Let’s begin this week’s edition of Collector’s Corner with this “Play NFL All Pro” contest envelope from 1966 (not 1956 as the seller claims). You could win anything from a dollar to a new Ford Mustang! The envelope apparently at one time contained “All-Pro Player Pictures,” and you could pick up a “Collection Card” at participating dealers.
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
• Check out the hairstyle of Johnny Unitas in this Starting Lineup set that includes Joe Namath.
• Here we have a four-by-four-foot square of “The Turf of Champions,” from Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium circa 1981.
• The seller of this Boston Red Sox aluminum ring says “I’m guessing 1950s era. Looks barely used if at all.”
• I was a Reds fan for many years and always heard about the “Rosie Reds” but never knew what they did. Well, they were a “philanthropic and social organization focused on the Reds … founded by a group of Cincinnati women in June 1964 in response to the Reds’ then-owner Bill DeWitt’s proposal to move the team to San Diego.” San Diego? Never knew that! Anyway, here’s the Rosie Reds’ official purse.
• Here we have a plastic drink coaster for Super Bowl XIX from 1985. I have never figured out why that stadium got to host this game.
• This bold 1960s sign says, “At work! At play! Listen to baseball on WROV Radio 1240! Los Angeles Dodgers v. Washington Senators.”
• Here are some 1990s Seattle Seahawks retro cling stickers. I always liked the clings, because with other types of stickers you could get a deadly air bubble in there, with no way to fix it except try to delicately pop it with a pin!
• This 1973 booklet is entitled The Language of Pro Football, from NFL Properties. They helpfully note, “The words of professional football have special meanings.” Omaha! Omaha!
• From 1964, here’s a Hiram Walker whiskey-sponsored New York Giants placemat.
• Another placemat here, this time from 1975 for the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers.
That’ll do it for this edition of CC. See you back here next week!
“Here we have a plastic drink coaster for Super Bowl XIX from 1985. I have never figured out why that stadium got to host this game.”
The simple answer is that the NFL was interested in having the game in the San Francisco area (expanding beyond the typical rotation of LA, Miami, and New Orleans). The 49ers and Raiders stadium did not have the seating capacity required to host, so they went to Stanford.
And why in the world did they play SB Vlll at Rice Stadium in Houston, while the Astrodome never hosted one?
BTW- One of the most boring Super Bowls, ever.
Had to do with seating capacity. Astrodome held about 10-15K fewer than Rice Stadium.
link
Stanford University president Donald Kennedy was asked to consider the stadium for a Super Bowl site in 1982 by Quentin Kopp, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mr. Kopp was eager to bring the Super Bowl to the city but found that Stanford Stadium was the only one in the area that met NFL criteria. Although reluctant at first, Mr. Kennedy did not want to say no to Bay Area fans. Nor did Palo Alto.
“Johnny Unitas. Now there’s a haircut you could set your watch by.” -Abe Simpson
Damn… beat me to it
Seriously doubt the patch of turf from Vets stadium is 4 feet x 4 feet.
The listing says nothing about size other than 4×4.
I’m guessing it’s inches.
Again, seating. Rice Stadium at the time held 70K while the dome couldn’t have had much more than 60K tops and probably less with press seating. But it gave Houston a game. I still want one in Green Bay.
Wisconsin and Green Bay combined to go 8-16-1 in 1975. $2 is too much for that placemat.
The Senators & Dodgers would never have played each other since they were in different leagues. Makes me think the station broadcasted Senators & Dodgers baseball.