Mr. Magazine

Television can’t do it.
Apps can’t do it.
Magazines can and are doing it on a regular basis. That in-your-face, on-your-coffee-table display with constant and instant recall of memories of days gone by, is no more evident than in the latest show of force in the titles devoted to the Battle of Gettysburg. Touted as the battle with the largest number of casualties during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg lasted for three days – July 1-3, 1863. Today (Monday July 1) is the 150th anniversary of this significant military fray (some call it the turning point of the entire Civil War). And magazines are well-armed for the occasion.

From Time to National Geographic, Civil War Times to The Media Source, print is ready to do battle with any other media platform to gain your undivided attention during this commemorative observance. The first to arrive on the scene was I-5’s Gettysburg: 150th Anniversary with the cover line, Three Days That Saved The United States, and a glossy cover worthy of coffee table display.

The Time Bookazine presents you with a day-by-day account of the campaign and The Media Source offers you 130 pages devoted to anything and everything you could possibly want to know about the illustrious battle; I find myself curling my mustache with the tips of my fingers, contemplative and amazed, much like I imagine Gen. Robert E. Lee was when he realized his invasion of the North just wasn’t working out for him.

Niche marketing is pushing the naysayers of print back, just as the Union did with the Confederacy when they tried to take the war onto the road. And Bookazines are wearing their Union blue very well, assisting General “Niche” quite nicely.

So I ask you, truthfully, in what other medium, besides print, could you relive such an historic event as the Battle of Gettysburg with the true, stirring experience of emotion? I ask that because of the tactile combination of content, real-life photos and pages that fairly come to life beneath your fingertips as you turn the pages.

Sure, you can go online and read and observe – and it’s a fantastic interlude, but can you touch the pages? Can you trace each word as though running your fingertips across a name on an old, battered tombstone in some long-forgotten cemetery left over from the war? Can you hold the pictures closer, for a better examination of a gun used back then or the clothes worn, when you peruse a website to research just where the battle went (pardon the pun) – South for General Lee?

Without doubt, the print experience is still the only way to exact true emotion and that sense of ownership you feel when you purchase your one-and-only copy of that magazine or Bookazine that can transport you smack dab into the middle of the battle – or anywhere you happen to want to go.

And with the “cater-to” mentality of today’s niche marketing – from the Bookazines to the Special Editions, there is always something on the newsstands for everyone.

So, to all you history buffs out there who are planning on a commemorative respite from the rest of the world by kicking back and enjoying one of the eight magazines shown here devoted to the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg– I wish you happy reading, indulgent fantasies and the agility to duck when you hear the cannons!