A Look Back

Photographs have long been a staple of North Dakota OUTDOORS. Yet, that always hasn’t been the case.

Knowing that for the first number of years of OUTDOORS that pencil drawings and paintings were the only art afforded readers on the front and back covers and in between, it got us to thinking about when photographs were actually introduced.

Turns out, the answer is 80 years ago.

“Starting from a small mimeographed publication, North Dakota OUTDOORS this month makes its appearance garbed in new attire … North Dakota has untold natural scenic beauty, and the new publication will be able to use pictures advertising the state. The publication will appreciate receiving clear pictures for this purpose,” from the July 1938 issue of North Dakota OUTDOORS.

Not counting the cover, just seven black and white photographs were published in that 32-page July issue 80 years ago.

The cover photograph, according to the author at the time, was of Tommy Brown of Mandan with a catfish from N.P. (Northern Pacific) Reservoir in Mandan, which opened to fishing for the first time that year.

The author also pointed out that Tommy’s skills didn’t end at angling: “Tommy, although only 3 ½ years old, cannot be stumped on any question you might choose to ask him. He is becoming a very adept singer, and at the present time he knows over 50 popular songs. This in itself would be an achievement many boys and girls 15 years his senior would be proud of.”

While that July 1938 issue of OUTDOORS wasn’t exactly loaded with photos, the magazines that followed featured more and more black and white images. This jump in photo count, including a photograph of the “first prairie dog shot in Logan County,” was in part due to reader participation.

“North Dakota OUTDOORS will at all times welcome contributions from sportsmen, and proper credit will be given for this material. It is your publication and through contributions from readers, from time to time, North Dakota OUTDOORS will be more entertaining.”

To add, just because we thought it might be of interest:

It wasn’t until 1984, nearly a half-century after the first photographs were published in OUTDOORS, that first color photographs ran on the inside of the magazine.

Another photography milestone was reached in 2002 when the first digital photographs were published inside the magazine. It wasn’t until August 2003 that the first digital photo ran on the cover.