Reprinted annually by London Life, starting no later than 1949 and continuing until at least 1954, this booklet gave an introduction to the rules of "Rugby Football" to those who had never experiences the game, except on radio. Quite a basic work, although it has some interesting comments on strategy in the immediate post-war era of football.
The issues of 1949 and 1951 (virtually identical in content, though the inside covers of both have been re-set and updated to allow for changed penalty applications) are identified by a simple notation of "H19-1949" (or "H19-1951", as appropriate) in the lower right-hand corner of the (otherwise blank) back cover. The 1953 issue (the first I know of calles "Football for Radio Listeners", and entirely re-set and re-illustrated from the 49-51 issue) has "H 19 7-53" in the lower left-hand corner of the back cover, but is more readily identified by the 1953 (Ontario-Quebec) Intercollegiate Schedule on the back cover, and the list of Intercollegiate champions from 1898 to 1952 on the inside back cover. (Does a separate issue perhaps exist for the "Big Four" teams???) I am aware of another issue with a different cover from 1954, although I have repeatedly been outbid on eBay each time it comes up and would thus appreciate any details.
I would think that there is reason to suspect the existence of separate reprints in 1950 and 1952, although I have seen a number of different copies of the earlier issues, all from 1949 or 1951, thus it is possible that this bookelt was only printed in alternate years prior to 1953.
How to Watch and Enjoy Football
by Joe Krol
A more systematic attempt than London Life's to introduce listeners and viewers to the game, pages 2 to 13 provide an overview of how the game is played, with play and position charts. Page 14 is a summary of penalty signals, and the final two pages give a glossary of terms. Was originally distributed with a single sheet covering letter, on O'Keefe House letterhead.
Northern Electric Annual
1954 and 1956 Northern Electric booklets.
Dow Big Four Record Manuals
The first edition of this record book was issued in 1955, and ran about 32 pages. The 1956 record book, however, was far longer, and has all official statistics, all stars and game scores of the IRFU from 1930 to 1955, as well as team directories, historical sketches, etc. (One must remember that offensive statistics were not kept officially until 1954. All years prior to that date have little more than individual scoring statistics.) An absolutely unavoidable resource for those trying to undertake research into eastern Canada football in the thirties, forties or early-fifties. For the 1957 manual, the publishers inserted a 16-page summary of the previous season into surplus copies of the 1956 manual; a large sticker was affixed to the cover of all such manuals.
Dow also issued assorted schedules and promotional literature for the IRFU in the mid-1950s, in both English, French and bilingual editions. I have yet to see enough of these to catalogue them properly. I do not believe that the Big Four record manual was produced on this scale much after 1957. (Annual statistical results have been seen, but nothing giving all of the results back to 1930.)
Shell Oil IRFU/SIFL Schedule Booklets
Small booklets produced from 1957 to 1959 by Shell Oil, containing a very basic overview of the rules of football, with the year's schedule attached to the back cover. Produced in both English and French in each year (I have yet to see a French issue of the 1957 schedule, but would suspect its existence). The 1957 English schedule has the title "1957 CANADIAN / FOOTBALL SCHEDULE". The (1958 and 1959) French issues have only "FOOTBALL" instead of "FOOTBALL SCHEDULE" on the front cover. Green and black ink are used on the inside pages in 1957; 1959 used blue and black ink.
In 1957, the schedule component consistes of a four-page centrespread insert, giving the schedules of the Big Four, ORFU, WIFU, (Ontario-Quebec) Senior Intercollegiate, and the "Evergreen Conference" (UBC). The 1959 schedule is simply a detachable card folding out from the inside back cover, giving just the Big Four and Senior Intercollegiate schedules. (I do not have the 1958 schedule, and thus cannot describe it!) The copyright date on these booklets is 1957, thus there is unlikely to be anything preceding the 1957 issue.
I seem to recall seeing somewhere that either Shell and/or Imperial Oil produced a folding schedule card for a few seasons into the 1960s (I believe that many of us have seen the later B/A schedules from the mid-1960s), but I do not have confirmation of this.
The Canadian Football League Story
An official publication of the Leauge, apparently aimed at the US College recruits to draw imports into Canada. Most of the book is dedicated to descriptions of the CFL markets, in addition to testimonials from the likes of George Dixon, Jim Trimble, Dick Shatto, Bernie Faloney and Kenny Ploen. Includes photographs of all stadia in the league as they appeared in 1964, but perhaps more importantly includes a builder's model image of the proposed Montreal Ville D'Anjou Stadium, which has been virtually expunged from the official history of the CFL in Montreal. Rather interesting to social-sport historians to see how the CFL tried to draw people away from the NFL-AFL mess in the US.
My copy had a single sheet insert in the centrespread, describing the 1965 Grey Cup and giving the 1966 team rosters.
Official Record Manual
I hope some day to get enough of these manuals together to do an exhaustive cataloguing of them, but will have to make due with the following for now. The individual conferences had been responsible for publishing their own record manuals up to 1965. Beginning in the 1966 season, the CFL compiled its own record manual, combining the records of the East since 1954 and the West since 1950. The first two issues were pure record manuals, and had virtually no information on the previous season; rosters were included in the back. In 1968, the manual took on the further role of giving all the statistics and game results of the previous season. The Official Record Manual underwent a few changes between 1969 and 1984, and was replaced in 1985 by the Facts, Figures and Records publication, which is still published annually.