Toronto Argonauts Media Guides

to 1975

The Toronto Argonauts have traditionally had amongst the best media guides in the CFL. Aside from a few brutal publications in the early-mid 1980s, and a bit of confusion in the 1990s, the Argos media guides are a valuable source of information on the team history. Unllike some other teams, which have had remarkably consistent media guide contents (e.g. Hamilton), the regular ownership turnover of the team has led to a rather varried array of formats from the mid-1960s to the present, as each new regime brings in its own media team to try to make the Toronto media give two hoots about the franchise.

I ultimately hope to list all of the media guides and their contents here. Last time I checked, the Hall of Fame Giftshop in Hamilton still had a decent stock of 1990s Argo Media Guides, at $3.00 each.

View the Argonauts media guides from 1976 onward.

I have broken this into two files, as this is just starting to become unwieldy.

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame has copies of Argonaut fact books from 1958, 1959 and 1960. All of these were sponsored by Molson's, and are generally not much more than 20 pages in length. The 1959 and 1960 guides are in the same "tall" format as the 1961 guide, but the 1958 brochure is somewhat less tall. I have yet to see any Argonaut guides from 1957 or earlier, although I suspect that some may exist. (The Varsity Blues began producing 8 1/2" x 11" mimeographed football media guides no later than 1954, so I would suspect that the Argos may have done something similar.)

1961

Staple Bound, 20 pages (unpaginated), 10.5 cm x 22.8 cm

Contents as follows:

Incidental Information (Inside Front Cover)
Foreword(p. 1)
Front Office and Coaches (pp. 2-8)
Travel Itinerary (p. 9)
1961 Team Roster (pp. 10-11)
Player Biographies (pp. 12-17)
All-Time Statistical Leaders: Scoring, Rushing, Receiving, Passing (pp. 18-19)
1960 Team Statistics (pp. 19-20)
1961 Schedule (Inside Back Cover)
Quarterback Club (Back Cover)

Very similar in formatting and scope to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats fact books of this era. The 1962 Argo guide was virtually identical in format.

The 1963 forms a lacuna in the Hall of Fame's collection of Argonaut media guides, and I do not have my own copy of this issue. If you have an extra copy and are in a generous spirit, please contact the Hall of Fame regarding making a donation. As the Hall of Fame does not pay for items, I would be willing to purchase a 1963 guide from you if you require money for it, and I shall subsequently make that copy available to the Hall of Fame as required. (The same offer applies to the 1969 guide.)

1964

Staple Bound, 24 pages (unpaginated), 10.2 cm x 22.0 cm

Contents as follows:

Front Office(pp. 1-5)
1964 CFL Schedule (p. 6)
1963 Argo Statistics (pp. 7-9)
EFC Records (pp. 9-11)
1964 Argonaut Roster (pp. 12-13)
Player Biographies (pp. 14-23)
1963 All-Stars (p. 24)

American Airlines' first year of sponsoring the media guide, there was not any marked improvement over the previous years, although photographs of the star players--lacking in a few of the earlier guides--were included.

1965

Staple Bound, 64 pages, 10.0cm x 17.75 cm

Contents as follows:

Front Office (pp. 4-9)
Local Media (p. 10)
Argonaut Records (pp. 11-13)
EFC Records (pp. 13-16)
CFL Records (pp. 17-20)
1964 Statistics (pp. 20-24)
Argonaut Band (p. 25)
Attendance (p. 26)
Schenley Awards (p. 27)
Team Standings, 1930-1946 (pp. 28-29)
Birthdays/All Stars (pp. 30-31)
1964 Game Participation (p. 32)
Argoettes (p. 33)
Roster (pp. 34-35)
Passing Leaders, 1954-1964 (pp. 36-37)
Player Biographies (pp. 38-58)
Jeff Russel Trophy (p. 59)
All-time Roster, 1945-1964 (pp. 60-63)
1964 CFL Scores (pp. 64-65)
1965 CFL Schedule (p. 66)

This media guide marked the first attempt by the Argonauts to go beyond the "roster guide" format. The player biographies and statistics are of course present, but an all-time (since 1945) roster makes its first appearance, as does the detailed record manual. At the time, only Montreal had produced a guide of this scale. The first attempt was made at compiling an all-time roster, although it stretched back only to 1945.

