Field & Stream

An area where you can discuss books about angling, classic tackle, angling literature, your favorite authors, old and new, and any upcoming books you see of interest and of course all the classics as well.

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Eperous
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Field & Stream

#1

Post by Eperous »

Recently several books were bequeathed to me, including Field & Stream's Treasury of Trout Fishing, edited by Leonard Wright, Jr. There are 47 relatively short chapters regarding trout fishing, each that appeared in Field & Stream magazine between May 1900 and July 1985. Most of the chapters were written by noted authors/anglers, providing interesting reads.

Ed

cutthroatkid
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Re: Field & Stream

#2

Post by cutthroatkid »

When I was an undergraduate the university library had a bound collection of all the old F&S magazines dating back 50 years. After I was done studying I used to peruse some of these issues. There were some notable differences to today's publications. The most striking was the quality of the illustrations - many of the articles were illustrated and the cover art was almost always a painting - sometimes by artists of the quality of Carl Rungius. The magazines were often a visual treat just because of the artwork. Even the pen and ink drawings were by people such as Ned Smith, very high caliber. Now photography has replaced almost all of that, being much cheaper. I still do see some fine artwork accompanying a few articles such as Gierach's in TU's magazine.

One other difference was that there was more fiction and humor. F&S had monthly updates on the shenanigans of the Lower Forty club. Ed Zern's column often had me in stitches. There were occasional outdoor related fiction stories by other authors such as the stories of the Old Duck Hunters Association by Gordon Macquarrie. Today there are still a few last-page articles by guys like McManus and Heavey but by and large the fiction is gone.

I'm sure you're enjoying your foray into the past.

headwaters
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Re: Field & Stream

#3

Post by headwaters »

In my view, that was the Golden Age of Sporting literature! It was wonderful reading when I was growing up.

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Eperous
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Re: Field & Stream

#4

Post by Eperous »

headwaters wrote:In my view, that was the Golden Age of Sporting literature! It was wonderful reading when I was growing up.
I feel that way also, and wore out the pages of those magazines... but I wonder if that's because so much of the information was new to a "young wannabe" angler, and these days it seems much of what's written--- none story based--- was probably written before? :-\

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Caneghost
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Re: Field & Stream

#5

Post by Caneghost »

I too grew up reading F&S when there was real writing inside rather than the salesmanship outdoor publications fawn over today. That is a great book, enjoy it!
...a wink of gold like the glint of sunlight on polished cane...

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wctc1
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Re: Field & Stream

#6

Post by wctc1 »

I grew up on a ranch/farm in the north Nebraska sandhills. There was no TV because simply, there was no TV transmitter close to us until I was over 12 years old, and then it was mostly snow.

Since we were a ways from town and friends my age, the night entertainment was listening to radio shows my folks wanted to listen to, or go out and wander the pastures and shelter belts to watch owls and deer. But inside, mostly it was learning to read.

So, I found out three things. I could save my allowance and send off about $1.20 for a year of Field & Stream. It was about the same for Outdoor Life. It was more for Sports Afield {which I still subscribe}. What visions those magazines put into my mind!

I also found that for 20c I could by stamps and send off to states and province tourist boards asking for travel literature. Of course I mainly sent to the fishing places. The Postmaster once complained to my Mom that I was ordering too much "stuff." But a lot came out of the mail box, a star route at the time.

So, Field & Stream has much more in those old issues than I can say. Joe here

Booman2
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Re: Field & Stream

#7

Post by Booman2 »

Thanks, wctc1 (Joe Beelart, author of Oregon Bamboo, the Howells book, F-4 Phantom pilot in Vietnam and more) for your history. It inspired me to grab an old Outdoor Life magazine from my collection, April, 1940.
Fantastic cover by artist J. F. Kernan and an issue filled with the writings of some of our best writers, Ormond, O'Connor, MacQuarrie and many more.
The advertising is the best: dispatching a killer mountain lion with a .22 bullet, a Nash Airflow (it was a car) ad saying "your wife will rough it and like it."
And some great boat ads featuring foxy looking ladies wearing bathing suits about the size of today's mountain tents. The bamboo fly rod and old reel ads are excellent history.
I bet I'm not the last geezer to respond to this thread!

Bamboo River
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Re: Field & Stream

#8

Post by Bamboo River »

Very nice collection there.

narcodog
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Re: Field & Stream

#9

Post by narcodog »

I was more of an Outdoor Life guy but my fav was Fur Fish and Game.

DaveNJ
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Re: Field & Stream

#10

Post by DaveNJ »

Fishing magazines are only worth the attention of a new angler for about 2 years. After that it's all regurgitation.

