I know this isn't really what this topic is about (comics and magazines we'd buy as kids), but it still seemed like the best place to put this. A couple of weeks ago I went to a flea market and found a guy selling old magazines. He had a LOT of old TV Guides. I looked through them and ended up geting three of them for $4.00. The good news is that they are the "Eastern New England Edition", meaning that they cover the Boston area TV stations I watched as a kid. The regular price for the three I bought was $11.00, but he was having a big sale on his TV Guides (obviously). The three I got were January 17-23, 1976, December 17-23, 1977 and February 3-9, 1979. I figured these were all good examples of the CDF era.

I'm sure skorch would agree with me on this, it's a ton of fun reading through these magazines! While I was most interested in seeing what was being shown on CDF (and hoping to find some good CDF ads), it ended up being fascinating just reading through the entire week and seeing all the regular programming as wel as the specials and premieres. Even some of the articles were pretty interesting.

Out of the three I was only able to find one CDF ad (and it's one of the ones that skorch has already made available through his scans). But that didn't really matter, because it almost felt like taking a trip back in time--imagining that I was opening up these little time capsules for the first time and seeing what would be on "that day".

It was so much fun that I ended up sneaking back to the flea market last week and getting five more issues (September 27-October 3, 1975, October 25-31, 1975, November 8-14, 1975, November 29-December 5, 1975 and June 13-19, 1981). The regular price of these five issues was supposed to be $22.00, but he gave them all to me for only $8.00! I've just started looking through these, but the first one has a different style CDF ad for the September 27, 1975 airing of "War of the Gargantuas" and "War of the Monsters". I'll try to post some photos of interesting stuff that I find. At the moment I don't have access to a scanner.

I know that this is a topic already well covered by skorch's scans, but it just really is fun holding one of these old TV Guides in your hand and recognizing long-gone programming schedules--and even specific episodes of shows that you know you watched at the time! We have TV Guides on film from 1980 to 2000 or so at the library I work at, but they're not the Eastern New England Edition, so it doesn't have local stations and programming that I'd recognize.

Even though Iknow it's already one of the ones covered by skorch's scans, I've gone ahead and attached the CDF ad for the January 17, 1976 show featureing "The Astounding She Monster" and "The She Creature". I took the photo with my camera. I know that's probably not the best option, but it's the only one I had at the moment.

Here's one of Space 1999 from Monday January 19, 1976

I used to collect TV Guides as a kid, and everyone in my family (correctly) thought I was weird . Of course one of the main reasons was all the neat pictures! I have to say I still have a small collection from the '90's mainly, when there were a ton of Star Trek covers and articles.

Here's another Creature Double Feature ad from the old TV Guide. This one has a different look from the ones we've seen up to now. It's for the September 27, 1975 airing of "War of the Gargantuas" and "War of the Monsters"!

And here's an ad for the November 8, 1975 CDF that featured "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" and "Frankenstein Conquers the World"! This is another one that has already been covered by skorch's scans. That's all the CDF ads (three) that were in the eight TV Guides I picked up over the past couple of weeks. There's a lot of other neat stuff in them, but of course the CDF ads were what I was really looking forward to seeing. Oh well...

That's awesome Col. Manning!
If CDF officially began in Sep. 75 then you've uncovered the first ad for it. The local library didn't have that week's TV Guide when I was looking, interesting look with the lettering for it. I still wonder if the lettering for the TV intro looked like the ads in the TV Guide. It is a lot of fun going through these old TV guides, it really does take you back to the simpler times....

I'm eagerly anticipating more ads from your treasure hunts Glen.

Yeah skorch, it really is fun. You'd think looking through an old TV Guide from 30-plus years ago would be pure boredom (and for many people it probably would). But for a fan of CDF and all the great stuff that used to be on Boston area TV when we were kids, it's a treasure trove of great information. Glad you like the stuff I've put up so far. Unfortunately, in the issues I now have there aren't any more CDF ads (and I don't know how many more I'll be picking up in the near future), but there's still plenty of other neat things there. I'll try to post some of them soon.