1966

Staple bound, 96 pages, 12.75 cm x 17.75 cm

Contents as follows:

Front office/Club directory (pp. 2-7)
Player Biographies (pp. 9-28)
1965 Game Summaries (pp. 29-33)
1965 CFL Rosters, as at November 1 (pp. 33-36)
The College Draft, 1958-1966 (pp. 37-47)
Roster (pp. 48-49)
Argo Game and Season Results, 1921-1965 (pp. 50-60)
Individual Statistics, 1930/1954-1966 (pp. 61-82)
Record Manual (pp. 83-85)
1965 Game Participation (pp. 86-87)
Travel Itinerary (p. 87)
Attendance (p. 88)
All-Stars (p. 89)
All-time Roster, 1930-1965 (pp. 90-95)
1966 Pre-season Schedule (p. 95)
1966 CFL Schedule (p. 96)

CFTO took over the sponsorship of the guide, and continued to expand it. Game results were given back to 1930, and the all-time roster was also taken back to that date. Reprinted individual lifetime statistics of Argo players, broken down by offensive category, for the top-15 in most categories; scoring results go back to 1930, other offensive statistics begin at 1954.

1967

Staple bound, 96 pages, 12.75 cm x 17.75 cm

Contents as follows:

Front office/Club directory (pp. 2-8)
Player Biographies--Veterans (pp. 9-27)
Player Biographies--Rookies (pp. 28-30)
1966 Game Summaries (pp. 31-34)
Argo Game and Season Results, 1921-1966 (pp. 35-47)
Roster (pp. 48-50)
1967 CFL Schedule (p. 51)
All-time Roster, 1921-1966 (pp. 52-57)
Coaching Records (p. 58)
1967 Pre-season Schedule (p. 58)
All-Stars (p. 59)
Attendance (p. 60)
1966 Game Participation (pp. 61-62)
1967 Itinerary (p. 62)
Record Manual (pp. 63-65)
Misc. Award Winners (pp. 66-67)
Individual Statistics, 1930/1954-1966 (pp. 68-96)

Second and final year of CFTO-TV's sponsorship of the media guide. Similar to 1966, but the all-time roster and game results were taken back to 1921.

1968

Staple bound, 64 pages, 12.75cm x 17.75cm

Contents as follows:

Front Office/Club Directory (pp. 2-6)
Player Biographies (pp. 7-18)
Season Standings, 1921-1967 (pp. 19-20)
All-time Records vs. Opponents (pp. 20-21)
1968 CFL Schedule (p. 22)
All-time Roster, 1921-1967 (pp. 23-28)
All Stars (p. 29)
Attendance (p. 30)
1968 Itinerary (p. 31)
1968 Roster (pp. 32-33)
Coaching Records (p. 34)
Team Records (pp. 35-37)
Individual Statistics, 1930/1954-1967 (pp. 38-64)

With the lack of a sponsor, the media guide was reduced in size by some thirty-two pages.

The 1969 media guide has yet to be seen by myself--it is one of the very few copies of the Argo guides that the Canadian Football Hall of Fame does not have in its library, and that I have not encountered in my travels.

1970

Staple bound, 68 pages, 12.5cm x 17.5cm

Contents as follows:

Front Office (pp. 2-8)
Argo History (p. 9)
1970 Schedule (p. 10)
Ticket Information (p. 11)
Rosters (pp. 12-14)
Player Biographies (pp. 15-29)
All-time Roster, 1921-1969 (pp. 30-37)
All Stars (p. 38)
Attendance (p. 39)
Argo Playback Club/Miss Argo 1969 (pp. 40-41)
Radio (p. 42)
Argo "A" Club (p. 43)
Ontario Junior Football Conference (p. 44)
1969 Team Statistics (pp. 45-47)
Club Records (pp. 48-61)
Argos v. Opposition (p. 62)
League Directory (p. 63)
1969 League Results and All Stars (pp. 64-66)
1970 CFL Schedule (pp. 67-68)

