Your cart is currently empty!
The Complete New Yorker DVD Set
I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and a consistent thing in my childhood, was that there was always a New Yorker magazine lying around. As a kid I would pick them up and read them out of boredom. I was initially interested in the cartoons, and sometimes the ads, which were minimal. I eventually matured enough to read movie reviews (Pauline Kael!) and short fiction (Anne Beattie! Frederick Barthelme!) Oh, to be that bored again; with no internet, no iPhone, and not that many TV channels. There was something about a rainy day – you would pick up some books or magazines that are lying around, and all of a suddenly your boredom was replaced by sparks of the imagination.

(Later, in 1998 I wrote in my journal, “boredom is the silent killer of joy.” Not altogether sure of what I meant by this, but I do think it is significant that I wrote it in 1998, at the start of the digital age of endless content. But how can I look back on boredom as both a way to spark the imagination AND a silent killer of joy? Maybe it can be both.)


In 2005 my dad purchased The Complete New Yorker DVD set. It retailed for $100 and contained 8 disks, which contained the totality of all of the New Yorker magazines from 1925 – 2005. It also came with a nice book that had some of the cover images. My dad loved those DVDs but unfortunately he lost them. One day in 2023, I came across the set in a thrift store, retailing for $15. I was shocked that it was so cheap. But I immediately looked it up on eBay and saw the same item listed for $12 (Now I am looking it up and see that you can obtain it for $7!) So I bought it and soon began to realize why it was so cheap.
My plan was to give the Complete New Yorker DVD set to my dad, but unfortunately we couldn’t find a computer that they would work on. Even using a laptop with an external DVD drive – we kept getting an error message. Perhaps this is why the DVDs are so cheap on eBay. I did however, have one computer up my sleeve to try – my ancient iMac, also purchased in 2005. I’ve held on to it, despite its supposed obsolescence. I loaded the New Yorker DVDs in and … they worked!


So now I have the ancient iMac in a cozy corner of my house, and its only use is to peruse old New Yorker issues. I enjoy reading them in that form – scanned PDFs. Of course you could sign up for a pricy subscription and have access to the archives that way. But there is something about using this old software, on an old computer and reading the old issues that way. Of course the real delight would be to find actual vintage New Yorker magazines at a thrift store or estate sale, but they are very hard to come by.
For now, I crawl into the archives from time to time and screen shot some of the cartoons, covers, and ads. The articles are fantastic – so well written and a fascinating way to relive the history of the 1970-2005. Back then the New Yorker was a bit more nuanced and reserved as far as political content goes, which makes for more interesting reading. Especially on a rainy day.
Discover more from Beth Coll Studio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
by
Tags: