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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

They will become collectors' items now!

It's sad news that it's finally closing down. I too loved the jokes in 'Laughter is the best Medicine'. I think I probably got my love of puzzles and crosswords from reading copies of it, which must have been passed on to us, as we certainly didn't subscribe either.

My family could not afford to buy me new books when I was a child (and my father was a very caring primary school teacher too) so I educated myself from these little magazines which my Grandpa collected. I read them from cover to cover - I especially enjoyed medical stories like "the hole in Saint Martin's stomach" (I think that's right). By the time I was 10 and went to grammar school, I had a huge general knowledge.

Wow i remember going to my grandparents and them having a copy on the table. I guess it’s just a sign of the times with everything going on line, in future i think grans of the future will be saying about books being no more and them saying remember us with reading books that you actually turned a page lol

I always loved reading these as a kid. My Dad would buy them and later had a subscription bought for his birthday each year. I have bought them recently at service stations when browsing WHSmiths. I shall miss them. I loved the word meaning quiz and the medical articles

Moth62

Just as a matter of interest, what does it mean when someone puts Bump in a thread?

It's just a way of 'bumping' the thread up to the top of the list so it doesn't get lost or forgotten about.

All our DIY skills were learned from the RD manual. I think it is still in the shed. My hairdresser always had a well thumbed collection.

We had The Readers Digest Complete Do It Yourself Manual. It was very well used!

My favourite was always Humour in Uniform. There's something about military humour ......

My father used to get them and I used to look forward to reading them from cover to cover. He also used to get some of the books they did as well. There was one about DIY which was really easy to understand and was well used by DH and I when we first bought a house. The books on animals, butterflies, flowers, 6 in total are sitting on my bookshelf even now, a little faded, but still occasionally perused .

Reading it in the loo as my parents had a shelf of them there!
Must have annoyed the heck out of anybody wanting to use it as nobody we knew had the luxury of more than one lavatory.

Just as a matter of interest, what does it mean when someone puts Bump in a thread?

My god parents used to have them and passed them onto my family. Even as I child I enjoyed reading them

My parents used to have the Readers Digest many years ago. When they'd finished with the latest copy it was passed around the neighbours.

We had a subscription for a number of years. I always read the jokes first. We bought several books and my favourite, a cooking book was well used and ended up with a very tatty cover.

The condensed novels were always the ones donated for book sales.