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Bee Hive
Hockey Photos
Promotion
Background
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In 1934, the St. Lawrence Starch Company Ltd. hired a photographer for
sessions at Maple Leaf Gardens with a few of the Toronto Maple Leafs
"star" players. These photos were to be made available for
free through a promotion campaign that was about to start-up. It's
believed the original photos taken were with Charlie Conacher, Harvey Jackson, King Clancy and Joe
Primeau as well as Montreal Canadiens legends Sylvio Mantha, Pit Lepine and Aurel Joliat.
Of all the photos issued during the promotion, the Maple Leaf
players were requested most often. Thus, Toronto ended
up possessing the most photos in the catalogue (at 19%) while the
Detroit Red Wings were second (at 15%).
The St. Lawrence
Starch Company Ltd. began promoting these photos through their
sponsorship of the "Bee Hive Sportsviews" radio broadcast on
C.F.R.B. radio in Toronto. The show, hosted by Wes McKnight, followed
the evening News for ten minutes every weekday and Saturday evening.
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Harvey Jackson,
Charlie Conacher,
Red Horner and
Hap Day "Helping themselves" to
Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup
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By 1937, the promotion was becoming a
huge success throughout hockey crazed Canada. Requests for other players' pictures
now beckoned the
inclusion of the other seven NHL teams. This demand for photos was
due to the
nature of Canadian living. From 1934 until the mid 1950’s, hockey games were
available to most people only through the radio. The first hockey
games shown in Canada were not televised until the Fall of 1952.
Witnessing a live NHL game was simply impossible for most people due to the distance
involved. With the photos you could
actually "see" the game on the radio (or so you thought).
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No
new photos were shot during the early 1940's, but they could still be
ordered. In 1946, the promotion was temporarily "suspended" due to the shortage of
corn. Also, the war time measure of coupon rationing was still in
effect. This resulted in the Company limiting its advertising campaign
for a short period.
The demise
in 1967 of the promotion was due to several events. First of all, the newly formed NHL Players Association (NHLPA)
now wanted considerably more money in return for the photo rights to its players.
From 1936 until 1963, the Toronto Maple Leafs organization had been paid
$4,750 per annum for exclusive team photo rights, while the other
teams probably received no compensation. Between 1964 and 1967 this
payment would have been slightly higher. Funds were kept
by team ownership and the players would receive nothing at all. The
sum the NHLPA required in 1967 (not sure of the exact amount) was far
beyond the Company budget. Also, the expanded NHL would have twelve teams
in the upcoming season
and consequently double the player volume in the league, thus increasing
the costs. In addition, hockey fans were not collecting the black
& white photos as much anymore...the smaller cards printed in
colour were much more attractive and easier to handle. Finally, the
postal rates in 1934 were far cheaper when the cost of a stamp was
only one cent. The production of hockey photos ultimately became too expensive for the Gray
family (owners) and the promotion was discontinued. One can only imagine
what this resulting, negative impact had on Company sales since
1967 (and the forthcoming years).
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Bee Hive
hockey photos
ad.
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Most,
if not all of the photos were taken by the official team
photographers. In Toronto the Turofsky brothers, Nat and Lou, and in
Montreal by Rice Studios. These photos were not exclusive to the Bee
Hive catalogue as some of the pictures also appear in other popular promotions of the same era. It is
believed that another photographer shot player photos in Boston, Chicago, Detroit and New York.
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Bee Hive
Corn Syrup ad.
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