GUNS OF THE OLD WEST Harris publications has closed

[w44wcf]

Pards,
I recently learned that Harris Publications has closed its doors. It was the publisher of "Guns Of The Old West" and a number of other magazines.  I was very sorry to hear this news.  

It is with great sadness that we are announcing the closing of Harris Publications.  For nearly 40 years, Harris Publications has been a mainstay in enthusiast publishing.  

We are extremely grateful for the tremendous contributions of our employees, past and present.  The hard work and dedication of our creative, sales, circulation and operations teams and the talents of our freelance editors, writers, photographers and designers are what allowed us to continue delivering thoughtful and beautiful magazines to our readers.

The magazine publishing industry has been through turmoil in the face of the rapid ascendance of digital media, changing consumer content preferences, magazine wholesaler struggles and consolidation in the supply chain.  We have tried mightily to persevere against these forces, but have been unable to overcome these challenges.


 

[Major 2]

welp ...as a reader I'm sadden to see this ,

as a long time subscriber just renewed    I'm just once again attached to another object by an inclined plane, wrapped helicaly around an axis.  

in other Publishing news ...
Playboy announced  that it would no longer feature nude women for which it has long been famous  

[Bruce W Sims]

I had only just recently purchased a few issues of GOTOW and pretty much liked what I saw.
After a while I think I will need to come to accept that materials that deal with the subjects
I am interested in are fast disappearing. Maybe this is just how it happens, but it saddens
me to think that large portions of our history and traditions could be lost in the name of
Modernity and being "trendy". Just sayin.....

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[Dave T]

I just subscribed to this magazine and never even received a single issue. Suppose there's any chance of a refund?

As Bruce said, The things I am interested in are fast fading from the scene...kind of like me.

Dave

[Blair]

The "facts" are still there, they haven't gone anywhere.
You may just need to look for an alternative method to search for them.
My best,
Blair

[Dave T]

The "facts" are still there, they haven't gone anywhere.
You may just need to look for an alternative method to search for them.
My best,
Blair

Blair,

I'm just a busted up, old, retired, western lawman. Could you explain that riddle for those of us with out college educations.

Dave

[Professor Marvel]

I would occasionally pick up a GOTOW, but did not find it to have the "depth" I prefer.

It is unfortunate that one of our favorite magazine venues is folding. However it is due to overextending themselves in "too many" niche markets.   Harris Publications Inc. operated over 75 "brands" out of NYC, with a staff of only 85.

unfortunately ... they had far too many "extreme niche" mags. Some were pretty outrageous.

to contrast, one of my ongoing favorite magazines and success story is "Muzzleloader" .
"Muzzleloader" magazine was founded in 1974 as a single magazine run by the Scurlock family.
They knew their market and stuck to that one thing. They later expanded into publishing the succesful
"The Book of Buckskinning" series - but it still served the same niche.

Another ongoing successful niche magazine is "Backwoodsman" . Another case of a family owned and run single magazine.

Harris specialized in "newsstand-driven titles". The two I mentioned specialize in paying close attention to their readers and their niche.

If one diversifies too much, one gets spread too thin, and one eventually fails.

It rather reminds me of USAF ...
oops ... usfa

yhs
prof marvel

[Blair]

Dave T,

Sorry, I did not intend my statement to be a riddle.
My thought was Primary Reference Books devoted to the subject matter that is specific to the area you have.
Books can be expensive and out of print at times.
However, the Internet can help you find things and may even print out of print books on line.
My best,
Blair

[Dave T]

As far as books and research on the subject of "guns of the old West", I've been doing that for going on 40 years. The advantage of the magazine was news on new offerings from the industry. I thought you knew something about continuation of the magazine.

I misunderstood where you were going with your comment. My apologies for muddying the water with my question.

Dave

[Coffinmaker]

Monsieur Proffesseur Marvelous ..........

I would point out, that while a mere shadow of it's former self, I believe the "USAF" is still doing quite well.  Including it's very own
WARTHOG.

Perhaps, there is the remote possibility you intended "USFA" the now prime example of the DARWIN principle of Business Management??

Hmmmmm???

Your Humble Savant
Da Coffinmaker

[Trailrider]

  Dang! Somewhat fortunately, I picked up a copy of the most recent, and apparently last issue!  Sorry to see them go. Happy Trails, Harris Publications!

