When did Early American Life start publishing?

The first issue of Early American Life came out as January/February 1970, edited by Jim Betts and published by the Early American Society, Inc. 

Is your magazine related to Early American Homes?

We are the same magazine. From 1997 to 2000 a previous publisher changed the name of the magazine from Early American Life to Early American Homes. To put it simply, no one liked the change so the publisher switched it back to the old name, which we continue today. Consequently any complete collection of Early American Life will include several years of Early American Homes. The staff, content, and focus of the magazine remained the same throughout all the changes. 

How often is Early American Life published? 

We publish Early American Life seven times a year.

Six issues are published bi-monthly, which means every other month. Each issue covers two months and is designated by the second of the two. That is, the calendar in our February issue, for example, covers the months of January and February. Our production schedule is timed so that subscribers should receive each copy of the magazine before the first of the two months covered by an issue.

Our seventh issue is our Christmas issue which includes a special crafts guide. It is published at the end of September. 

How much does Early American Life cost?

The U.S. cover price of the magazine is $4.99 for current issues (except Christmas, which is $5.99), but we allow retailers the flexibility to price and discount the magazine as suits their business. We sell subscriptions directly and offer you a discount of about 34% off the cover price for subscriptions of one or two full years. The current price for a one-year subscription is $23.00; two years is twice that, $46.00. We now also offer three-year subscriptions for $65, which saves you four dollars off the regular annual rate. Because of the high cost of postage, we charge more for subscriptions to Canada, currently $33 per year (in U.S. funds).

The postage situation to more distant nations has become quite expensive and varies with each nation to which we deliver. Consquently we no longer quote a flat subscription price for nations beyond Canada, but we will make arrangements for foreign delivery on a case-by-case basis. (Because of recent postal rate increases, it now costs us roughly $9.00 to ship one issue to a European nation, so the cost for a subscription will work out to be about $86 per year in U.S. funds. Call or email for an exact quote.)

Unlike other magazines, we do not discount regular subscriptions with special offers and the like. The reason is that Early American Life is chiefly supported by its subscribers. Most other magazines receive most of their income from advertising. We could adopt an advertising-supported business model and offer subscription discounts, but the magazine would not be the same—it would have to be dominated by advertising. We believe our subscribers want Early American Life to be just as it is, with a modest amount of advertising that’s relevant to the interests of the reader.

Can I buy Early American Life on the newsstand?

Yes. Early American Life is distributed to newsstands by Curtis Circulation Company (the largest newsstand distributor in the country), and it is available to all newsstands. Of course, each newsstand operator must order the magazine from Curtis or a wholesaler that Curtis deals with. If your news dealer does not carry Early American Life, ask your  news dealer to order it from his distributor. You can also buy the magazine from a number of antique, craft, and decorating shops across the country. Click here to find a store near you.

Why don’t you answer your phone?

We do. In the week that an issue is mailed, we’re usually flooded with calls and may not be able to answer as quickly as you would like (and we may sometimes miss getting your call in time). If you can’t get through, be patient. If you call after the initial rush of calls. you’ll have a better chance of getting through, and we’ll be able to devote more time to helping you. We are not a huge company and we maintain normal business hours in the Eastern time zone. We do answer some after-hours calls, but we can’t guarantee we’ll catch everyone who calls at odd times. 

Why is my magazine late?

We get a lot of calls from people wanting to know where their magazine is—their friends received a copy, why didn’t they? We don’t know. We mail all copies of the magazine to all of our subscription list at exactly the same time. After that, delivery is in the hands of the postal service. Any difference in delivery results from the vagaries of the postal system (which deals with billions of letters and magazines). In general, people often receive their copies of Early American Life within a few days of the time we mail it. But it is not unusual for some copies to arrive as long as three weeks later. 

In other words, please be patient. But if you do suspect a problem with your delivery, give our subscription department a call at 800-446-1696. 

I have a store and want to offer Early American Life to my customers. What do I do?

Please contact us. We will be happy to make arrangements with you to carry the magazine in your store. The best way to reach us is by email at retail@firelandsmedia.com.

Early American Life went through a period of trouble during 2003. The publisher of the magazine went out of business. A new publisher revived the magazine in a format nearly identical to its previous incarnation. Many readers never noticed the difference, and as a result many have had questions about what happened and where their subscriptions stand. These questions and answers should help you understand what happened.

What happened to Early American Life? The magazine stopped coming, then I got a December 2003 issue and several more. Did something happen to the magazine?

The company that owned the Early American Life, Celtic Moon Publishing, Inc., ran into financial difficulties. On June 18, 2003, the company filed for bankruptcy with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Division, case number 1-03-03626. The company suspended publication of Early American Life as of that date. On July 9, the trustee in bankruptcy found that the business could not survive as such and decided to sell the assets of the company.

This could have been the end of Early American Life. But a small company bought the right to use the name, got together with the editors and artists of Early American Life left unemployed by the bankruptcy, and in September began to produce a revived magazine. The December 2003 issue that subscribers received was the first product of that new publishing venture. It has no legal (or otherwise) connection with Celtic Moon Publishing, Inc. 

Unfortunately, neither the bankruptcy court nor Celtic Moon Publishing informed the subscribers of  Early American Life about the bankruptcy (except in published legal notices). The new publishers regret that lack of notice but were not involved in the decision not to inform subscribers, having entered the scene only in September.

What is bankruptcy?

