Wiley Couch, 73, bought his first copy of People magazine in March 1974 at the former Gateway Bookstore in downtown Chattanooga.
Couch was working at the DuPont plant here at the time. He had grown up reading magazines about movie monsters. He snagged a first edition copy of People one day with the idea that it might someday become a collectible.
“It was mostly about movie stars,” Couch said in an interview. “It wasn’t a gossip magazine or a teen magazine. ... I thought it was a good magazine. I didn’t feel ashamed of buying it.”
His first copy of People cost 35 cents, he recalled, plus 2 cents tax.
That was more than 50 years ago, and every week since, Couch has saved a mint-condition copy of the pop culture publication. Most weeks he buys his People on the newsstand at Barnes & Noble bookstore, although he occasionally subscribes. If he wants to actually read the magazine he buys two; one to thumb through and one to save.
Wiley is careful not to damage the pages, and he keeps the magazines in boxes arranged by year in the basement of his home. That’s 52 copies times 50 years, or about 2,600 magazines. The boxes take up a whole room.
Couch, who is the director of facilities at Red Bank Baptist Church, said he started collecting the magazines because he had a hunch they might be worth something someday.
Something? Yes.
A lot? No.
Copies of the first People magazine, with a cover photo of actress Mia Farrow nibbling on a string of pearls, goes for $299 on eBay, although less pristine copies sell for less than $50.
Couch recently called into WGOW-FM 102.3 radio when they had a collectibles appraiser on the air, who told him not to expect to get much for his magazines. People magazine sold in the millions of copies per week, so there was nothing rare about any of his copies. As late as 2006, People had a weekly circulation of 3.75 million and yearly revenue of $1.5 billion.
Couch said it’s OK that he hasn’t been able to cash in on his collection.
“I’ve never even told anybody I had them,” he said.
He said he just hasn’t been able to stop the habit. He compares his habit to a person who plays the lottery every week and can’t stop because their jackpot could be right around the corner.
“I will probably stop at the end of this year, though” he said. “Make it a clean 50 (years).”
Couch said reading People is a good way to keep up with celebrities. He likes movies and the people who make them.
He said in the old days he liked to read stories about actor Burt Reynolds, and more recently he has kept up with Tom Cruise and Ben Affleck. His favorite actresses span from Jaqueline Bisset to Jennifer Lawrence.
These days, Couch says he reads People for the obituaries. For baby boomers, recognizable celebrity deaths are almost a daily occurrence.
Couch says he figures that sooner or later general interest magazines such as People will all give up the ghost.
Meanwhile, he’s got a half century of American history packed away in his basement.
You could say he’s a People person.
Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press
Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press
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