UK Reader’s Digest closes after 86 years. Memories?

They will become collectors' items now!

I subscribed, as soon as I had my own money - at 14 I was writing in the newspapers - but then I stopped, when the magazine deteriorated into an itty bitty scrapbook, and not worth the paper it was printed on.

granfromafar

They will become collectors' items now!

I hope so! I've got hundreds. My mum always got it and I took on the subscription when she died.

Sad to see it go

My dad also used to get it and even as a child, I was an avid reader who would scour it from cover to cover. I'm not surprised that it has reached the end of the road in this digital age though.

I always used to see them in dentists loved the quizzes especially where you had to choose best meaning of the word sometimes I bought them 2nd hand
years ago we had a promotion at school secondary modern at Christmas we had books and other bits and pieces from RD for sale I know mum bought a cookery book but I bought a pocket game was it mastermind the one with the Chinese girl on the front
its odd really I think they had lost their appeal we were told at the charity shop not to put out RD or any of their books

Used to love them as a child, don't think mum and dad bought them, think they were passed on by someone else. Fond memories.

Yoga We still have our RD Complete diy book which my mum bought my dh over 50 years ago. On one side is house and the other Garden. It’s been so helpful.

I loved and read the Readers Digest for many years. Such an interesting little magazine with snippets of information and articles you just didn’t find elsewhere. I have several of their books also. I suppose with the internet and the fast paced social media et al, demise in print circulation is to be expected in this throw away age. I have very fond memories of working for them when they were based in London near the Old Bailey. It was a great office with great people although the (early) computer system they had was a fiddle to master. Happy days!

I have been looking stupidly at "bump" for weeks, wondering what dodgem cars had to do with the thread! Even though MissI gave an explanation, I still don't get it. It seems pointless, frankly. And yes, there were abridged versions of well known novels - usually about four or five in one volume.

Like you Tanjamaltija I unsubscribed due to the erosion of quality over the years, of the actual mag, not the contents. I missed it for ages and bought the odd one at airports. The inside margins got so narrow you could hardly read the words. But what brilliant value for money, the number of people who could enjoy each one. We were told once you subscribe you can never get ‘out’. I was so shocked when I didn’t hear a thing from ‘Tom Champagne’ once I stopped subscribing. They let me go, just like that after 10 years. I’d assumed that was a made up name btw, just checked, he’s a real person.

One of my ex wifes aunts bought me a subscription for several years that ended when we divorced.

Marydoll

My favourite was Laughter is the Best Medicine .

Was there not a word quiz, with multiple choice or have I made that up? I'm sure DH and I used to do it.

There was Marydoll. It was the word power vocabulary quiz where you selected the right word from three similar words to fit a sentence, if I remember correctly.

It pays to increase your wordpower. Always did it with my mum. Very improving!!!

Always could read them at Doctors or Dentists offices,nice memory.

My in laws had piles and piles of Reader's Digest and very old magazines .
They were never thrown away .
Their selection reminded me of the ones that we had in our doctor's waiting room .
My parents had some Reader's Digest books , which I read until I was told that it was lazy reading for stupid people !
I can't remember all the titles The Leopard is one .
I particularly enjoyed the story of a family , who relocated to Puget's Sound and had to carry a huge American washing machine in a row boat in a storm .
I'd like to read the full version .

You can download 32 of the Most Memorable Reader’s Digest Stories Ever. Google takes you to the selection going back from the first issue in 1922.

Hello new to the forum, a male over 55, but I've had the forums are good on here. My grandparents used to get Readers Digest every month and I liked all the features from current affairs to music. Also kept a few copies from the seventies until I lost them as I liked the adverts for half forgotten cars and shops that have closed down.

I've no idea where they came from but we always had a few around in my parents' house. Interesting little magazine. We had the cookery book and the DIY book too - both frequently referred to. I'm sad it won't be part of my Gchs lives.

My DM discovered her mental breakdown was caused by the menopause after reading an article in the RD. I remember her rushing in waving the little magazine saying “I knew there was more to it!” She took it with her to the doctor - was prescribed HRT and she was back to normal in no time.

Louella12

granfromafar

They will become collectors' items now!

I hope so! I've got hundreds. My mum always got it and I took on the subscription when she died.

Sad to see it go

Just curious. Why keep ‘hundreds’ of them? Do you plan to re-read them??

They were good magazines with a huge vatiety of topics and something we'll never see again.

Very good question, Urmstongran!

I just didn't want to throw them away. Simple as that. I don't want to give them away either. I'm quite precious with reading material, ì have hundreds of books as well.

I won't re-read them.

My children will have to sort them out once I've departed!

Reader's Digest are my beach reading as I'm not fussed if they get wet or sandy. I have both 🇺🇸 and 🇨🇦 versions as well as several I managed to pick up at charity shops last time I was in the 🇬🇧 .
And yes, each magazine is a bit different.

Louella12

Very good question, Urmstongran!

I just didn't want to throw them away. Simple as that. I don't want to give them away either. I'm quite precious with reading material, ì have hundreds of books as well.

I won't re-read them.

My children will have to sort them out once I've departed!

I’m the same! I could never just bin a book. They go to charity shops or the charity book stalls at Aldi and Tesco. Expensive knitting and crochet magazines I keep for about a year then pass on to likeminded friends.

My parents subscribed to the magazine. I can remember reading (in the 1980s?) about something called 'the information super-highway' which was being developed to connect people around the world. I was intrigued.......look at it now!