Hmm, I don't go back quite that far, but my first pack as I recall was a Hillary from Sears with an external frame and fold-down tube shelf on it for your sleeping bag. My cook kit and canteen were Army surplus, the tents we had for our Scout troop were WWII era shelter halves that buttoned together with wooden 3 section poles that made an A-frame.

The outdoor books I read, other than the Boy Scout Manual came later-Colin Fletcher's The Complete Walker, The Thousand Mile Summer and The Man Who Walked Through Time. I also have some Royal Robbins books on climbing somewhere. Not all that old, but classics nonetheless.