A look at the way it used to be

[Swamp Girl]

I bought a 1937 South Bend fishing catalog. Oh, how times have changed. The catalog is a hybrid of a book about fishing, as it shares info about different species, a fishing magazine, as it has articles about fishing, and a catalog. Here is the cover and four pages. I like how they put the species beneath their lures that the lures might attract. There are pages showing rods and reels too and photos of big, recent catches. If you'd like me to share anything I just mentioned, let me know and I'll photograph and post those pages.

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Very cool Katie, thanks for sharing!

 

I'm surprised how vivid the colors have held up, and the illustrations are beautiful.

 

 

[Mobasser]

Really nice. When I was a kid fishing with my older brother, a small frog finish Bass O Reno was his favourite lure. It's always fun looking through these old catalogs.

[Swamp Girl]

29 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Really nice. When I was a kid fishing with my older brother, a small frog finish Bass O Reno was his favourite lure. It's always fun looking through these old catalogs.

 

I wish I could place an order and pay 1937 prices.

 

The cover makes me laugh, since they're pushing fishing as a way to stay fit, but 1937 was a time when many anglers were rowing boats, which does take muscle. 

[GreenPig]

Nice. " Fish and feel fit! " is early bait monkey propaganda. 

[GRiver]

Thanks for sharing. Where did you get it at?

Ordered or stumbled across it?

[Glaucus]

I don't know why I'm shocked by how colorful and detailed this is.

 

[jbmaine]

Love it! Looks like something my dad would have read.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, GRiver said:

Thanks for sharing. Where did you get it at?

Ordered or stumbled across it?

 

Ebay. There are many old catalogs for sale. I'm thinking about framing it and adding it to my collection of old fishing mags. Here are two of the old fishing mags. All the old fishing mags that I collected have canoes, female anglers, or both on the covers and some are more than 100 years old. I have a couple old fishing signs too (99.9% of the "old" fishing signs for sale are replicas.):

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Glaucus said:

I don't know why I'm shocked by how colorful and detailed this is.

 

 

Alex was also surprised by how vivid the colors are. I expect it's because it's sat in an attic or box for decades. 

[Pat Brown]

We buy all of the old school bass fishing 'How To' that we can find at thrift stores!  We have a pretty good collection going! 

 

Worth it for the photography alone.

 

Honestly, there's some juice in there you don't see on the internet these days 🤫😉

[Bankbeater]

I wonder if any of the lures in that catalog are still being made today.

[bassmedic46]

Great find on that Catalog. I go on eBay as well as flea markets looking for old fishing magazines and lures. 

[GaryH]

Thanks for sharing Katie.. like going into a barber shop when I was a kid and looking at the magazines.

[Alex from GA]

Last year I gave a friend a '50s how to catch fish book that had some interesting information.  This was before spinning and baitcasting and fly fishing were the methods used.  All my Herters catalogs are long gone but I still have a rod I built and some lures from their catalog.

[pdxfisher]

That is amazingly beautiful!

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings Katie, and et al.,

What a wonderful find! Thanks for sharing as we can join in the fun of an era gone by.

 

Growing up in rural America, catalogs were extremely significant. That was the principle way to shop. Many of the local retailers just didn't have the inventory. Ordering what you wanted / needed was a big part of life back then. 

 

It was the material dreams were made of! Those were also the foundations of learning much of the English language and fostering an interest for technology. The specifications and details provided helped me to learn about the world through the catalogs.

 

Even in adult life as a professional, I'm still reading through catalogs to shop well.  It is via a high resolution screen these days. Thankfully there is the ability to zoom to see those all important details. Tools helpful for those aging eyes!

 

The photography and art work of that era was impressive. It all comes together to help tell the story or promote the theme and product. I appreciate the narratives that fostered the utility of why you needed to use these products.

 

The timing of this thread along with recently receiving a large physical fishing catalog in the mail bring me back to those youthful times of late evening sessions sitting on the floor with my hound at my side musing through the pages and thinking about "what if?" Over the decades I've managed to realize many of those ambitions. There is always room for more adventure, right?

 

So appreciative of this conversation, it has been fun! Be well, Cheers!

[Swamp Girl]

@Fishing_Rod: Well said!