Plymouth Rock Monthly -- old magazine for chicken aficionados

As the proud owner of five Plymouth Barred Rock chicks, I was interested in this post on Homegrown Evolution about a magazine called the Plymouth Rock Monthly, which had a circulation of 40,000 in 1920. Maybe I should re-launch it with the goal of 200 subscribers.

What magazine had 40,000 subscribers in 1920? Answer: the Plymouth Rock Monthly, a periodical devoted to our favorite chicken breed. We have two "production" Barred Plymouth Rocks in our small flock of four hens, and we've found them to be productive, friendly and, with their striped plumage, an attractive sight in our garden. While the internet is an amazing resource for the urban homesteader, there are a few holes in this electronic web of knowledge. In short, would someone out there please get around to scanning and putting online the Plymouth Rock Monthly? All I can find are images of two covers lifted off of ebay.
The February 1925 issue, at right, promises articles on, "Selecting and Packing Eggs for Hatching", a poetically titled essay, "The Things We Leave Undone", "Theory and Practice in Breeding Barred Color", "White Plymouth Rocks", "The Embargo on Poultry", and "Breeding White Rocks Satisfactorily". Incidentally, the Embargo article probably refers to a avian influenza outbreak of 1924-1925 that repeated in 1929 and 1983.
By the 1950s interest in backyard and small farm flocks vastly decreased and the Plymouth Rock Club of America, the publisher of the Plymouth Rock Monthly, collapsed down to 200 members from a peak of 2,000. Thankfully, interest in keeping chickens is now on the rise again and an informative magzine, Backyard Poultry has been revived. Plymouth Rock fans can read an article about the breed in the latest issue of Backyard Poultry.

Plymouth Rock Monthly

Discussion

Take a look at this

#1 posted by towelboy , October 12, 2008 8:28 PM

suddenly i'm in the mood for kentucky fried chikkenn

#2 posted by Benito , October 12, 2008 8:55 PM

L. Frank Baum, creator of The Wizard of Oz, edited a publication about the Hamburg chicken for many years and his first book was about the raising of this particular breed.

Some details on the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum

Cheers,
Benito

#3 posted by wolfiesma , October 12, 2008 8:55 PM

Relaunch it. My brother in law's Barred Rock chickens are about to start laying. We'd love to share a subcription to your updated newspaper. They built a pretty bitchin chicken run/coop henhouse de-luxe. With dogs, they had to make sure it was really sturdy... and there was some trial and error involved.

#4 posted by Takuan , October 12, 2008 9:17 PM

was intending a couple of hives, now I think a small coop as well.

#5 posted by andyhavens , October 12, 2008 9:25 PM

There are some copies in a few libraries:

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8624915&referer=brief_results

See if your local library might have an ILL relationship with any of them.

#6 posted by Junglemonkey , October 12, 2008 9:27 PM

We've got Barred Rocks (as well as araucanas, black giants, black australorps, buff orpingtons and silver-laced wyandottes) and I have to say, they're great layers and have sweet, friendly temperaments. I started keeping chickens four years ago because I don't like the way that commercial poultry is raised, and now I not only raise laying hens, but I've taught all my friends how to kill and dress chickens for eating. I look on it as a survival skill. Along with my home-canned produce and homemade soap, when it all goes to hell, my family will be doing okay for themselves.

#7 posted by Stefan Jones

, October 12, 2008 9:36 PM

New from O'Reilly: COOP

Seriously: I bet the republication rights would be very cheap. OCR the relevant articles, edit them, and publish them with a mix of new articles and advertising from equipment manufacturers.

#8 posted by Beanolini , October 13, 2008 3:25 AM

It appears that the Plymouth Rock Fanciers Club Of America is still in existence.

My father has an enormous book detailing and illustrating the minute differences between each breed of poultry- it's absolutely fascinating.

He considered the Rhode Island Red the most practical for home egg production- our family kept them for years and years.

#9 posted by godwal , October 13, 2008 7:38 AM

When I was younger, my family had a flock of Rhode Island Reds and Dominiques (pronounced 'round here as 'Dominickers').

Dominiques share many characteristics with Barred Rocks, and at first and second glace are very hard to distinguish. Beautiful birds and great layers.

#10 posted by Ray DelMundo , October 13, 2008 7:59 AM

Great desing.

The cover looks like the old Rolling Stone for chicken fanciers.

#11 posted by Ray DelMundo , October 13, 2008 8:01 AM

I meant design.

#12 posted by MrsBug , October 13, 2008 8:27 AM

Cool! Hubby and I are planning on getting chickens next spring and I'm sure we'll have at least one Plymouth Rock! With the backyard/urban chicken movement picking up steam, you might find yourself a new job! :)

#13 posted by itsthomas , October 13, 2008 11:07 AM

Thanks for the tip on the Plymouth Rock Monthly. We've got a couple barred Plymouth Rocks in our own backyard here in the Bay Area and have been blogging about the experience of raising chickens in the city over on http://urbanchickens.net

If you do resurrect the magazine, count on me as a subscriber (only 199 to go!)

#14 posted by Lea Hernandez , October 13, 2008 11:21 AM

I love how the combination of feathers, wheat stalks and the two eggs make a stylized diagram of fallopian tubes.

Design hilarity aside, I think I want chickens.

#15 posted by MrsBug , October 13, 2008 11:34 AM

@#13 ITSTHOMAS

Hey, I read your blog! Cool.

#16 posted by Anonymous , October 13, 2008 5:11 PM

Rocks Rock!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kulakovich/2574510578/

Post pics! We just got a Dominique rooster as well!

Rock on, Matt!
~]3