A digital archive of obscure, regional, and lost magazines from the 1960s–1980s
Before the internet, before national distribution deals, hundreds of small regional magazines served local audiences across America. Most were printed in modest runs, sold from wire racks in drugstores and gas stations, and never archived by anyone. Dusty Mags is an effort to scan, preserve, and share these forgotten publications before the last copies crumble to dust.
A storage unit in Milwaukie, Oregon. Fourteen boxes of magazines, negatives, and production materials. And a story about a Portland businessman named Dale Whitfield who spent fourteen years publishing the Pacific Northwest's most obscure gentleman's magazine.
An introduction to the project: what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how you can help us find more forgotten magazines before they're gone forever.