Al Hunt, owner of the biggest collection of surf mags in the world. Photo: ASP/Cestari
If you work in the surf publishing industry, it’s more than likely you’ll be in contact with Al Hunt. Despite having had more than a few different positions inside the ASP, Al is the guy you can always reach out with questions about world title and WCT qualification possibilities. And, although he is probably very busy, he always finds time to quickly reply. Often, he emails back asking for a magazine that didn’t make it to his address. A lot of people don’t know this, but Al has the biggest collection of surf magazines in the world, and most surfing mags are happy to be part of his huge library and send him their issues. Taking advantage of Hunt’s availability, I sent him a few questions about his amazing library. Here’s what he had to say about it.
When and why did you start collecting surf magazines?
Around 1967. I went down to Bells with Alby Falzon in Bob Evans’ new Holden Monaro and we stopped at the Surfing World offices and there were piles of mags from 1964, first issue onwards. Anyway, I took one of each for the trip.I still have them, plus every one since around issue 340.
How many do you have currently?
Nearly 17,000 different issues plus around 5,000 for trading.
Do you have time to read any of them?
Not enough. Flip through some issues of the fifty-odd I get each month.
How much space does your collection take?
The lounge room in my house is my office and the double garage is the storeroom. No room for my car.
How much time do you dedicate to the “cause?”
Good question. Sometimes too much and lately not enough. I have a pile of about 200 mags to scan the covers of and load onto my site right now.
Would you say it’s the biggest surf magazine collection in the world?
By far. I would say even my trades may be the second biggest collection in the world.
Is there another really big collection out there?
A few I know of, but most people collect select eras or titles. Like ’60s mags or just USA or Australian ones.
Who has access to your collection?
The mags never leave my house, but usually I have a lot of people over the year coming by and doing research with them.
Of all the surf magazines that have gone through your hands, were there any that stood out for you for any reason?
I have always liked Surf Guide from the late ’60s in USA and still prefer Surfing World from Australia to others. Stab in Australia is controversial usually so that’s a good one.
What is the hardest part of having a collection like this?
Keeping up with collecting those that I don’t get mailed to me. They come and go so quickly these days, especially the free paper style ones that only last a few issues.
Is there any plan for them in the future?
My retirement fund. I would really like them to go to something that the public can access or someone willing to digitalize them for public access. There is a huge market out there wanting copies of certain photos for people that were in them years ago or past and current pro surfers looking for a portfolio of their career. Basically a clipping service which you charge for.
Do you collect any more surfing memorabilia other than magazines and books?
In my years on tour, I have collected anything to do with surfing events. Over 3,000 t-shirts, same number of posters, hats, stickers – anything.
Since the print industry started having trouble a few years back, did you notice a big decrease in the number of magazines around the world?
Yes, they have decreased but not a lot as new ones keep popping up and a lot have gone digital only.
