2016-Summer: 21st Anniversary - Looking Back to Our Beginning
August 31, 2016
21st Anniversary - Looking Back to Our Beginning
The first issue of Ranch & Country Magazine was published in August of 1995. The years have come and gone in a flash, and here we are - celebrating our 21st Anniversary. It’s been a great ride so far - and there is much more to come!
Looking back to that first issue, we were struck by the many changes that have taken place since then. But we were also struck, actually surprised, by how much has remained the same.
For one thing, we still have some of the same advertisers! (Thank YOU!!) And we still continue to feature an artist on the cover of each issue, one who specializes in subject matters reflecting the good in country living. We still publish in the tabloid-sized (larger sized) full color format. We still use our wonderful logo, which is centered around a silhouette image of “Leo” (Leopardo III.) Leonardo III was a gorgeous Andalusian stallion owned at that time by Evelyn Westmoreland of the Santa Ynez Valley.
And even though internet use and websites were not yet commonplace, we actually had a website of sorts (thanks to our savvy graphics artist at that time, Mike Taylor.) Our internet address was http://www.magicwindows.com/~mwinfo/ranchandcountry/. I pasted this address in my browser and got “save big on new windows” home improvements. Too bad - I would love to have seen what that old site looked like but it must be lost in cyber-space. A couple of years later we registered our domain www.RanchAndCountry.com. Then in 2004 we completely redesigned the website, making it into a search database resource for all types of rural real estate.
As for what has changed, most of these changes relate to the explosion in technological advances over the last 21 years. For example, when we started out, people who advertised with us typically mailed in print photos, which we sent our press company who then scanned and color corrected them. Now, we receive digital photos or digital print files and everything is done quickly and seamlessly by email.
The technology used to print Ranch & Country has advanced as well. And we publish not only a print version but also a digital version of the entire magazine file. The digital version is published on a hosting website that gives it opportunity for hundreds of thousands of views.
Still, nothing beats flipping through the print copy. We often get requests for copies of older issues; unfortunately we don’t have a stash of extras of prior print issues. But we have some customers who tell us they are still holding on to issues that were printed back in the 1990’s.
Some things just never change, and it’s a good thing.