History *More Print Magazines GONE* (12/06/2019)

Mag's are gone and so are more jobs than you think. Publishing houses, printers, distribution centers and all the industries that support them. For those that remain cost will rise, prices will rise and sales will fall. The cycle will continue and we have not touched on the fact that as these folks loose their jobs they will not have the buying power to support other business and the cycle will continue. The same is happening to brick and morter stores all over the world. But please, continue to click on the free "APP" or shop at amazon. Life will be good until it effects your job. This is just the way it is, the old ways being moved aside for the new. We called it Progress! But somewhere we crossed a line and it does not feel like progress anymore. Oh and by the way , when they dropped Rod and Custom they filled the balance of my recently renewed 3 year sub with Motor Trend! Called them to see if they would extend my sub to Street Rodder instead, They said sure but it never happened. Street Rodder ran out and Motor Trend keep coming and getting dropped into the recycle bin on the way from the mail box. I also have boxes apon boxes of old mags in a back corner of the basement . Larry

 

I think the reason for this is that the aftermarket stepped up, and started making:

1- crate engines
2- engine/trans mounts for most possible swaps
3- plug and play wiring harnesses
etc

Used to be everyone had to build all this stuff themselves, now we can buy it. For most guys, that's a big improvement, and the mags are just reporting how you do this stuff so much more easily now. It's great for those who would rather not, or can not, do it themselves. It's also great for the advertisers. It's kind of boring for those of us who love a challenge, though.

Yes, the world is changing. We just gonna have to get used to it, I guess.

 

" THIS IS ALL OLD NEWS "
​

Chances are, you are reading this off of your computer screen, or the screen of your tablet, or the screen of your cell phone. So some money has been paid somewhere to keep that going. The element of the print industry isn't cheap, we used to have two major newspapers here in Seattle, its just one now. Growing up, I used to really enjoy the Sunday version of the newspaper, I am sure all of us did, I haven't bought a Sunday version of a newspaper in over 30 years.

Whether we like it or not, indeed times have changed, and guess what, this old rock we all live on has moved through time and space and there have been some elements we cherished, that have been lost and there will be new elements that we will either embrace or be repelled by, that have yet to be invented or discovered yet!

" WHAT WE LOST "
​

1. Analog everything, rotary dial phones, party lines, phone booths, pay phones, etc.
2. Customer service, gas stations, cheap gas prices, high octane fuel, etc.
3. Quality products in glass bottles, plastic and aluminum cans seem to be everywhere for everything, etc.
4. A simple thing like a newspaper route, that a kid on a bike could deliver the rolled up paper to your door, etc.
5. Traditional book stores where you could go and enjoy actually looking for a book, etc.
6. Tower records, where you could actually go and search through racks of vinyl records and enjoy the album cover art, etc.
7. Ease of travel before 911, leg room on commercial flights, a cheap magazine bought at the airport for the flight, etc.
8. The element of a hand written letter, or even the element of a letter written with a typewriter, and then mailed via an envelope with a stamp! E mail has pretty much replaced snail mail, yet in my mail box daily there is printed junk mail on paper, go figure !
9. The fine art of just general communication between neighbors over the back fence, etc.
10. Simple printed on paper, directions on how to assemble what you bought! Etc.
The list is long as to what we don't have anymore, but these are just a few that came to mind.

" WHAT WE HAVE "
​

1. Digital everything, 1's and 0's its how the real world works, when is the last time you saw a under 30 person in a parts store actually look through a book or a printed interchange, rather than a banging away on a keyboard to find out, they don't have it in inventory?
2. Ease of communication via cell phones, computers, instantaneously world wide, you can take a picture of the part you want identified and send it to a person that can identify it, the H.A.M.B. is a very good illustration of that, etc.
3. Hard drives full of pictures that were not taken with a film camera, etc.
4. Instant gratification, regardless of the website or message board, or blog, through the computer and smart phones, there is an app for everything, and it runs 24 hours a day, etc.
5. Mass confusion and sensory overload for some of us when the computer crashes and you cant log on or a virus has goofed up your computer, or you have been hacked and your identity has been stolen or compromised, etc.
6. Directions that came in the box that make no sense of how to put the item together, or the directions give a website for support, and it takes you to a series of ad's that have nothing to do with the original product you purchased! Etc.
7. Electronic banking online, when is the last time you wrote a paper check or had to go to a bank to cash a check? Etc.
8. GPS. When is the last time you actually navigated with an ancient rand Mc Nally road atlas? Etc.
9. EFI. while maybe not H.A.M.B. friendly, the car starts every time on cold and hot days, when is the last time you had vapor lock? Etc.
The list is long, these are just a few that came to mind.