As for F&S... as a person from NJ I'm am disappointed that the fishing editor is also from NJ. If you need to ask why you're lucky.

snorider
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Re: Field & Stream

#11

Post by snorider »

Learning was never the focus of F&S for me. It was a
chance to visit amazing places and catch amazing fish , if only in my mind. I still think of the way in which reading those stories made my hunting and fishing outings seem somehow a bit more hopeful. Those hours of shivering in a duck blind or deer stand were spent in expectation of of the appearance of, at any moment, that perfect buck or flight of canvas backs. Old Hay Creek was certainly hiding that secret brown trout willing to rise to my hand tied fly there among the chub minnows. Fur Fish and Game was another childhood treasure and my favorite to this day. Trap lines and “wilderness” cabins in the backyard still brighten the memories. AND. I still love Ed Zerne simply for making me laugh.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

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Eric Peper
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Re: Field & Stream

#12

Post by Eric Peper »

I've been looking at this thread and smiling while reading it for several weeks and finally decided I had to respond. I worked at F&S for a few years in the mid-70s. When I left their employ I simply could not resist the temptation to purloin a couple of volumes of library copies; specifically the Jan-June issues for 1955 and 1956. I needn't tell this audience how much I've enjoyed reviewing those books for the past 45 years: great writers, great illustrators and great editorial choice of both. A shame that kind of content seems to have vanished.
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich

headwaters
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Re: Field & Stream

#13

Post by headwaters »

Great to hear from you, Eric. I've missed your contributions!

Booman2
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Re: Field & Stream

#14

Post by Booman2 »

Eric, you're right. I don't think that most people realize the very high standards of writing that F&S demanded. An exception was the February, 1975 issue featuring a 3 sentence article by me -for which I was paid $10.00.

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bearbutt
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Re: Field & Stream

#15

Post by bearbutt »

cutthroatkid wrote: There were some notable differences to today's publications. The most striking was the quality of the illustrations - many of the articles were illustrated and the cover art was almost always a painting - sometimes by artists of the quality of Carl Rungius. The magazines were often a visual treat just because of the artwork.
LOL--I'll say! Last year, after my mother died, I had the experience of returning home to go through the house, and pick out a few things to bring home half way across the country. Down in the basement I found a box of old copies of Field and Stream and Outdoor Life--some with those precious covers intact, but most of them with the covers removed, and the pages so dog eared from having been read and re-read dozens of time. It was strange to go through them, and recognize pictures I had not seen for almost fifty years--and recognize the narrative voice of writers like Michael Fong and Erwin Bauer. And Ed Zern too, of course--who always got the last word.

Image

bb

cutthroatkid
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Re: Field & Stream

#16

Post by cutthroatkid »

This thread has certainly stirred memories. There may be some truth that fishing magazines today regurgitate similar articles and after a few years go stale, but I think there was more good writing in the past. I looked up an old saved quote from an article by Gordon MacQuarrie - on duck hunting, but bear with me, and recall the last time you saw a paragraph like this in an outdoor magazine:

"The true devotee of the wind-swept autumn water hunts many other things besides ducks. He hunts the unfolding secrets of the dawn and the message of the wind. He hunts the curling waves and the tossing tops of suppliant trees. He hunts the poignant loneliness of a tender, departing season and the boisterous advent of one more vigorous. All these things he hunts and, old or young, he finds them as they were before - primordial, healing and soothing to mankind in his whirling world of complexities."

I wonder if such writing would have a chance of making it past an editor's desk today.

Lewis Chessman
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Re: Field & Stream

#17

Post by Lewis Chessman »

I know it's not the same as actually holding the real thing but F&S is available on Google Books from 1960 on.
I often find them useful for research, especially the adverts, but really should dip into the articles too.

Those of you who grew up with them may enjoy seeing the old covers again, if nothing more.

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para_adams
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Re: Field & Stream

#18

Post by para_adams »

Field & Stream is where I first discovered Patrick McManus, who so well described "how to fish a crick" and "101 ways to catch a carp" that my sides still hurt from the reading.
And I saw my first centerfold, Phyllis Diller in waders, I think I'm still scarred by that one. Ah, great magazine during my youth.

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Bud
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Re: Field & Stream

#19

Post by Bud »

Ted Trueblood was the man. For those of you that also read Sports Afield during those years, do you remember reading of Russell Annabel’s Alaskan adventures?

Edward Pirie
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Re: Field & Stream

#20

Post by Edward Pirie »

For me, it was Corey Ford and his "Lower Forty" column in "Field & Stream." I watched the mailbox every month waiting for the new issue of "Field & Stream." Then there was H.G. Tapply with his "Tap's Tips" column - always something helpful there. Later, I discovered Gene Hill and his monthly piece, "Hill Country." There were many very good writers that appeared every month in the outdoor magazines. And then, the cover art - it sure pulled on our heart strings, not to mention the great art work and illustrations that appeared all through the magazines. I miss these old magazines and their staffs and contributors. The old LL Bean catalogs also featured great sport art as well as the Orvis catalog. I have saved many just for the cover art. I am nostalgic for a period and time that not only informed and helped shape us as sportsmen and women, but it also captured our hearts and minds.

I am looking at a picture right now of the "Dream Team" of writers and artists that contributed to "Field & Stream" in the 1950s. The photo was taken at the Players Club in NYC. So many names and faces that enriched my life during my early years of learning and loving our sport are staring back at me in this picture. Hugh Grey, the editor, borrowing from the piece with the photo, "...loaded F & S with the sporting equivalent of Babe Ruth and company, including the writers, A.J. McClane, Ted Trueblood, Warren Page, H.G.Tapply, Corey Ford, Ed Zern, and Robert Ruark…Just as shrewdly, he employed some of the country's best wildlife artists to illustrate F & S covers: Lynne Bogue Hunt, Arthur Davenport Fuller, Tom Rost, Bob Kuhn, and many others including John Nagy.

I know nothing stays the same, but there are some things I wish never changed - "Field & Stream" and the other outdoor sporting magazines included.


Ed Pirie
West Topsham, Vermont

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