The ends

Andy Sturdevant's very entertaining book, "Potluck Supper with Meeting to Follow," devotes a chapter to the death of publications. He reprints the final notices -- and some suggestive articles that, read the right way, predict the end of the publications.

He quotes two publications I am familiar with -- and I actually remember reading these final notices myself.

Metropolis issue from July 12, 1977.
Photo by Paul Shambroom.

Inside spread from Metropolis, February 1977. Illos by (left
to right): Glenn Wolff, Michael Karn and Mark Simonson.

Here's the one from Metropolis. Metropolis was a very well designed weekly newspaper in Minneapolis/St. Paul. It did everything better than its weekly rival, the Entertainer (soon to be renamed Twin Cities Reader), yet it did not prevail.

Machete #8 from 1979. All of the issues
looked like this one -- except the final
issue (#16). Fall photos are by
Paul Shambroom.

The final issue of Machete (#16) from
1980. Photo by Paul Shambroom.

Here's the one from Machete. Machete was a monthly four-page, oversized paper put out by a couple of the same people who worked on Metropolis. It seemed more like a hobby than a real going concern, so I wasn't surprised when they called it quits.

But Andy left out a couple other suggestive articles. These two are from publications that I happened to work at when they went out of business.

Here's the one from a monthly music publication, Musician's Insider. That the Insider bought the Mad City Music Sheet doesn't automatically lead to the Insider going out of business. But, out of business it went. July 1979.

Here's the one from the weekly newspaper, Twin Cities Reader. This little news bit doesn't say that Stern Publishing bought both the Reader and its fierce rival, City Pages, at the same time. Stern immediately stopped publishing the Reader. City Pages is still published, though it may be owned by someone else now. March 12, 1997.

Update: I've added images of Metropolis and Machete courtesy Mark Simonson.