Yesterday I picked up a bunch of old copies of the AOS Bulletins. People
bring them to the society meetings all the time but I never really thought
I'd read old magazines. What a blast!

The first think that jumped out when I was reading 30 year old issues (1974)
was there was no web sites or email addresses. You actually had to write a
letter or call people to order something. We take this for granted today.
I seldom read an ad today that doesn't have a reference to the web to see
more about the product.

The second thing that I noticed was how many vendors that no longer are in
business 30 years later. I guess people retire and their business just
fades away from memory. I'm sure there is an interesting story behind each
one of these advertizers that are no longer around. I only recognize about
10% of the companies that advertised. I have a stack from 1962 that I'm
sure are going to even worse for this.

It seems that more species were sold in 1974 than are advertized today. My
speculation is that 30 years ago duplication of plants was by division, so
awarded plants were just not available like today. The hybrids that were
available aren't varieties that I recognize. There seems to be a big
demand for cymbidiums which you seldom see advertized today.

Prices are interesting, too. It seems funny to see plants for $2 each and
some awarded ones for hundreds of dollars.

The articles seem to be focused more on problems and culture. I'm finding
them interesting and fun to read. Wouldn't it be nice if someone compiled a
"Best of AOS Bulletin" book comprised of the best articles of the past 50
years? I'd buy it.

If you get a chance to get some old copies of the magazine pick them up and
take a look. They do make fun reading.