8.10.2020

Remembering: Subscription Incentive Booklets

In the early days of Martha Stewart Living magazine, subscribers would often be enticed to renew or gift a magazine subscription with special promotional incentives. These could be tote bags or calendars, but more often than not they were small how-to booklets based on Martha's "Good Things" from the magazine. A renewal thank-you card would be sent to your address (such a nice touch) along with the booklet, which always centered on a theme, whether it was gardening, cooking, crafting or collecting. 

The booklets were always printed in colour on very nice card-stock and measured approximately 5.5 by 7 inches. They were usually about 20 pages in length, advertisement-free. As you can see in the photograph above, each "Good Things" booklet was based on a particular theme: homemade gifts, collecting, cooking, giving, holiday projects, etc. With images and ideas selected from past issues of the magazine, each booklet contained instructions, recipes and advice.

Martha Stewart Living offered these booklets to subscribers for about ten years, between 1994 and 2004. They are fairly rare today and each booklet can fetch between $3 and $6 on the secondhand market, depending on condition and rarity. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

MAN who would of thought that would be a thing? Well maybe a hundred years from now if there is a need to look back at the 21st century whistfully... one can only save so much Martha ephemera before winding up on HOARDERS. I have been tryIng to wean myself from MS and thusly discovered a vlogger Bernadette Banner resident of NYC and historical dress detective. Yes once again living vicariously through the actions of others however I have made masks, fashioned a leather thimble and revisited my dress pattern collection wistfully contemplating sewing a frock oh my do I have the proper suitable fabric argh