It is pretty interesting to see that September 1975 CDF ad and how different it is from the "standard" one we are used to. I wonder if it is indeed the first one. I wish I could find a couple more issues from earlier in September to be sure. They must have made up the ad for that week, and then at some point settled on a different design from there on out. And it's funny that they even changed the look of the lettering! At least it's something to add to the list of CDF ads that you've already found.

Col. Mannning, were you able to get any more pics or scans?? I'm dying to see them!! I got a catalog a while back for old tv guides, but none were Boston edition ones. I've got to get myself out there. I have a crapload of TV guides, but most only go as far back as the early to mid 1990s. Oh well...

Unfortunately the source I had at the flea market dried up. Last time I was there about a month ago he only had a few issues. I don't know if he sold them all off to a dealer or if it was simply not worth lugging those boxes to the market every week when nobody (but some strange guy who wanted mid-70s to early-80s issues) was buying them.

I still have to mine the ones I do have for more cool stuff. Unfortunately there weren't any more CDF ads, but I'm sure there's still some fun Boston TV memories to be found in them!

It's true that it sems to be pretty easy to find TV Guides from the era in question, but if they're not New England editions then it's really not of much use (beyond the network stuff of course). Hopefully I'll be able to find more soon, and hopefully Skorch will be able to find more CDF ads at his library.

I have a box of approximately 500 old TV Guides just gathering dust in my garage. Someday I'll go through them but for now I just get yelled at to throw them away.

Oooh, if they're Eastern Edition versions you're sitting on a treasure trove of local memories. I don't know if TV Guides (especially 70s, 80s and 90s ones) have all that much collectible value, but as a look into the past of all the stuff we used to watch on Boston area TV as kids they're priceless. If you get a chance see if you can sneak out and get an idea about just how far back your collection goes CDF Fan. If it goes back to the early 80s and earlier, you'll enjoy leafing through them to see what was airing on CDF on Saturdays (even if there isn't an ad, it's still cool to read the listings and see what was on). In addition you'll find other movies and shows that you grew up with (think Saturday morning programming, after school shows like Force Five and Star Blazers, the channel 56 8 O'Clock movies, and all the primetime shows that were on back then...).

They are all Boston editions and I opened the box and pulled a few out. Too Close for Comfort on the cover with Lorna Patterson along with Cheers and Priscilla Presley. I don't think anything prior to 1980 is in there.

I went to my parents' house a couple of weeks ago and found a small pile of old TV Guides in my old room. I remember collecting the TV Guides that my mother would give to me after they were out of date. But most of what I had were from the late 80s to the mid 90s or so. I think the majority of them have been recycled. But I was surprised to find the little pile of them that I just found. There are six or so from 1978, and then about one or two each from 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1990. I'll list the specifics when I get a chance to write them down.

Needless to say, the ones from 1978 are filled with great old memories. In fact, right up through the 1985 issues there are listings for Creature Double Feature/Creature Feature. No ads like the ones above (they seem to have only done that for a short period of time), but you can still see what was on in each issue! It's kind of fun to re-create what one might have watched on a certain Saturday in 1978: Creature Double Feature at 1:00 and 2:30, the Four O'Clock Movie on WLVI 56, an Abbott & Costello movie at 6:00 on channel 27...

Hopefully I'll get a chance to post some of the better ads that I find. Here's what's probably the coolest one I've seen so far. It's for the channel 56 showing of "The Legend of Boggy Creek" on Thursday May 15, 1980. I find it interesting that this "Boston TV Premiere" warranted a half-page ad in TV Guide (especially since WLVI apparently stopped putting the quarter-page ads for CDF a few years earlier, and even the Four O'Clock movies and the like usually only had quarter-page ads as well). This may very well have been the first time I watched "The Legend of Boggy Creek"!