The August 1932 issue of Sports Afield is one of my favorite individual magazines. The first thing I really like about it is the Cover. I want to meet the fellow that fishes who does not like this picture of a Smallmouth Bass leaping after a flying insect.
I use to think this sort of thing only happened in paintings but a few years ago I was sitting in the shade looking out over Stoney Lake one hot afternoon and bass were jumping out of the water almost continuously over a large shallow area. As I was watching dozens of dragonfly's skimming back and forth a foot above the surface, out of the water came a bass and nailed the dragonfly I was observing. As I watched over the next 45 minutes, bass were leaping right and left trying for a dragonfly snack. I would say their success rate was about 25%.
As I looked through this issue several things struck me. There are lots of ads for resorts and several for large hotels in Duluth and Minneapolis with room rates from $1.25 to $2.50 a day! When I came to the following advertisement, I stopped in my tracks. It is always great to see an ad that answers a question. As a long-time collector of early bass fishing books, I have been aware of the “NORTHWOODS LIBRARY” for several years. One does not see this interesting collection of booklets written by Robert Page Lincoln very often. I am lucky to own two copies and I have seen only one other. I don't know if they were ever sold over the counter, but here is the entire set, laid out and given away “free” with a one year subscription to Sports Afield. This sounds good until one thinks about the $2.00 cost. I notice that the news stand price for an issue is $.25. During the same period other outdoor magazines were selling for 10 and15 cents and in the case of Hunting and Fishing a mere 5 cents! Issues of Sports Afield from the early 1930's are somewhat scarce and the original price may be the reason.
It is not often that we feature the back cover of a magazine, especially when it has nothing to do with fishing. The message here is from the Federal Cartridge Corporation and stresses that if hunters want to be welcome on a farmer's land they need to respect his property. The fact that the farmer is patiently explaining this fact of life to “Mr. Shooter” while holding a dead chicken and the farmer's children are in the background pointing to a dead calf, stretches my sense of reality. I grew up in farm country and have a different idea of what advice “Mr. Shooter” would be receiving at this point.
Finally I would point out that up in the corner of this full page ad that deals with what it takes to be welcome on a farmer's land, is the original 1932 mailing label. On it we see that the magazine was mailed to Ayrshire, Iowa (population 143 in 2010) to none other than a Mr. Welcome Jones. You can't make stuff like this up!
Tight Lines
Wild Bill Sonnett
I've been reading for quite awhile but never commented. Superb blog. This is one of the best, my personal favorite, material history blogs. I just saw your book. I'll have to order it for my grandpa.
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