Old Outdoor Magazines Remind Us Of Our Fishing-Hunting Heritage (Tags: dave,richey,Michigan,outdoors,artists,authors,categories,color,artwork,emotions,fishing,hunting,great,art))

An in-your-face pheasant is great. A bird dog with a ruffed grouse is special.

It's difficult to know where we are going as anglers and hunters unless we know where we have been, and looking through old outdoor magazines is a pleasant way to spend free time. If you are like me, and am a hopeless romantic when it comes to fishing, hunting and reading about these pastime and remembering great memoriess, perhaps it's one way to gain a greater understanding about this outdoor heritage we share.

Many years ago I acquired  the fabulous collection of the late Ben East of Holly, Michigan. He was the field editor for Outdoor Life magazine where he worked his red-pencil magic on magazine articles written by other writers. East worked for the magazine for 41 years, and also wrote hundreds of magazine articles for other magazines before beginning his Outdoor Life career. We shared several years of our lives, and he was an excellent mentor and his magazines and files came to me after his passing.

I've carefully stored those old outdoor magazines (more than 1,000 of them), in a temperature and humidity controlled atmosphere for 20 years. Now, after reading and studying them, it's come time to part with many magazines from various publications. Storage space is limited, and this means a dreaded but necessary decision to let some go.

Why collect old magazines? Frankly, the front cover illustrations of older magazines were graced by full-color drawings by leading wildlife artists of the day. These color cover drawings had the power to inspire a reader, to make them dream of a fishing or hunting trip that would be the capstone event of their lives.

These drawings evoked a sense of the wilderness and of wild places and things. The artists could capture some of what today's  photo-illustrated covers cannot do. I get goose bumps looking at some of those covers, and as a kid of 12 years, my twin brother and I had our own subscriptions to Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield, the Big 3 outdoor magazines of an earlier era. We greeted each magazine arrival with great anticipation, and read the articles from beginning to end. cover to cover.

A leaping rainbow in midstream or a trophy mule deer on the run. Great covers!

We immersed ourselves in the outdoor literature at a time when outdoor writing meant writing about fishing, conservation issues and hunting. Which is why I've kept these magazines intact for 20 years. They were my link to the past, to another era when the outdoors meant consumptive sports, such as fishing and hunting. These were not spectator sports, but were participant sports where what you caught or killed was eaten.

What these magazine covers did, that current outdoor magazines can't do, is show human emotions. The drawings could be gritty, raw or tug at your heart strings. One could see dejection, happiness, sadness, or it may portray a funny scene. Each cover had an emotional element that was readily apparent when seen.

Those stories, and particularly the color covers and inside b/w and color art spreads, were the stuff of excitement. The writers wrote Me and Joe stories where people went fishing and hunting, and the reader was welcome to come along for the ride. We shared vicariously in their defeats and successes, and felt as if we were right at their elbow as they made the final stalk on a big ram or caught a heavyweight bass. We traveled to far-off countries, hunted lions and tigers with Jack O'Connor and other firearm writers, and came away with wild and vivid experiences.

Those were not the days of the how-to story. Instead, these writers knew how to capture the imagination and the thrill and excitement of an outdoor experience and weave it into a great story. Many of those writers were legendary people with persuasive skills.

Men such as Russell Annabel, Charles Askins, Havilah Babcock, Erwin Bauer, Vereen Bell, Ray Bergman, Joe Brooks, Nash Buckingham, Chester Chatfield, Bert Claflin, Eugene Connett, Paul Curtis, Byron Dalrymple, Henry P. Davis, Ben East, Charles Elliott, Corey Ford, Arnold Gingrich, Hugh Grey, Sparse Grey Hackle, Roderick Haig-Brown, Van Campen Heilner, Ray Holland, Cal Johnson, Elmer Keith, John Alden Knight, Claude Kreider, Robert Page Lincoln, Jason Lucas, Art Macdougall, Gordon MacQuarrie, Jack O'Connor, Ozark Ripley, Ben Robinson, Robert Ruark, Andy Russell, Archibald Rutledge, H. P. Sheldon, Fred Streever, Edwin Ware Smith, Burton Spiller, Tap Tapply, Harold Titus, Ted Trueblood, Townsend Whelen, Frank Woolner, Lee Wulff, Ed Zern and countless others held our minds in their hands as we read along and enjoyed every moment of every story.

However, as great as these writers were, it was the artists who drew the color cover illustrations that took our mind away from other things and captivated us with the artistic mastery of their drawings. There were artists named Robert Doares, Charles Dye, William Harnden Foster, Arthur Fuller,  Howard Haskell Hinton, John Newton Howitt, Lynn Bogue Hunt, Francis Lee Jaques, Marguerite Kirmse, J. F. Kernan, Bob Kuhn, Harry Livingston, Edwin Megargee, Harold Megargee, Wiley Miller, P. B. Parsons, William Schaldach, G. Tyng, Walter Wilwerding, Edgar Wittmack, and many more.

Here's the deal. A total of roughly 1,000 of these magazines will be offered for sale but there are far too many to list here. If you may possibly be interested in some great old outdoor magazines from Ben East's and then my personal collections, send me an email at <dave@daverichey.com> or <davericheyq@gmail.com> .

Magazines include Boy's Chum, Field & Stream, Fishing Facts, Fishing & Hunting Guide, Forest & Strean, Great Lakes Fisherman, Hunting & Fishing, Hunter Trader Trapper, Michigan Sportsman, National Geograpic, National Sportsman, Outdoor Life, Outdoors, Outers Recreation, Outdoor Recreation, Outdoorsman, Sports Afield, The Michigan Sportsman,The Northern Sportsman and The Sportsman. Most magazines are one of a kind and all are scarce while some are rare. There are some duplicate magazines.

Bass fishing is as popular now as in 1926. An old-timer with femae and two pups.

My magazine holdings are broken down into broad categories including Atlantic Salmon Fishing, Bass Fishing, Bears, Brook Trout, Comic or Mood Scenes, Deer & Deer Hunting, Duck & Goose Hunting, Exotic Wild Game, Game Bird Hunting, Hunting Dogs, Lake Fishing, Misc. Outdoor Action, Muskellunge, River Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Various Wildlife and World War II Related.

I need to know which broad category you think you want. A bird-hunting story could be in the Hunting Dogs or Gamebird categories. If you know the date, and the magazine, give me both on first contact. I can find the magazines (if I have them) with a good description and some attention to what you feel the cover category might be. Be as definitive as possible when you email me. Don’t expect to go through all 1,000+ magazines in a blind attempt to find the needle in this haystack.

Do not send money unless I tell you that I have what you want.  Don't forget to enclose your complete address (home) and an e-mail address as well as the magazine name and publication date. These magazines will make a novel and much appreciated future birthday present or Christmas gift. Although I don't recommend it, magazine covers do look wonderful when framed under glass, and hung on a cabin, den or recreation room wall wherever sportsmen gather. Some interior decorators are looking for such items for clients who hunt and fish, and enjoy that type of décor.

Kindly note that there is a wide variation in price, which is determined primarily by the artist's stature as a magazine illustrator, content, scarcity, presence of inside art, and topic of the cover art. And, these magazines date back to 1922 through the 1950s.

Here is a rare opportunity to own something that once belonged to Ben East, the Dean of Michigan outdoor writers. I'll look forward to hearing from you with your needs.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors