The Original "Battle of Alberta"

Before the NHL set up shop in both Calgary Alberta and Edmonton Alberta in the 80's, there was the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. This was the original "Battle of Alberta"

While perusing a used shop a couple of years ago, I spied this great cover in a glass case and had to have it! What 'it' was, a CFL (Canadian Football League Edmonton Eskimos game program from August 23, 1965. The game was between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders. I loved the cover illustration depicting an Eskimo at the top of an oil rig, about to pour a what looks like a bucket of crude oil down onto a quickly approaching cowboy. A great illustration, which somehow seems inappropriate by today's 'way to politically correct' standards.

As well as the cover, there are also some great ads etc inside. The first is a picture of the 1965 Edmonton Eskimo coaching staff. I noticed two things. First off, the combined age of these three looks to be well over 200! And second, I did not realize that just 4 years before landing on the moon, Neil Armstrong was coaching a Canadian Football League team in Edmonton.

There is an ad for CBXT Channel 5's coverage of all things Eskimos and CFL. Being the sports play-by-play junkie that I am, I loved the ad

Next up, is an ad proudly presenting the Canada Dry half-time shows, featuring; Canada Dry Sparklers - beautiful and talented dancers, precision Marchers - a colorful group performing precision drills for pre and half-time entertainment, Canada Dry Champange Girls - 50 marching and dancing girls, "Swinging Brass" Band - top flight entertainment featuring 14 trumpets and trombones, "Eilen Dodds" Majorets - colorful precision baton, flag and fire twirling, Ginger-Gymnastics by a remarkable acrobat, and many other acts. Wow... what fun. Don't bother heading off to the snack bar lineup or the bathrooms!

There is a full page ad for A&W's Chubby Chicken. This has nothing to do with football, but I'm a huge fan of the old A&W Drive-Inn restaurants and I love the name "Chubby Chicken", and the great logo that goes along with it. If you read the ad, it would seem that the little chicken mascot's name is actually "Chubby Chicken". Again, I doubt that this would have been created as a promotional character today with all our politically correctness.

Lastly, is an ad for the Hudson's Bay Company, and their "famous Canadian tradition... authentic Hudson's Bay Coats". I guess this sort of relates to CFL football, as the stadium in Edmonton is outdoors and you would free your backside off in November watching the Eskimos, so a "blanket coat" would be a must!
As a fan of logos and slogans, I always liked the promotional campaign of the late 90's which stated "The CFL - Radically Canadian!"