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Bee Hive
Hockey Photos
Photo
Groups
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During the 34 years of the Bee
Hive hockey photo promotion, the St. Lawrence Starch Company Ltd. released 1,026
different hockey photos. These photos can be
grouped into three distinct print eras, referred to as Groups 1, 2 and
3. In addition
to these hockey photos, some rare airplane and sport celebrity photos
(known as the "Olympians") were also
issued.
Of the 603 hockey players/broadcasters represented within the catalogue,
113 of them
are currently in the Hockey
Hall of Fame  .
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Group 1
photo
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Group 1 (1934-43)
This group is comprised of 307 photos
or 30% of the collection. Consists of players from the eight
NHL hockey teams of that era … Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks,
Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, New
York/Brooklyn Americans, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
There were also photos of trophies, and some teams and radio
personalities. Photo size was
approximately 4 ¼” by 6 ¾” mounted on a 5 ½” by 8” matte
backing. The most frequent mat colour was beige, but several photos with royal
blue or red mattes were also produced. Player names were printed in
one of three styles; facsimile autograph, block print or written script. One or two other print
styles exist but their use was limited.
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Group 2
(1944-64)
This group is comprised of 503 photos
or 49% of the collection. Consists of players only from
the Original Six teams (1942-1967) ... Montreal Maroons and New
York/Brooklyn Americans had disbanded in 1938 and 1942 respectively. There were
also photos of trophies and a team. The first Group 2 photo issued was the oversized 1944-45 Toronto
Maple Leafs team photo. The Toronto player photos were initially
issued with the player’s facsimile autograph. By 1945, the Toronto
players were being issued with a new, larger written script for the player’s
name and all other player photos continued using this same style. A
newer, slightly different written script was introduced sometime in
the 1950's and remained until 1967. Photo size and mat backing were similar to Group
1. The mat colour was almost exclusively beige, but the odd royal
blue or red mat was seen into the early 1950’s. The final Group 2 photo issued was the
oversized 1962-63 Toronto
Maple Leafs team photo.
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Group 2
photo
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Group 3 photo
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Group 3
(1964-67)
This group is comprised of 216
photos or 21% of the collection. Consists of players only
from the Original Six teams. There were also photos of trophies
issued. Photo was still black & white but was attached to the
mat as one piece.
Surrounding the photo was a brown coloured, wood-grain border and the overall
size was 5 ½” by 8”. Player names were inscribed within a
nameplate located at the bottom centre of the wood-grain border.
Many of the photos used the same negative that was used by the
player in his Group 2 photo. This new one-piece format began in the
Fall of 1964 in
an attempt to decrease production costs to the Company. There were 2
versions of wood-grain borders created, one being a distinctly lighter
shade of brown than the other.
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Airplane
Photos
This group is comprised of 55
photos and were issued during the early 1940's as a tribute to the
Allied War effort. Photos were black &
white and portrayed R.A.F. (British) and R.C.A.F. (Canadian) WW2 aircraft. Photo
size and mat backing were similar to Group 1. Mat colour was
initially red, but was switched to orange after a short time. Some promotional photos were also issued with yellow
mats.
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Airplane photo
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Olympian photo
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Olympian
Photos
These 5 photos were printed in black & white and issued during the 1930’s/1940’s.
The photos of Canadian amateur athletes included Bob Pearce (Sculler/Rower) and Charlotte Acres
(Marathon Swimmer). Photo size and mat backing were similar to Group 1.
Mat colour was
either in a red, royal blue or a mint green.
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