ups, water hogs or other such fripparies.........anyway I like to think that in an old barn somewhere maybe there is one!
Regards
paws

 

[ProfJohnL]

Keep enough old mags to make up the difference in height of the caravan step to support the bathroom scales to make your nose weight reading. B) If your slightly over weight just shove the mags in back locker!

 

[RogerL]

Keep enough old mags to make up the difference in height of the caravan step to support the bathroom scales to make your nose weight reading. B) If your slightly over weight just shove the mags in back locker!

Careful - someone will take that seriously!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Safer and a lot more stable than the cut down boomstick!

 

[CameronBurns]

I collect them - the oldest I have are copies of the "Caravan" magazine from 1955. Mainly 1960's and 1970's magazines, but have been subscribing to PC since about 2003 and have kept every issue! Sometimes it's nice to re-read some of the old stuff.

 

[intransient1]

I scan the the pages I want to keep and save them on a us memory stick, then I can recycle the mags.
I would take them to the doctors but someone already does that.