Thursday, June 16, 2011

Sport magazine nostalgia

I recently bought a handful of early-1950s Sport magazines and similar titles.

I like to scour the magazines for cover photos and those great full-page color photos that I may be able to use for my custom card projects. I keep the stack in my bathroom for leisurely perusal.

One of my recent purchases was the April, 1951, (four months before I was born) issue.

I found the artwork on the cover wonderfully nostalgic, and thought you might like to see it, as well.

The cover shows that, for all the interest there was in spring hockey playoffs and basketball, big league baseball was still No. 1 with Americans.

Interestingly, 1951 was the year that the NCAA basketball tournament expanded for eight to 16 teams.

As much as I like this cover, a letter to the editor in that issue indicated not every reader was as fond of the artwork covers.

Reader Tom Sande of Pembina, North Dakota, wrote to the editor:

For the past three years, I have been an ardent reader of SPORT and have enjoyed every issue of it. But I feel--and I'm sure others will agree--that there is one change needed.

My gripe is--your covers. Ever since a few issues back, fine portraits by Ozzie Sweet, etc., were appearing on your covers. Lately, they have been replaced by mediocre paintings which aren't appealing at all. Let's get back to covers that make SPORT look like a real honest to goodness sport magazine--how about it?

Opinions--everybody has one.

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