
Mail-Order Magazines Did More Than Just Sell Things - samclemens
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/helping-shut-ins-sisterly-advice-mail-order-magazines-did-more-just-sell-things-180967857/?no-ist
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tyingq
I have fond memories of the mail order oddities that were in the back of comic
books as a kid. Sea Monkeys, mini hot air balloons, electric motors, and so
on. Companies like Edmund Scientific. Patiently waited "4 to 6 weeks" many
times.

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fallous
Indeed. My first real swing at self-employment was thanks to an ad in either
Boy's Life or some comic book encouraging kids to sell greeting cards door-to-
door. I sent off for the kit (which I believe was free), waited impatiently,
and happily received my sales kit. I then went all over town doing the door-
to-door schtick. I believe I was in third grade at the time and learned a LOT
about sales, customer support, product fulfillment, and the importance of
customer retention. Over time I had other jobs and interests that brought my
door-to-door operations to a halt but even when I was in high school I had
certain customers acquired during that 3rd grade summer that would contact me
to make sure I stopped by for their yearly orders.

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petercooper
Village guides published in various rural areas of the UK share some vague
similarities. They go out a few times a year (for free) with calendars of
events, key phone numbers, lots of ads for local tradesmen, butchers and the
like, and the occasional column about various local initiatives. Old people in
particular seem to lean on them a lot, not necessarily being online, etc.

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petecooper
^^ This. In the past, I've generated a lot of business from these printed,
hyper-local 'guide books'. Anecdotally, the Yellow Pages, telephone directory
and hybrid alternatives (Thomson in the UK, for example) are regarded as less
credible the local guide as they are a national product customised for local
markets.

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mmjaa
Its surprising how effective trash-print still is, even today. In Europe, its
a very significant form of propaganda; the free daily trash-mag at the train
station, literally provided free for the taking at the exclusivity of all
other rags, is nought but fodder for mind control.

Its a principle means of influencing the minds of commuters; and it works so
well, because nobody ever thinks "this is free, therefore its good", but
rather "this is free, so everyone has it, so I must too.."

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coldtea
> _Its surprising how effective trash-print still is, even today. In Europe,
> its a very significant form of propaganda;_

Just like the premium print, like Economist, NYT, and co, but cruder. Though
these days one would be hard pressed to find the subtlety in the latter
either.

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davebindy
It looks like these publications may have been a precursor of click-bait web
sites. Look at the second sample page from Comfort - one column of content and
three columns of advertising.

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ttsda
I've got a few National Geographic magazines from the 1950s and they're FULL
of adverts.

The December issue in particular has about 25 pages in a row filled with small
and big ad spaces, with a few more sprinkled around the publication.