" WHERE WE ARE GOING ? "
​

That is a good question, but the ancient element of us as humans with eyeballs, will still have to read the road signs and bill boards that are still with us everywhere, ( the point is, the words have to be read ) whether its with digital readout on the sign board, or a silk screened metal orange diamond sign that says " DETOUR " its still going to be read!
As far as the written word on paper, that is distributed to us all in what ever manner its received, the realm of the magazine and periodical, those days are numbered. Those that made a living out of printing the yellow pages..................well you get my point I am sure !
Amazing that the National Geographic is still being published, but then again they also have a revenue stream via the digital world of Television and a variety of documentary's to help offset the cost of the printed material. Etc.

" REALITY "
​

This 1900's era ROYAL STANDARD typewriter,

Has turned into this, notice the stack of paper piled next to the computer screen!

 

This brings a good point, in my shop are tons of tech articles, everything from tap sizes and drilling the proper size hole to sharpening drill bits to shop lighting, engine swaps, how to weld with the "new" mig welders, all from magazines. Cross country trips in magazine cars built over many issues to the trip, also over many issues, the web may be the future, but it don't help with my library in the shop, and no....there never will be a computer in my shop, my shop is too dirty and dusty, electronics don't like grinding dust, got enough headaches with this one in the house.

 

They get tossed out or recycled because no one wants them anymore.
I still have my collection and advertised them for years trying to sell the whole thing.
For next to nothing.
I gave up.

 

Now you'll get multiple years of Hot Rod. Even if you don't already subscribe. You watch.

 

I’m a lifetime subscriber to Rodders Journal.
I sure hope it continues to thrive.

I was an occasional buyer of Rod and Custom and Street Rodder for a long time.

I stopped really enjoying the different hot rod magazines when they changed their format to advertising and promotion of products.

I liked the days of Tex Smith and Hot Rod Mechanix and after that the guys at Rodders Digest who would actually visit junkyards and build projects using the parts and publish tech articles on how they did it.

I grew up following the many different versions of the Project X 57 Chevy and it broke my heart to see what it has been turned into in its present form by the television industry.

Growing up I spent hours at the magazine stand and saved my allowance to buy a magazine.

My love of cars was highly influenced by the hot rodding magazines I read
Popular Hot Rod, Car Craft and so on.

The online world is good but it’s kind of sad to lose what we had with the magazines.

 

I re-upped my Hot Rod Deluxe a while back on their “last chance” deal. Looks like it should have been $99.97, less $10 for renewing online but when I logged in I was billed $83.97. Fair enough, but I am still owed 15 issues and at $4.66 each I have $69.97 worth of value coming.
A HRM sub is currently $20 for 24 issues so if they substitute that for my remaining balance I will receive almost seven years of Hot Rod. What a tremendous waste of paper and ink.

 

Recent issue of the Ford A Speed Technology (FAST) issue announced that they no longer accept subscription renewals. This is a volunteer organization that puts out some great info for the banger crowd. On the other hand, HUB out of Dallas is doing coffee table quarterlies with a $60 per year sub rate and growing. As many have pointed out, the demographics of car people are changing and the media is changing too. I have to pay to read several newspapers on line. Our local paper has gone from seven issues a week to three and now they're asking for donations to help out!!!. The daily paper in Salt Lake City has become a 501(c)3 charitable organization taking tax deductible donations as part of their business plan. Like many HAMB'ers, I prefer print, but I also see that it is no longer a viable business plan.

 

It only takes 3 people to put out a magazine (sometimes just 1 for a by-monthly) Writers are mostly Free-lancers who do 3 artichles a week for submission and do their own photo shoots. There are Industry computer programs that build the pages of the mag for you once you have your advertisers copies in place (parts-harbor freight-penis pills) then the artichles are just the fill. Some are even printed in other countries to save cost, Just send the file over the interweb to the printers. Distribution centers are the starting point for a magazines demise, boxes of unsubscribed issues and covers returned from the newsstands cause the distributors to separate from the magazine. Those figures are required by the advertisers and they could look elsewhere to spend their money

 

Sad to see this happen. I always thought Hot Rod deluxe was the official mag of the HAMB. Judging by all the positive comments this is the one mag we will all miss. Had my name and cars in HRD several times and think Drew Harding really got it. I have issue No.1 and every Street Rodder in my basement but almost wrote to Brennan about lack of content and excessive ads and how it started to get "thinner". It takes about 1 dump to read HOT ROD mag now and this tells you what it has come to. Sad day for print. Mantuajohn

 

- Thanks for posting

 

Two years ago I moved from Connecticut to Pennsylvania. My magazine collection was separated. My son, (dual quad 55) here on the H.A.M.B. got Hot Rod, from volume1, #1, up through 1961, car Craft, Rod and Custom from 1953-1961, along with all of my annuals, one offs, etc. The town dump got the rest. it was a heartbreaker for me, as I was a subscriber from 1953. One of my buddies sold his collection of Hot Rod several years ago for $ 10,000, I was hoping to do the same with my entire collection. of all the popular titles, as well as the obscure titles. My son only wanted 1961 and earlier, as they were what was important to him. My subscription to Hot Rod runs out next year, and I obviously will not renew. If I want to read what is available, it is Barnes and Noble for me, as long as they stick around.

