We take full colour magazines for granted these days but just over 60 years ago, there was a red letter day for Horse & Hound. And a blue letter, green letter, yellow letter…
For March 3 1962 saw the first ever full colour front cover of the magazine to mark their special horse show issue, previewing the year ahead. Resplendent on the cover were the Quorn hounds with their huntsman, Jack Littleworth, captured at the Royal International Horse Show at White City in London, with the Union Jack billowing in the background. You can see more of the cover – backed by a full colour ad for Chivas Regal on page two – here.
In this pre-Beatle world, just, this splash of colour must have been a startling thing indeed when readers encountered it on the newsstands. And all yours for just one of the Queen’s English shillings – five pence to you and me.
Colour covers remained a rarity for quite some time, Horse & Hound using them intermittently throughout the rest of the 1960s, until finally, they became pretty much a regular feature from 1969 onwards. By then, inflation had gone out of control and you were paying 1s 6d (7 and a half pence) for your weekly read.
