24-Hour Zine Thing – What I Learned

Concluding yesterday’s 24-page, 24-hour zine, I learned a lot.

(Here’s the link to the printable zine: 24-hour zine download.)

I’m still not sure if I’m going to try a second one for this challenge.  Probably not.

(If I had more time, I might.  With just two non-weekend days left in the month, it’s probably not wise to leap into a second zine marathon.)

Reviewing the zine I created in the past day or so… it’s actually pretty good, for a first-time challenge.

Here’s what I learned during the 24-hour zine project:

1. I’m at my best, creatively, in the morning.  I’m also a psycho-cranky perfectionist late in the day, or when I’m tired… which are often the same thing.

2. Our society says one thing but does something else.

For example, gov’t healthcare representatives say the same things as many leading health experts:  Eat more veggies, grains, legumes and less fatty meats and dairy.  However, the gov’t then subsidizes in a way that makes the unhealthy diet the more affordable one.

The odd thing is: As I was researching spending differences between the 1951 household budget (see the graph below) and today, people spent nearly twice as much on food (in income percentage terms) in 1951 than they do now.   I’m still wrapping my brain around that.  I mean, are we putting advertising-driven luxuries ahead of how well we eat, or what?

The zine will be available as a download (PDF), next week. (UPDATE: Yes, and here it is: 24-hour zine download.)

Meanwhile, here’s the text from the 25th page.  It didn’t fit into the zine.

What could have been the 25th page of my 24-hour zine

As I was pasting up this zine, I began searching for answers: Did a 1951 household budget look about the same as ours, allowing for inflation?

According to Helium, “In the 1950s, frugality and conservative spending was valued and happiness was desired more than riches. The incomes of celebrities were not often discussed in the 1950s, nor were their excessive purchases.”

Here’s what I’ve found: In the typical 1951 household budget, American families spent 22 percent of their incomes on food, or about $814.

We spend about 12% of our income on food ($6,133), and nearly half of that is spent eating outside the home.

According to Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, Americans spend more on fast food than they do on higher education.  He also says, “They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined.”

(Interestingly, about 40% of every 1951 dollar spent on food went to the producers… the farmers.  Today, it’s just 20%.)

Here are other figures that I found online:

Item	2007	1950s
Food	15%	32%
Housing	43%	22%
Clothing	4%	12%
Transportation	18%	15%
Medical Care	6%	5%
Recreation	6%	2%
Education & Communication	6%	n/a

Ref: http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1009/50-Years-Of-Consumer-Spending.aspx (As of 2017, no longer online.)

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but in the past 20 hours (or so), I’ve certainly uncovered a lot of questions.

In my spare time:  There’s something to be learned in this.  Since I have a huge stack of 1951 newspapers, I plan to analyze 1950s’ lifestyles — and the 1951 household budget — in more detail. Because yes, I’m not only an artist, I’m also a geek.