Gransnet forums

Chat

Do you buy or read magazines?

(75 Posts)
NotAGran55 Fri 29-Jan-21 17:11:12

When I picked up my ‘free’ FOOD magazine in Waitrose yesterday it got me thinking about magazines .

When I was a teenager I devoured ‘Honey’ and ‘19’ moving onto ‘Cosmopolitan’ and ‘Q’ for many years . I absolutely loved them, and couldn’t wait for the next one to come out .

Apart from the odd ‘Woman’s Own’ 25+ years ago I don’t think that I have bought a magazine since then .

A visit to the dentist was always a chance to dip into a different world fir a few minutes with the Overseas Property Magazines and the beautiful glossy ‘Vogue’ etc on offer , but sadly no longer .

Do you read them , regularly or in any specific circumstances?

Pittcity Fri 29-Jan-21 17:15:30

I "borrow" magazines from the library and download to my tablet. The latest issues on publication day to read free. It is easy to skip the ads and only read the sections you are interested in and then delete.
I wouldn't bother with them otherwise as they are so expensive.

M0nica Fri 29-Jan-21 17:18:09

I have bought and read magazines, starting, like the OP, with Honey, and moving on through house magazines of all kinds, I have always been more interested in homes and interiors than clothes and make-up.

I currently read Period Home and have just transferred my long time allegiance to Country Living to The Simple Things. Country Living had just become so repetitious and unoriginal. I also have Computer Active and DH gets New Scientist, which I also read.

geekesse Fri 29-Jan-21 17:31:29

I have a subscription to Private Eye. In general I find magazines a bit silly - all full of celebrities I’ve never heard of and TV stuff I never watch. I think there’s something to be said for special interest magazines, BBC History, for example, or Horse and Hound, and if I were looking for staff, I’d probably check out The Lady, but it’s not something I’d read for pleasure.

Beauregard Fri 29-Jan-21 17:33:54

I used to subscribe to Grow Your Own and Equestrian Life and have bought Gardeners World occasionally and home renovation type magazines when we were renovating our house. Nowadays I pick them up, see the price and put them back down again.

Sara1954 Fri 29-Jan-21 17:35:07

I used to buy magazines regularly, but it’s probably twenty years since I bought one that wasn’t about interior design or gardens.

FannyCornforth Fri 29-Jan-21 17:38:02

Geekesse you have staff?!
Blimey! I have a subscription for Private Eye. I think that's where our similarities end!

sodapop Fri 29-Jan-21 17:41:34

In the days when we went back to UK regularly my friend & I took it in turns to bring back Woman&Home and Good Housekeeping plus an interiors magazine. I enjoy looking through them and possibly getting ideas, I don't like magazines online.

Eviebeanz Fri 29-Jan-21 17:49:17

Always used to read Marie Claire and recently have read Platinum

Ohmother Fri 29-Jan-21 17:49:43

I don’t have time to read mags now I've got Gransnet!

Jane10 Fri 29-Jan-21 17:56:30

The only magazine I buy is 'The Oldie'. It's very interesting and entertaining. Invariably articles about things I've never thought about and people with fascinating life stories. The cartoons are hilarious. It's a big read. Hours disappear as I read it!
I buy the People's Friend if I have story in it as I like to see how they've illustrated it.

biba70 Fri 29-Jan-21 17:58:41

I do from time to time- on travel - just got one on crossing Portugal North to South, or 'health'. and for British magazines as I live abroad for now, I use Readly- that is really good value.

Grandma70s Fri 29-Jan-21 17:58:45

I read them on my son’s Readly account. Costs next to nothing.

grannypiper Fri 29-Jan-21 18:01:02

Women's magazines are the curse of the devil. Half tell you what you should be doing, wearing and thinking and imply you are a failure if you are not perfect. The other half are full of banal zelebs that are star's in their own little planet.

Calendargirl Fri 29-Jan-21 18:01:36

I read ‘Petticoat’ when in my teens. Think it was a shilling.

Had ‘Saga’ for several years, DH was offered a 3 year deal for about a fiver, kept it on even when the price increased. Cancelled it end of last year after I worked out that half the pages were adverts, some of the rest I wasn’t interested in and often the next month’s edition had arrived before I had read the previous one.

Dinahmo Fri 29-Jan-21 18:04:43

Honey then Nova and Vogue and occasionally Harpers. Sometimes Marie Claire. Always Private Eye - now a friend subscribes to it and passes it on. Now I subscribe to Homes and Antiques and occasionally buy a French interiors magazine. I'm still interested in fashion, only to look at, not to buy. I haven't tried to follow fashion since I was in my late twenties.

I bought Vogue for the photos rather than the clothes, Harpers had amusing articles. Nova was best however. I still have a copy of the last issue.

BlueSky Fri 29-Jan-21 18:09:38

Can you remember SHE? I used to read it in the ‘70s it was rather ‘racy’ for the time. I then moved on to Good Housekeeping which I occasionally still buy, but of course with the net I don’t really need to.

B9exchange Fri 29-Jan-21 18:11:06

I think my magazine purchasing reflects periods in my life, Mother and Baby was a must when expecting! I always avoided the likes of Woman's Weekly as being for the elderly, but do buy it now for the craft, and quite enjoy Prima.

Mrst1405 Fri 29-Jan-21 18:23:50

I've always loved magazines and read all sorts. I live abroad and subscribe to Readly.
You can get virtually every magazine published for about 8 quid. I read a lot of hobbie mags, cooking, Good Housekeeping, Prima etc etc. Excellent value.

BlueSky Fri 29-Jan-21 18:31:04

B9 Mother & Baby! Brought back memories, I used to love that magazine, full of advice for us young mums!

Missfoodlove Fri 29-Jan-21 18:36:54

We get the Week and the Spectator.
I find glossy magazines too vacuous.

NorthowramGran Fri 29-Jan-21 18:42:29

I’m a magazine addict, started with Judy & Bunty through Jackie then Honey. Like BlueSky I really liked She, so sorry when that folded. Nowadays I read anything & everything for free digitally via my library subscription. Although you can’t beat the feel of a paper magazine I have bad eyesight and find a digital magazine much easier to read as I can zoom in & out.

Grandma70s Fri 29-Jan-21 18:47:13

I read Good Housekeeping for many years, also BBC Music which I still look at on Readly, and The Lady, which isn’t as bad as it sounds - a friend put me onto that. I got tired of Good Housekeeping when it seemed to be about a lifestyle (including a lot of dinner parties) that was no longer relevant to me.

Once upon a time, in my teens and early twenties, I read Dance and Dancers, Ballet Today and The Dancing Times. Not sure how many, if any, of those still exist.

Deedaa Fri 29-Jan-21 18:48:49

I usually buy Woman's Weekly as they don't have the "My grandad cooked my baby for breakfast" shock, horror stories that the other weeklies seem to be full of. Any celebrities they feature have had actual careers rather than 30 minutes in a reality show and the fashion is affordable.

Now and again I buy Landscape because it has long articles which are beautifully illustrated.

Jaxjacky Fri 29-Jan-21 18:48:57

I’ll buy a veg growers mag about once a year, especially if it has free seeds.