Just thought I'd pass this to everyone since it has been discussed on the
list somewhat. This was taken from the recent Eastman's Online Genealogy
Newsletter.
- Halbert's Is Going Out of Business
Halbert's is closing down. The company blames "competition from
the Internet" as the reason for their business problems.
Cendant of Parsippany, N.J., the parent company of NUMA and
Halbert's, announced this week that the publisher of pseudo-
genealogy "books" will cease operations on Sept. 30, 1999. I wrote
in the June 8, 1999 edition of this newsletter
(
http://www.ancestry.com/columns/eastman/eastjune08-99.htm ) that
Cendant was trying to sell Halbert's and all other divisions of
NUMA. Apparently Cendant was unable to find a buyer.
Halbert's is infamous for its mass produced "books" which claim to
offer genealogy information about your surname but, in fact,
deliver simple listings gleaned from telephone directories and
other sources of public domain information. For years Halbert's
sent thousands of ads weekly for the "New World Book of (your
surname)." For instance, in the ads sent to me, the book would be
called the "New World Book of Eastmans." If your last name is
Smith, then you would receive an advertisement for the "New World
Book of Smiths." The advertisement would bear the signature of a
fictitious person with the same last name as yours.
Halbert's has been well known in the genealogy world for years.
Most major genealogy societies have issued repeated warnings to
their members to not waste money on these "books."
Halbert's always used a Bath, Ohio mailing address. However, when
I visited Bath last year
(
http://www.ancestry.com/columns/eastman/eastAug31-98.htm ), I was
unable to find the company in the building they use as a return
address. Halbert's also has been in court several times to answer
charges lodged by the U.S. Postal Service. The court documents
always listed Halbert's as a subsidiary of the NUMA Corporation of
1566 Akron Peninsula Rd, Akron, Ohio. That address is a few miles
from Bath, Ohio.
NUMA/Halbert's stopped marketing in August and will end operations
Sept. 30, according to Elliott Bloom, spokesman for Cendant. Bloom
said all orders will be filled, and the 70 employees will be given
severance pay. "The shutdown is related to a weakness, largely
the result of consumers having access to a greater amount of
general data on the Internet," Bloom said. "The product has really
run its course as far as viability, so the best course of action
was to close the business."
I suspect the standards set by the genealogy community at large
contributed to this announcement. My congratulations to all of you
who insist on quality in your genealogy purchases.