history magazine "the beaver" changes its name

[Amby 490]

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canada's second-oldest magazine, The Beaver, is changing its name because its unintended sexual connotation has caused the history journal to become snagged in Internet filters and has turned off potential readers.

The Beaver was founded in 1920 as a publication of the Hudson's Bay Company, then a fur trader and now a department store chain. It has long since become a broader magazine about Canadian history and will change its name to Canada's History with its April issue, editor-in-chief Mark Reid said on Tuesday.

When The Beaver started publication, the name evoked only Canada's thriving fur industry. Ninety years later, the fur trade has diminished and the magazine's name has become slang for female genitals.

Readers complained that Internet filters were blocking emails and newsletters from The Beaver, Reid said. The society also had concerns about attracting readers.

"Market research showed us that younger Canadians and women were very very unlikely to ever buy a magazine called The Beaver no matter what it's about," said Reid, adding he has mixed feelings about the name change. "For whatever reasons, they are turned off by the name."

Print subscriptions to the Winnipeg-based magazine, which publishes six issues a year, range between 45,000 and 50,000. It is published by Canada's National History Society.

Changing the name also makes sense because the fur trade, while an important part of early Canadian history, isn't meaningful to all Canadians today, especially as the population's makeup has changed through immigration, Reid said.

Readers have been generally understanding about the need for the change, he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B3ZH20100113

[Susita 175]

I'm just going to shake my head at this Who even calls it a beaver anymore? Srsly?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Thank God I still have my Bearded Clam magazine to look forward to every month.

[Jasman0717 9]

I'm just going to shake my head at this Who even calls it a beaver anymore? Srsly?

Larry Flynt

[scandal 951]

I've been a loyal subscriber for many years to "Kitties and Pussies Digest" - it is a heartwarming bimonthly with terrific high resolution pictorials of these charming felines.

[Nagishkaw 510]

I'm going to have to snatch up a copy.

[panamania79 2]

I'm just going to shake my head at this Who even calls it a beaver anymore? Srsly?

Hugh Hefner?

[Darnell 8,478]

Amby - #######? why has 'Canadien fur trade' diminished? Still many animals each year, for harvest, yes?

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Amby - #######? why has 'Canadien fur trade' diminished? Still many animals each year, for harvest, yes?

...and most of them now have support groups, making those industries VERY unpopular. People want to wear real fur without having to know that animals are killed to get them.

If you could find a really ugly species of animal (preferably a mean, predatory one) that had a luxurious pelt, I'm sure it would be much more popular to kill them for their hides.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I hate animal rights activists!

[Amby 490]

I am for the no fur beaver movement

[john & jean 37]

I'm going to have to snatch up a copy.

LMAO @ Nagi

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

I am for the no fur beaver movement

Save the beavers! Save the beavers! SHAVE the beavers! SHAVE the beavers!

[Nagishkaw 510]

...and most of them now have support groups, making those industries VERY unpopular. People want to wear real fur without having to know that animals are killed to get them.

Except China. And it isn't a matter of wearing real fur. Stuffed animals and toys imported from China are often made from dog and cat fur.

I hate animal rights activists!

You have issues.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

"The Beaver" is a truly great magazine if you are interested in Canadian History. I can appreciate their concern and think they are making a wise decision, even though they are losing some of its history with the name change. Ah well! At least it is staying in publication.