Don and Dell were my parents. My dad ran this and similar classified ads in all the outdoor magazines: Sports Afield, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life starting in 1961.
I love the address given: Bow Narrows Camps, Red Lake, NW Ontario. We had a post office box back then, the same as today - Box 217 -- but if you just addressed an envelope Bow Narrows Camps, Red Lake, Ontario, it would find its way no problem.
That little 3/4-inch, one-column ad ended up bringing all our guests. That plus word-of-mouth. One group told another group who told another group, etc. The same thing happened with families. Dads brought their kids and when there were grandkids, brought them. We now even have grandkids bringing their kids!
I'll always remember another company who had a little classified ad in the magazines back then. It seemed to be some sort of sporting goods company. Maybe you've heard of it -- Cabelas! Just like us it was founded in 1961.
Incidentally, you might wonder why our business was pluralized -- Camps. That was because we also had fly-in outpost camps back then. My dad decided to give up the outpost camps in the 1970s and concentrate on the base camp which is the one we have today.
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4 comments:
One of those magazine ads was how we discovered Bow Narrows in 1977.
I have some old Field and Stream magazines from the late 60's and early 70's. I'll have to get them out and see if I can find one of your ads.
Very interesting!
Indiana Dave
I believe Kim, in the first comment, is another 75-trip person.
There's an explanation for both him and Jim, shown in the photo. These guys obviously aren't 100 years old. They got their high numbers of trips to Bow Narrows by coming more than once a year.
I've been told I don't look a day over 90! If I've counted right, this Sept. will be trip #75. I think you should name a cabin after me, but I guess people wouldn't want to stay in the "Gross Cabin"!
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