[Jake C]

Jeez, that's a real shame. It was always fun to come home from work and find a new copy of Guns of the Old West sitting in my mail box.

[Professor Marvel]

Monsieur Proffesseur Marvelous ..........

I would point out, that while a mere shadow of it's former self, I believe the "USAF" is still doing quite well.  Including it's very own
WARTHOG.

Perhaps, there is the remote possibility you intended "USFA" the now prime example of the DARWIN principle of Business Management??

Hmmmmm???

Your Humble Savant
Da Coffinmaker

UUUUuuuuummmmmmmmm




ooops

your embarassed servant
prof mumbles

[Major 2]

I always suspected , my mail carrier , pre-read my copy , or someone did   
got my copy once with little note ,  hand written  looked like a get lunch order for several people   

[treebeard]

I also will miss GOTOW. However to get detailed info on specific firearms I have found that it is surprising how many
Books have been printed on specific firearms. I use interlibrary loan as it is too expensive to buy all he books out there.
As a recent example I became interested in Civil War Gwyn & Campbell carbines. There was a dedicated book to these
And my local library received one on loan from the Air Force Academy library at no cost to me.
Maybe someone will pick up GOTOW - it was always useful for product reviews and vendor information.

[Bruce W Sims]

I also will miss GOTOW. However to get detailed info on specific firearms I have found that it is surprising how many
Books have been printed on specific firearms. I use interlibrary loan as it is too expensive to buy all he books out there.
As a recent example I became interested in Civil War Gwyn & Campbell carbines. There was a dedicated book to these
And my local library received one on loan from the Air Force Academy library at no cost to me.
Maybe someone will pick up GOTOW - it was always useful for product reviews and vendor information.

Thanks for bringing up another trend I have noticed.

Used to be that I, too, used inter-library loans to get those more obscure resources. In doing this three trends were revealed.
The first trend is that increasingly Educational Institutions would not lend to Public Libraries. While this still happens, what I found is
that Educational Institutions tend to loan more to other EI.
A second trend is that Public Libraries are increasingly culling-out older titles or designating one library out of a particular district to hold older titles moreso than others. When I was young, our Public Library was filled to the gills with titles going on for shelf after shelf. Modern libraries seem to have only a fraction of the titles, and those only going back just so far.
Yet a third trend that I have found is that many of the better Institutional Libraries have started requiring subscription in order to use the library. While a person might gain access to the general University library, specific departments often require a "student ID" or subscription.
Some time back you will recall that I made a fine older pamphlet available to others on request. This was my way of pushing back on these unsettling patterns.

Best Wishes,

Bruce 

[The Pathfinder]

Just pulled the Summer 2016 issue out of the mail box. I guess it's the last issue of my subscription which should have runs thru Fall 2017. It will be missed.

[Navy Six]

Darn it all!! I really looked forward to receiving each issue in the mail. Especially liked Mike Beliveau and Dennis Adlers material. I realize Mike is on You-tube but nothing replaces a comfy chair,cup of coffee, a warm fire with good reading material--in your hands! Really hope something similar will come along.

[Don Kenna]

Just my luck.  After a couple of years of procrastination, I finally subscribed to GOTOW last month.  A refund would be nice, but I'm not going to pester them about it.  The loss of the magazine is far more disconcerting.  True, many of the articles did lack the sort of depth I'm looking for, but even those often contained information that pointed me toward further research.

Dave T:  You didn't "[muddy] the water" at all.  I didn't fully understand what Blair meant by his initial post, but his clarification makes a lot of sense.  I too collect and consult primary source material, but that can get rather expensive.

It would seem that most periodicals devoted to black powder cartridge firearms are experiencing increasing difficulty of late.  I subscribe to three of them--primarily devoted to rifles of the type--and all are experiencing some degree of problem staying in print.  As for me, I became seriously interested in firearms of the period in the early '60s and remain so now.  I guess I've just progressed  from "young weirdo" through "serious scholar and experimenter" to "old crank."   

[Dave T]

I guess I've just progressed from "young weirdo" through "serious scholar and experimenter" to "old crank."

Don, you'd think there'd be enough of us to have our own magazine (smile).

Dave