GLORY DAYS: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PROGRAM SOUVENIR BOOKS

My Dad wasn’t really a collector. But still, we’re finding many remarkable treasures as we’ve been sorting through his stuff. And the most recent item that makes us scratch our heads is his collection of Football Program books, aka Souvenir Booklets.

My dad was a football quarterback – both on his high school team, Auburn, and for his college, Cornell University. He was a smart kid, but I think that football was more than a sport to him and to his generation. It was also a ticket to better things; like a college scholarship. Or a validation of quintessential American values; like hard work and training.

So it made sense that I stumbled across a stack of these beautiful program booklets from his high school football games. Each one is graced with an impactful painting (no AI used here) that glorifies, or at least, romances one aspect football. These glorious image spotlight the quarterback, the receiver, the physical contact, the fall season, the sense of romance (did everyone want to date a football player), a child’s vision of growing up to play. and even the ref!

Back in the day, the local print shops would have access to all these illustrations. The school would choose the best ones for any particular weekend, and then the printer would mix and match the interior information, ads, and photos with a particular cover. I’ve even learned there were companies that would put the whole package together for local municipalities, even finding the ads. Many times, in fact most times, the school colors wouldn’t be correct for the teams playing. But who cared? They were glorious illustrations.

The influence of pulps, comic strips, comic books and painted magazines are very strong in these. But somehow, they are their own thing. I hope you can grab a bottle of Pepsi, sit outside in the autumn air, and enjoy these forgotten memories of football games played so long ago.