In January 1970, the newspaper sponsored a bus trip to a Cleveland Barons game. The ad above appeared in the Journal on Thursday, January 8, 1970.
It was a pretty good deal: one ticket to the Jan. 17th game against the Montreal Voyageurs, and transportation to and from the Cleveland Arena, on a chartered bus, all for $4.50.
The first Baron game bus outing was a success, and a second event was planned. The ad below appeared in the Journal on Feb. 3, 1970. This game was against the Hershey Bears and was designated “Lorain County Day” at the Arena.
(Unlike the Barons and the Voyageurs, the Hershey Bears are still around. In fact, according to their Wiki entry, "The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still playing in its original city.”)
And here’s another ad for the same promotion. It appeared in the Journal on Feb. 13, 1970.
The Morning Journal should consider reviving this promotion as an advertising gimmick. Cleveland Monster hockey games are fun to watch, but I’m sure navigating the way there and finding decent parking scares off a lot of potential customers.
I’m heading to a Monsters game later this month to see them play the Toronto Marlies. Unfortunately, I’ll be rooting for the Marlies. (I’m a big Toronto Maple Leaf fan and the Marlies are their AHL farm team.)
Anyway, I had to chuckle at the hockey illustration in the first two Journal ads. It’s the exact same art we have on file at work in our Harry Volk clip art collection from 1958.
2 comments:
Hey Dan -I remember going to a few Barons games at the old downtown area. They were fun...my 8th grade teacher was an ex-hockey player and he would take a few students from time to time. I even remember being allowed to skate on the ice after a game! What a difference from today's arenas. I even went to a Cavs - Barons doubleheader. The second game was the Cavs and they had to cancel part of the game because the floor got too slippery. It was neat to see how they transformed the rink to a basketball court. Also, check out the no helmet artwork...times have changed...amazing how they played without head/eye protection back then..especially the goalies with no mask. Belated Happy New Year! Looking forward to your 2020 stories. Todd -Nashville (Preds Fan)
Hi Todd! Happy New Year to you too! Thanks for posting the great reminisce. That's pretty neat that you were able to see the Barons and the Cavs play at the old Arena – on the same day yet. And yes, it is strange seeing old photos and archival footage of hockey players from the days when they played with no helmets, visors, etc. As a result, fans back then knew what the players looked like and recognized them in public (which wasn't always a good thing if the team wasn't very good).
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