"[T]he whole nine-yards" (July, 1956)

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

"So that's the whole nine-yards.  The rules are simple.  You'll find
them and everything you need to know on the inside page of every entry
blank."

Dave Baker, editor of *Kentucky Afield* (a publication of the Kentucky
Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources), has very kindly verified
that this "appears on Page 18 of the July 1956 edition of Kentucky
Happy Hunting Ground. This is Vol. 12, No. 4. It is contained within
an article headlined, 'Kentucky Afield Fishing Derbies Are Underway.'"
 (He has also followed up with a PDF.)

The article highlights the prizes offered (the Grand Prize is a 14'
foot, boat trailer, and Evinrude motor, as well as a couple presumably
terrific fishing rods; smaller prizes, for individual events, are also
presumably great rods of the day), the five competition locations in
the Commonwealth, and competition dates, which span from May 12 to
September 25.  The expression itself follows that, appearing in the
penultimate paragraph.  I'd be happy to share more if anyone's
interested.  (I'm waiting for permission to share the PDF itself.)

As Mr. Baker noticed, no author for the piece was listed, but he
mentioned that "I can assume that it was likely penned by Harry
Towles, who served as both the magazine editor and as the director of
Public Relations at the time."

Mr. Baker wasn't able to help with the presumed 1957 sighting ("the
whole nine yards," without hyphen), but that particular volume should
arrive to me via interlibrary loan in the next few days.  I suspect
that find appears in "Dear Sirs," a column that appeared in every
issue.  Sadly, no author is listed for that column.  (I'm waiting for
Mr. Baker's thoughts on whether Mr. Towles also penned "Dear Sirs.")
I haven't been able to figure out how long Mr. Towles edited *Kentucky
Happy Hunting Ground*, but it occurs to me that if Ferd Holtmann
himself isn't responsible for "the entire nine yards" in that March,
1962 issue, an editor -- perhaps in the process of reviewing
Holtmann's article -- may have been.

Finally, I am very grateful to Dave Baker, *Kentucky Afield*, and the
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources for considerable
assistance with this and for being such good sports about this strange
pursuit.  I should also mention how indebted I am to Stephanie Griffin
of the University of North Carolina's Health Sciences Library for her
perpetual patience and seemingly endless cheerfulness in the face of
my sometimes odd and ridiculously vague interlibrary loan requests.
Naturally, thanks too to John Baker for suggesting contacting
*Kentucky Afield*!

-- Bonnie

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