A lot of big events happened in August of 1960. The 1960 Rome Summer Olympics kicked off. Beatle-mania began to spread in Europe, as the Fab Four embarked on a series of successful shows in West Germany. Sputnik 5 was launched. (It had no people on board--just dogs, mice, rats and plants.) Hurricane Donna ravaged the East Coast of the United States. And this edition of Outdoor Life (left) hit newsstands.
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The issue opened with a rather interesting story about tracking grouse by capturing them, tossing a black cloth hood over their head (think low-budget kidnapping movies), and then attaching a radio transmitter.
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Ironically (given the rather brutish technique for capturing the birds), the whole thing was part of an official scientific study. Also, I can’t imagine that such a large radio transmitters went unnoticed by the grouse.
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Ah, nothin’ like cleaning your guns, thinking about dandruff.
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On page 8, things really start to get good, as exemplified by this ad for a gigantic balloon! Yes, the ad really does say, “Insure fun at the beach.” More like insure chaos!
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Some things never change–who doesn’t want a good jackalope mount, even today? (Do you have a jackalope mount? Send us a pic. We want to make a gallery.)
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History’s greatest couplings: Peanut Butter and jelly. Butter and toast. …Flashlight and cigarette lighter?
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Learn Karate. “The more violent and brutal the attack upon you, the more effective your defense.”
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A neat photo that ran in the issue of a school of tuna and a nearby fishing boat. Aerial photography is standard fare nowadays, but in August, 1960, it was still somewhat special.
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Many sportsmen might remember the snarling cat ads from Winchester.
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The full-color feature in the issue was titled “Giants of the Kalahari,” about an African hunt.
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John A. Scharf wrote an article about fishing with a secret custom lure: A No. 2 Colorado spinners with a Yellow Sally bass fly (tied onto a long-shank hook), baited with a nightcrawler.
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Not a bad ram in any year or decade.
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An old Carhartt ad…
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And a modern Carhartt jacket…virtually unchanged from 50 years ago.
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Lures that “automatically” shake or vibrate have never caught on with the masses, but they’ve been around for a long time. In the 1960s, however, the concept was fairly new…
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…and the concept was endorsed by this guy.
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Also in the 1960 issue, Jack O’Connor took his hunting gear overseas.
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A nice Striper. It’d definitely be a candidate for our current Fish of the Year program.
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The “Frontier Shirt” never quite caught on with the masses either…
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…although it did catch on with guys like this.
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Like the July, 1960 issue, the August issue featured a lot of ads for Florida land.
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It seems that Florida real estate was big business back in 1960, when much of the state was still undeveloped.
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Here’s an ad you don’t see every day.
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You rarely see ads like this either. In fact, Tanganyika hasn’t been an African state since 1964. (Tanzania is the more common, modern name.)
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The This Happened to Me story from August, 1960, was by Earl Lail from Asheboro, North Carolina. Click ahead to read the story!
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“While rabbit hunting in Cherryville, North Carolina, my four brothers, father, and myself came upon an abandoned farmhouse.”
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“Behind it was a pile of brush and rotten lumber that looked as if it might hold a bunny. I went over to it.”
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“The wood crumbled when I stepped on it, and down I plunged into a deserted well.”
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“I plummeted 60 feet, and then hit the frigid water.”
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“My brothers heard my yells, and ran for help. Meanwhile, I braced my feet and back against the well’s slimy sides.”
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“About a mile off, my brothers met a farmer plowing. He raced home for his long chains.”
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“They lowered the chains and pulled me out just in time. My back and hands were numb.”
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“Cold feet, blisters from holding chain luckily were the ordeal’s only effects.”
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Let us know what you think about the August, 1960 issue, and my umbrella. Leave comments below!

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