What are early issues of Mother Earth News worth, if anything?

Cash · #1 02/04/15, 01:28 PM

We'll be cleaning a lot of stuff out of the garage this spring, including a complete collection of Mother Earth News from 1970 to about 1985, when I finally decided it had "gone yuppie" and had lost relevance for me. I also have maybe 15-20 years of Organic Farming and Gardening, from back when it really was OF&G (before it dropped the farming) to 1980 and maybe 20 years in all of Countryside from 1995 to today. I also own many issues of Farmstead and what I believe is one of the most complete libraries of homesteading, farming and how-to books in Maine.

None of my relatives is interested in the collection, so I'll either sell them or donate them to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, if MOFGA still wants them. Does anyone have an idea what the magazines might be worth? They are all in very good to excellent condition. I've seen old issues of Mother for sale for anywhere from 50 cents to $3 each, but that was ten years and more ago.

sammyd · #2 02/04/15, 02:29 PM

it's been my experience that mags are worth very little.
Folks had an auction a couple of years ago and they had boxes of the same stuff.
Those boxes are now in my closets because they didn't get buyers.

Eco- · #3 02/04/15, 03:26 PM

They have gone all high tech and now sell their old stuff on CD's. I'm almost positive we saw a few months ago that you could buy it all for a reasonable price. Unless someone wants to smell hard copies aging they can't be worth that much.

Off topic but if MOFGA is the group that runs the Common Ground Festival they would be very deserving of them.

Belfrybat · #4 02/04/15, 06:42 PM

I purchased the entire collection of MEN on a thumb drive for $39.99 before Christmas. -- 1970 - 2013. The only way the older issues would have value is for a prepper who was expecting doomsday and the end of computers.

Le Petit Norman · #5 02/04/15, 07:05 PM

keep them another 30 years they might become collectable, like other says magazine are not worth much especially as they tend to recycle their subject on a regular basis and what does not get recycled is just purely outdated. The only magazine I collect is small farmers journal, I just love reading them on a cold winter day ...

Silvercreek Farmer · #6 02/05/15, 09:25 AM

Find some aspiring young homesteader and give them to him/her. One of the best gifts I ever got, and from a stranger, too!

dfr1973 · #7 02/05/15, 10:11 AM

What is it worth in monetary terms? Probably little to nothing.

What is it worth to someone who would very much treasure not only the information, but get a kick out of the old ads? That's a good question! I am debating if it would be worth the hit for shipping down to here ....

I have some old issues of The Workbasket, and the earliest ones I've found go back to the mid-1950s. The ads are every bit as interesting as the patterns, because it is a glimpse into a time before I was born - a time when both my parents were quite young.

Something I've noticed in my personal quest for old magazines is that from late 60s through early 80s it is very difficult to find magazines in good condition. They just don't hold up over the years, due to lower quality paper and ink (Stagflation, anyone?).

If you have someone up there who might be like me, then definitely gift them to that person(s)! Or, donate to the organization for future enjoyment. Just don't throw them out.

Harry Chickpea · #8 02/05/15, 12:13 PM

I have a bunch of them. I go through them about once every ten or fifteen years. Each time I do so I find that ideas I thought were interesting in the 70s are totally unworkable, nonsense, and sometimes just plain looney. I visited their eco-center sometime in the 80s, just prior to the sale of the magazine. The little water-power electric plant was running, but most of the place was like a dinosaur graveyard of discarded projects.

Minto wheel.

**clovis** · #9 02/05/15, 05:01 PM

At one time, the earliest issues of MEN were worth a small fortune. I am sure that it has changed, though.

We flea market for a living. Even a few years ago, we had pretty good luck selling used magazines of all types. Recently, I can't seem to give them away unless they are very hobby specific. Woodworking mags and toy train mags still sell, but I have a stack of Civil War mags and a stack of Hot Rod mags that have been collecting dust. Just a few years ago, I could sell every one of those that I could find.

1shotwade · #10 02/05/15, 05:40 PM

I have the original first 15-20 years of them also.( I just don't remember how many). It's not worth worrying about. Put them in a box. They will be treasured by your great grandkids when they clean out the attic after we are gone. I wouldn't give mine away,you shouldn't either.

Wade

oregon woodsmok · #11 02/05/15, 06:00 PM

I don't know if they are worth anything, but they would sure be fun to read.

unregistered353870 · #12 02/05/15, 06:08 PM

Not sure how much, but I would probably buy them if I came across them locally. I have the electronic archive, and that's great for searching, but for just leafing through looking for interesting things, hard copies are much better. I never saved them for long back in the "good days" because I was moving around too much.

Cash · #13 02/05/15, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belfrybat

I purchased the entire collection of MEN on a thumb drive for $39.99 before Christmas. -- 1970 - 2013. The only way the older issues would have value is for a prepper who was expecting doomsday and the end of computers.

Does the electronic copy include all the ads and the letters from readers? I found as much, if not more, information in the letters as I did from the articles, especially reports on what doesn't work as well as what does. And the ads were a hoot. Some of the woodsplitting devices ... OMG!

ETA: I'm old-fashioned enough and pessimistic enough to want hard copy backup for any information stored electronically. I have almost 20 years worth of work that is next to impossible to access because it's on storage media that are obsolete. Who's to say that today's cutting edge thumb drive isn't tomorrow's 5.25 floppy disk?

Cash · #14 02/05/15, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1shotwade

I have the original first 15-20 years of them also.( I just don't remember how many). It's not worth worrying about. Put them in a box. They will be treasured by your great grandkids when they clean out the attic after we are gone. I wouldn't give mine away,you shouldn't either.

Wade

This is the problem. Given my personal situation, I know I won't be here more than another two-three years. Still, I have this nagging suspicion/fear that 10 years from now (or sooner) the information in those magazines will be lifesavers for my children and their cousins. But then I've felt that way for the last 20 years, and we're all still here.

dfr1973 · #15 02/05/15, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cash

Still, I have this nagging suspicion/fear that 10 years from now (or sooner) the information in those magazines will be lifesavers for my children and their cousins.

But would they recognize them as such? Or toss them out when they didn't sell at the estate sale?

Glacialtill · #16 02/06/15, 10:16 AM

I grew up reading Mother Earth News as a kid and loved them. Shaped my life. If you were giving them away at a yard sale, I'd take the lot. If you were selling the lot for 10 bucks, I'd probably try to talk you down.

Probably not worth the effort to sell them on Ebay. I'm a big fan of Freecycle in our town. You post up stuff you want to give away or you post stuff that you want. Win-win. Gift economy. I feel especially good when I know I've given something cool into the hands of someone that really wants them and will put them to use.

Midgard · #17 02/08/15, 12:25 AM

They would be worth something to someone who was just starting out as a gift. Pass them along.

Ed