 

hop up is not done. They switched to putting out one Huge annual a year with several
Small “specials” a year instead of 4 full issues a year. It will likely be the same amount of content a year just one large book instead of 4 medium magazines. Plus the small “little page” format specials.

A switch in formats to some extent, yes. Done and out of print? No.

 

Sad to see the several titles cancelled. Like many others I grew up reading the magazines and have a sizable collection. The first time I had a piece published in Rod & Custom it was a big day for me to see it in print.

The premise the owner of the publications uses to validated their decision is that the majority of their customers use digital media. That is because they have promoted digital while letting print die.

Advertising and product promotion was always part of car magazine content. Those who stopped reading because of ads contributed to the demise. I know one business who attributed the success of his business to running a small ad in the back of Street Rodder since the ‘70s

None the less, it is another reminder that things change; our old cars, old magazines and old lifestyle. No one likes to see the things we like go away.

 

I had not bought Street Rodder since they went to the current format. Just could not enjoy it with that layout.

Sent from my SM-J337V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

wish this comment had a double like ,I used to love reading g magazines when there was content to learn or new ways of doing things ,I was in jr high when friburger started writing and his budget junkyard builds shows young teen with two nickels to rub together could build something cool if you worked for it, gray baskervillesold photos got me into real hotrods

lost my interest in print when the magazines became full fledged sell outs just advertising and bolt ons with little info

 

I started subscribing to Hot Rod in 1964, when I was 12 years old. It was a great source of information then, to me the only source for info on hot rodding! I read every word of that magazine and then had to wait three weeks and five days for another one. Us old guys remember the “wait” that’s one of the reasons that killed the paper print!
The articles back then were outstanding! They would do deep tech articles in the back. I read everyone and sharpen my knowledge of “ how” engines, transmissions , etc worked!
My favorite series of articles that I enjoyed were , where the staff would go out an buy a popular car, I know they weren’t hamb friendly, and take it to the drag strip and get a time. Then take it to the shop and tune it up, then get a time. Then they would start doing things to the car one thing at a time and take it to the drag strip and get a time.
The thing that amaze me was sometimes just bolting one “ speed” part by it self actually slowed the car down, sometimes!
These were wonderful articles, not so much anymore. Another reason for their failure. Just a sign of the times, got to roll with it!






Bones

 

They still do those kinds of articles, just with today's cars. It's really the same as what was done way back when but they've had to stay current, even if many of us are more interested in older cars.

 

nobody wants them but yet somehow I sold everything I listed. I sold many by the complete year, 30 years worth... and the old 50's and 60's by each for the most part.

 

And I just sent in a 1st time subscription to Hot Rod Deluxe. Luckily I checked
"Bill Me".

 

The Rodder's Journal has 25% off everything Sale now

 

You are the exception and probably just got lucky.

Ask the majority of the guys here and they’ll tell you pretty much what I did.

 

I quit reading mags years ago. The content was 80 percent ads. the couple articles they had was about the ads they had in the mag.

 

I have boxes and boxes and boxes (15)of old car magazines. I rotate the boxes to a spot beside my favourite chair and read every magazine like I’ve never seen it before. My wife rolls her eyes when I rotate boxes but I tell her to go watch “ Titanic” or “Dirty Dancing” for the hundredth time!

I love everything about those old magazines from the smell of them to the old ads to the way everything was done back in the day. I pick them up wherever I find them usually a garage sale where some cool (highly intelligent) guy used to live before he passed on.

And I’m keeping them until I’m gone then some cool guy can buy them when my kids or my wife and her new idiot boyfriend have a garage sale!

 

I guess just accept the fact, We are old men and women living In a YOUNG PERSON'S world . Things change and what we held as precious no longer matters, Sad but true! Larry

 

Makes me wonder how the tuner mags (yuck) are doing.... Wish those would get trashed instead of car craft and the other mags....

 

I once had a very great large box of "Competition Press" (future Autoweek) papers from almost 50 years ago. 26 issues a year. I saved all the issues. My great fantasy was some day I would have a modest house with a garage and I could go to my "man cave" and enjoy an issue of Competition Press and read the distant past results of a car race or catch the latest car news out of Detroit or overseas. Well, varmints got into the box and the decades of weather took a toll, and the contents of the great large box was reduced to a worthless box of scrap paper. At some point I realized that modest house with a garage was never going to happen so I rolled the box to the dumpster and in it went. That was a gut wrenching experience. I miss those days of reading the paper on the weekend. Really good times.