Gadag It’s never too early to start shopping for the golfer in your family. These gift ideas are from the pages of Golf Digest in the late 1950s and early 1960s:
This item is from 1957, when golf, cocktail-drinking, and home refrigeration were all ascendant in the United States. U.S. Royal was a trade name of the United States Rubber Company, which renamed itself Uniroyal in 1961. It no longer makes golf balls, although it may still make ice trays.
The reflective metallic golf hat, also from 1957, is an idea that never caught on, for unknown reasons. The hat was probably most useful in match play, since by standing in the right place and tilting your head you could temporarily blind your opponent. The logo notwithstanding, I don’t think anyone ever wore one in the Masters.
Wehrmacht surplus? Somebody must have bought a load of these, because they were advertised all over, and not just in golf publications. This ad is from 1960. Hats like this are still available, although they’re of interest mainly to Third Reich fetishists.
Also from 1960. Golf ball repair is a concept that doesn’t really exist anymore.
This ad is from 1958, but versions of it ran for several years. The price is per week, not per night, and it includes room, golf, meals, tips, and just about everything else. (Dove hunting may have been extra.) Today, you’d pay almost as much at Pinehurst for a dozen Pro V1s.
Don’t see anything you want? More gift ideas soon.
Wow! I guess inflation is even worse at Pinehurst than it is on college campuses these days! Adjusting for inflation, $99 in 1958 should be worth about $790 in today’s dollars. I think I paid about $400 just for one round on #2 a couple years ago, and that didn’t include anything but the one round of golf. No hotel, no food, no caddie, no nothing. Though the pine-scented air is still brisk and invigorating…