Portal to Historic Outdoor Magazines
This website hosts an archival library of digitized outdoor magazines (160+documents). Most were circulated in the first four decades of the 20th century (1899-1940) with the 2012 addition of 14 early Sports Afield (1890-1891). Hunter and angler magazines played a key role in developing today’s standards of science-based fish and game management, habitat preservation, species conservation and clean water. Their support helped develop an extensive system of public lands & parks ensuring that outdoor recreation was available to all. A cross-section of historic outdoor publications have been digitally preserved in Adobe PDF (portable document format), the global standard for sharing rich information between computer systems. Digital documents ensure long term preservation as well as open access to the publications which helped shaped our national conservation ethic. Read the actual magazines, yellowed with age, which are an integral part of our rich outdoor heritage.
What’s Available and How You Can Find It
The power of digital reading is available for a representative slice of early outdoor magazines. Adobe rigorously maintains a free PDF Reader with a lightning fast text search engine. Quickly scan the entire library to find people, locations, guns, decoys, rods, reels, lures, boats, outboard motors or camping equipment. Search with laser-like precision. Bookmark and highlight important reference points. Magnify ads or pictures to examine minute detail. Easily thumb through brittle pages, now digital, which haven’t seen the light of day since being stored in the attic; before flight, before the Ford, before WWI, the Dust Bowl, the Depression and WWII. Browse to identify new gear to collect. Retrace early outdoor adventures on your next outing.
PDF files in the library have been formatted for Adobe Reader 7 or newer. The latest version of Adobe Reader (free) is available here.
Enhanced Cover Art – Previews Changed 5-5-2012
Damaged covers from circulated magazines have been digitally repaired for viewing on this website. Enjoy cover art as fresh as when it was delivered 70 to 100 years ago. Classic Outdoor Magazines and their hunter, angler readers contributed significantly to the excellent outdoor opportunities we enjoy today. This website preserves our early outdoor magazine heritage as a tribute to the magazines and the hunters and anglers that helped shape natural resource usage for the 21st Century.