When the debts of a business or individual exceed his capacity to pay, the law offers bankruptcy as a way to protect the debtor so that he can get his finances in order. If he cannot reorganize, the debtor's assets are sold and shared by those owed according to an complex arrangement of priorities. The bankrupt party does not have to honor its obligations and contracts (such as subscriptions) entered into before the bankruptcy date. 

What happened to my subscription?

Legally speaking, any money you paid for a subscription to the magazine before June 18, 2003, has been swept into bankruptcy court to pay the previous publisher's creditors. At that point, all existing subscriptions were cancelled by the bankruptcy court. None of that money went to the new publishers of Early American Life. 

From a purely legal perspective, that’s bad news—the new publishers have no obligation to continue your old subscription. We don't think that's right. That's why we sent all the old subscribers we could contact a copy of the new December 2003 issue as well as the February 2004 issue. Our hope was to reassure old subscribers we that we would not change the magazine and that we bring new life to the magazine. Since then, every issue has been on-time and, we believe, of ever-increasing quality. We invite previous subscribers to return to Early American Life now that we've proven we're in business for the long run. Click here to subscribe.

Where's the money I paid for my old subscription?

If you purchased a subscription before June 18, 2003, the money you paid for your subscription was spent even before Celtic Moon Publishing filed for bankruptcy last June. The company had collected nearly a million dollars for subscriptions but had less than $10,000 cash when it filed for bankruptcy, according to the materials filed with the bankruptcy court. 

Are you angry? We understand, but please be angry with the right people. We did not take your money nor do we have any connection with the people that did. Here are some links to government and private agencies with which you can register a complaint about your subscription with Celtic Moon Publishing, Inc.

Better Business Bureau of Eastern Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection

Pennsylvania Office of the Consumer Advocate

Why don't you just honor my subscription? Advertising pays for the magazine anyway

Unlike the vast majority of magazines published in America today, Early American Life earns most of its income from subscriptions. Ads are only a minor part of our income. Certainly we could sell more ads, but then the magazine would not be the same. It would be like any of a dozen other home and decorating magazines with more ads than information. We don't want that, so we have strict advertising  policies that assure the ads fit with (even enhance) the rest of the magazine. We need your subscription because we simply cannot publish a magazine that no one pays for. .

What address should I use for mailing? I have a mail-in card that lists an address in Florida or one in Pennsylvania.

We use addresses in Shaker Heights and Chagrin Falls, both in Ohio. Click here for a list of which to use for what. Our staff is all in Ohio except for our national sales manager, who works from her office in Halifax, Pennsylvania. 

We have no connection with the previous publisher using either a Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, or a Palm Coast, Florida, address. Anything sent to those addresses is essentially lost. 

Please do not use cards or forms from any issue of Early American Life before December 2003. These will likely have a Florida mailing address of a subscription service used by the previous publishers. Early American Life is no longer affiliated with this subscription service. 

Can I subscribe to Early American Life through my child's school or using a subscription service?

The publisher of Early American Life has not participated in any school subscription program, We have no records of anyone who placed an order in that way. If you subscribed to Early American Life through a school subscription program, be aware that at one time a company was taking orders but had no means of fulfilling them. They have no contract with us. The company that took your order should refund your money. Please contact the subscription service directly for a refund. 

Several other subscription services have joined us and offer Early American Life subscriptions. One company, EBSCO, has been authorized by us to take subscriptions. Several companies that service libraries have also been authorized to take subscriptions for us, as has Amazon.com.

If you are in doubt and you want to be sure you don't miss an issue of Early American Life, please subscribe with us directly by calling 800-446-1696.. 

What happened to the May/June 2003, July/August 2003 and September/October 2003 issues?

The three issues above were not  published and never will be. The old publisher went out of business before those issues could be produced. For the same reason, there was no separate Christmas issue in 2003. Publication resumed with new publishers and the December 2003 issue. The Directory of Traditional American Crafts^® (the top 200 craftsman in America), which was scheduled for July/August 2003 issue, appears in the December 2003 issue. The Directory will appear at its regular time in 2004.

Who owns Early American Life?

On September 16, 2003, the trustee in bankruptcy made a motion to the United States Bankruptcy Court to sell the assets of Early American Life to Firelands Media Group LLC, and the motion was granted in early November, 2003. 

The company is named after the Firelands, a half-million-acre area in the Connecticut Western Reserve of the Northwest Territories (now the State of Ohio). Lands in the area were given to "fire sufferers," those whose homes in the towns of New London, Groton, Norwalk, Greenwich, New Haven, Ridgefield, Fairfield and Danbury, Connecticut, had been burned by British soldiers during the American Revolution. To us, the name conjures an image of hope and phoenix-like rebirth as well as a connection to early American heritage. 

Please note that Keystone Sportsman, another publications of Celtic Moon Publishing, Inc., was sold to other parties with no affiliation to Firelands Media Group LLC. 

How can I be sure that it won't happen again?

Look at the magazine. Firelands Media Group has continually improved the quality of the magazine and delivered each issue on-time since it assumed publication in 2003. One of the aims of bankruptcy is to make struggling businesses stronger. Early American Life is now in much sounder financial condition than back then. It is well capitalized and has a business plan that should assure that the loyal readers of Early American Life will continue to get their favorite magazine. But that business plan depends on your support, whether you are a subscriber or advertiser. Renewing your subscription and giving Early American Life as a gift will help solidify our readership base. Advertisers using Early American Life to reach its unique market will help assure that the magazine will survive for years to come.