Miscellany: Zillions

Frugality might be back in style these days, but people were concerned with getting the best value for their dollar even in the booming economy of the '90s. Case in point: "Zillions" magazine, an offshoot of "Consumer Reports," was a fixture of my childhood.

The magazine featured product reviews of the sorts of things kids were likely to buy with their own money - toys, games, school supplies, and the like. There were also articles with basic financial advice, too, like the factors to consider when picking a summer job. I remember a segment that showed just how much money you make by earning and reinvesting the interest in a savings account over a few years (advice that our Congresscritters apparently never received when they were growing up).

"Zillions" used to be very popular in my neck of the woods, so I wonder why Consumer Reports discontinued the magazine in 2000. It was especially popular in my school, with new library copies soon showing the subtle wrinkles and tears of enthusiastic readership. That success is even more impressive when you consider how easy it would have been to make a magazine like "Zillions" dry and boring. Thankfully, though, the articles were lively and topical (the staff writers were quick to cover the latest new toy or fashion fad - remember pogs?) and saturated with interesting pictures. I hope that a small part of "Zillions" lives on here at Shangrila Towers.