I recently 'stumbled' on an old WT magazine from 1979. It's been ages since I've seen an old 2 color copy of this magazine.
It just happened to be their centennial issue, the July 1st edition.
The cover title is...
1879 - 1979
Keeping Watch for 100 Years
Any of you old timers remember it? Anyway, here's some info...
A Message to Our Readers (pg 3)
The first issue of the Watchtower was published in July of 1979. This means that the journal has been printed for a century (in its
original English edition). And keen interest in you, our readers, has prompted us to publish this special issue.
The article starting on the next page tells the story of The Watchtower during these first 100 years. It reminisces on how the world
was in the journal's early years, how the world changed, and how the Watchtower also adjusted to keep pace with advancing
Bible enlightenment.
(notice this special issue still has 32 pages - most special issues of other circulars usually contain more pages)
Keeping Watch for 100 Years (pg 4)
With this issue, The Watchtower has a century of publication behind it. During those years there have been many changes in the world.
This journal has undergone some changes itself. Yet, in some important respects, it has not changed at all. Consider now just how
The Watchtower has been keeping watch for 100 years.
This journal came on the scene in July 1879. One of the main reasons for its coming into existence was a dispute over the ransom. This
prompted Charles T. Russell to publish the Watch Tower, in which as he wrote, "the Ransom [should be] defended and the Good Tidings of
great Joy proclaimed as extensively as possible.".....This journal has dilligently sought to live up to its name by keeping watch
spiritually.
page 5
From the outset, the Watch Tower showed that at Christ's second coming his parousia would be an invisible presence as a mighty spirit
person. Moreover, in keeping watch, this journal's early issues (March and June 1880) pointed to 1914 CE as a climatic year. It was to mark
the close of the 2,520 year long Gentile Times, during which non-Jewish nations would rule earth without interference by any kingdom of God.
Of course, even though this magazine has published such enlightening material, we do not claim to be infallible. It is to Jehovah
God that we look gratefully for spiritual instruction. For any clarity of viewpoint, we have been dependent on the operation of his
holy spirit, or active force. That spirit searches into the deep things of God.
And only 4 years after they said 1975 was going to be the end of the world. Nothing much has changed today. Any guesses as to what the bicentennial issue of the Watchtower will be?