The list of original subscribers is especially interesting, including as many well known names as completely unfamiliar ones!
Many oftheideas discussed in tjhese4 early years are still evident today!
Although this appeared first on the pages of WGD, Volume 7 #1 I placed it second in this post, as likely of lesser interest to most.
Sadly, there were no further issues after this one!
Thanks for posting this Peter.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Carlo!
DeleteFascinating reading, so thanks for sharing this. I wonder why there was no second issue of the 'new' magazine?
ReplyDeleteReading the editorial, this was in fact AFTER Jack's heart attack. The arrangement with Ambrite Industries didn't work out in the long run, and he ultimately re-assumed the business from them. I just don't think he wanted any extra stressors in his life at that point. He did produce a few short bulletins after this, but they were focused on the business for the most part.
ReplyDeleteI had presumed that this magazine had its genesis in the 60's for some reason, but the 50's is much earlier than I thought. Judging by the subscriber list, it's interesting to see how some Canadian, US and UK wargamers were in correspondence with each other even at this early stage. No Australians or New Zealanders at taht point though, and perhaps they were starting to emerge in their own pockets of the hobby.
ReplyDeleteWeren't you guys just eating kangaroos and knocking Koalas out of their trees way back then? Or re-branduing Chinese Gooseberries as Kiwifruit and trying to convince the rest of the world that they were worth eating? :-)
DeleteWe're still knocking koalas out of their trees unfortunately, and I can say they never managed to convince me that kiwifruit were worth eating. I always pick them off the top of pavlovas if they are present.
DeleteThanks for taking the jests with good humor, Lawrence!
Delete(I don't mind a slice of Kiwi here or there myself!)
Well, if you're ever in Australia I'll quite happily share a pavlova with you and slide the kiwi fruit over to your side (and the strawberries over to mine)!
DeleteIt's a deal, just hold the Vegimite! :-)
DeleteFascinating! Thanks for sharing this. I can’t help wondering how those guys found each other across thousands of miles in the 50s. Maybe through the Model Soldier Society?
ReplyDeleteFriends of the family with an interest in military history, militaria, miniature figurines, and to a lesser degree, wargaming, were members of the Scottish Military Collectors Society, and a New Yoprk State society for military modelers, so I imaginethe contacts grew out of organizations like that and their newsletters. Indeed, the wargames conventions that I attended from about 1971 - 1977 were the annual Wargames convention of the MFCA (Miniature Figure Collectors of America), held in Chester, PA (just outside of Philadelphia), at Widener College.
DeleteThanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the roots of the hobby go deeper in time, its..."interesting".. to reflect that the hobby as we know it developed during our lifetime from exchanges of letters and homemade soldiers to what it is today.
Yes, indeed, they go further back, but certainly WGD and list subscribers were a big part of the development of today's wargaming scene. Hard to believe it was more than 60 years since the first issue, which was published just a few years after I was born!
DeleteAnd me as well. This sort of thing almost makes feel old when talking to wargamers in their 20's.
ReplyDeleteYep... *almost*!
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