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A Yankee Magazine Makeover
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 This seventy-two-year-old icon of New England culture has just been updated for the new millenium. It’ll be bigger, glossier…and, perhaps – a little less “Yankee†than the magazine your Grandmother loved. We’ll talk with the men behind the changes. Richard's guests are Jamie Trowbridge, President of Yankee Publishing; Jud Hale, Editor-in-Chief of YANKEE Magazine and The Old Farmer's Almanac and Mel Allen, Editor of YANKEE Magazine.
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Why did you ruin it? I'm firmly opposed to the "update" and here are a few reasons for my aversion to the new millennium style. SIZE! I loved the unique compact size which allowed my beloved publication to travel everywhere in a purse or pocket. It set it apart from all the others. My heart dropped when I saw the January issue, it never occurred to me that you would change such a beneficial attribute. QUALITY! Ok, the new paper feels good, but the pages are falling out as I fold it on the binding. I thought durability and ruggedness were true Yankee qualities. The prior binding was tough and the paper less fragile. In addition, the new orange photo caption text is hard to read. ADS! Are there more or is it just because of the enormous new size that I find them more intrusive? MARY's FARM! I looked forward to reading the grand finale entry which book ended the close of the issue. It was the anticipated end prize. It allowed the spirit of Yankee to linger after closing the final page. Its abrupt entry location is jarring and the cliché ending of pages of ads is disappointing. I enjoyed the updated style you introduced a few years back because you stayed true to the basic, treasured footprint. At this point, I can only hope you will come to your senses and restore some of the true Yankee qualities I have enjoyed since 1993.
I agree. YANKEE has a quirky charm in it's size - making it big just makes it like every other magazine. My co-workers have commented on the amount of advertising, as well and several have cnaceled subscriptions. Maybe the magazine should look to NH Chronicles to get inspiration.
I hate, I hate it, I HATE it! The paper feels gritty. The print is too small and the contrast is not as dark against the paper. Mary's Farm may as well have been torn down the way yu've hidden it away. NO, I DON'T want to leave the hearth and trek to the computer to "read" more Yankee Swaps or Reunions> Can't cozy up with a monitor, now can you? And gee...can yu guess wht happened to your "new and improved" magazine when it was put on the tank of the toilet? Yep, slid right into the drink. Didn't happen last month, nor last year; not ever that I can recall. Must be that new and improved size. What makes you think 1935 was a good road to go down? Children were dying of Diptheria, the war was raging, not all that was the "good old days" was good. Magazines did cost 15 cents though. Roll back your price to 1935 and I may consider renewing. If not, the next time Yankee Magazine goes for a dunk in the "one hole", I'll just have to flush. Sorry.
ps. An old true "yankee-ism"...."if it aint broke, don't fix it." "And if you can't fix it with duct tape, "it aint broke.
I hate the new "Yankee magazine makeover". I decided to give it a couple of months before I formed a decision. And I have. I hate the new look. I have been a subscriber for a number of years and each year I buy my mother and my father a subscription for Christmas. We are New Englanders from way back and my husband's job has transported the two of us to Baltimore. I am homesick and rely on Yankee as a source of comfort. I too used flip through the pages of the old Yankee magazine at my Grandmother's each Sunday afternoon. Somehow the Yankee is not as comforting....or even as 'New England-y'.
What I wonder most is why the decision makers didn't get the feedback of it's readers before it made such a drastic decision. We are loyal fans I would think think that they would have wanted an opinion. I hope they decide to go back to the smaller size and the glossier pages. The rest of the changes are fine with me.
When I received the new January/February Yankee I was appalled at the cover. It looked like it was missing something and appeared that Yankee got a new artist who is obviously not familiar with New England. I was over whelmed with the advertisements and the paper appeared thin and cheap. I did not like it or the size. I have bought Yankee or been a subscriber for many years. I am taking a marketing class and decided to bring it in to see what the class thought, seeing we were was talking about new marketing strategies and this would be a perfect example. I brought in “old" Yankees and the new look. The median age of the class is 33. A person who is a photographer was the first to speak about how he was not impressed about the new cover and thought the new look did not come close to the original ones. He thought it was a poor replacement and also felt like there was not enough on the cover, did not look proportioned and that the change in the writing was not a good fit. He also said it felt thinner. Other comments-paper was chintzy, thin and cheap, on p94 The Winter Caretaker one can actually see the man's goggles from the previous page the paper is so thin, too many advertisements, see through pages, where is the Swopper's column? Why is Mary's Farm moved? It’s too big. Why did they change it? Out of 21 students in the classroom in all honesty no one liked the new look. Everyone had a chance to look at all the magazines and some even asked to borrow the old Yankee ones. Others thought it was too bad. I got my second issue and in all honesty could not believe it was Yankee with the girl jumping across the door. I have no interest to even open it. I feel betrayed. If I knew it was going to change I would not have renewed my subscription. That's another thing, less copies? It appears that whoever is making the decisions is not from New England because it is obvious he/she does not know what New Englanders like nor have a feel for it. If it does not change back I will definitely not renew my subscription. You people ought to be ashamed of yourself for changing a quality, tradional, unique, one of a kind magazine to the modern day piece of junk. Now it is just another magazine. It is dishonorable to what has been done to Yankee.