1971

Staple bound, 80 pages, 12.5 cm x 17.5 cm

Contents as follows:

Club Directory (p.2)
Front Office (pp. 3-10)
Argonaut History (p. 11)
Schedule and Itinerary (p. 12)
Ticket Information (p. 13)
Attendance (p. 14)
Roster (pp. 15-17)
Player Biographies (pp. 18-31; 33-39)
College Draft (p. 32)
Team Awards (pp. 40-41)
Halftime Argos (p. 42)
Radio (p. 43)
Playback Club (p. 44)
All-Stars (p. 45)
All-time Roster, 1921-1970 (pp. 46-53)
All-Argonaut Team, 1921-1951 (pp. 54-55)
Argo "A" Club (p. 56)
Ontraio Junior Football Conference (p. 57)
1970 Statistics (pp. 58-60)
Record Manual (pp. 61-74)
Miss Argo, 1970 (p. 74)
Coaching Records (p. 75)
CFL Directory (p. 76)
1970 CFL Scores and All-Stars (pp. 77-78)
1971 CFL Schedule (pp. 79-80)

The 1972 media guide cover is similar, but a white background replaces the blue.

1973

Staple bound, 80 pages, 12.5 cm x 17.5 cm

Contents as follows:

Club Directory (p.2)
Front Office (pp. 3-11)
Argonaut History (p. 12)
Schedule and Itinerary (p. 13)
Ticket Information (p. 14)
Attendance (p. 15)
Roster (pp. 16-19)
1972 Team Photo (p. 20)
College Draft (p. 21)
Player Biographies (pp. 22-39)
Toronto Media (p. 41)
Team Awards (pp. 42)
Radio (p. 43)
Playback Club (p. 44)
All-Stars (p. 45)
All-time Roster, 1921-1971 (pp. 46-53)
Ontario Amateur Football Assn. (p. 54)
Ontraio Junior Football Conference (p. 55)
Argo "A" Club (p. 56)
1972 Statistics (pp. 58-60)
Record Manual (pp. 61-73)
Miss Argo, 1970 (p. 73)
Coaching Records (p. 74)
CFL Directory (p. 75)
Canadian Football Hall of Fame (p. 76)
1972 CFL Scores and All-Stars (pp. 77-78)
1973 CFL Schedule (pp. 79-80)

1974

Staple bound, 80 pages, 12.5 cm x 17.25 cm

Club Directory (p. 2)
Front Office (pp. 4-10)
Schedule and itinerary (p. 11)
Ticket Information (p. 12)
Attendance figures (p. 13)
Team history (p. 15)
"The Argo Stalwarts", by Ted Reeve (p. 16)
All-time All Star Team (p. 17-18)
Team Photo (p. 20)
Player Biographies (pp. 21-38)
Rosters and depth chart (pp. 40-42)
Playback Club (p. 44)
Shopsy MVP Award (p. 47)
All-stars (p. 48)
All-time Roster, 1921-1973 (pp. 49-56)
Ontario Amateur Football Assoc. (p. 57)
Ontario Football Conference (p. 58)
1973 statistics (pp. 59-60)
Club Records, 1907-1973 (pp. 61-74)
Miss Argonaut (p. 74)
Argos all-time record vs. CFL teams/Argo coaching records (p. 75)
League Directory (p. 76)
1973 CFL final scores (p. 77)
1973 Award winners and all-star teams (p.78)
1974 Schedule (pp. 79-80)

The 1974 edition cleans up the typeface from the 1970-73 format and generally looks more professional that its immediate predecessors. Note that the top photo on the cover is actually of Smirle Lawson as a Varsity player, against McGill in 1909!

1975

Staple bound, 80 pages, 12.5 cm x 17.25 cm

Club Directory (p. 2)
Front Office (pp. 4-11)
Ticket Information (p. 12)
All-time All Star Team (p. 14)
All Stars (p. 15)
Team Photo (p. 16)
1974 Statistics (pp. 17-18)
Player Biographies (pp. 19-32)
Ontario Amateur Football Assoc. (p. 33)
Playback Club (p. 35)
Shopsy MVP Award (p. 38)
Depth Chart and Rosters (pp. 39-42)
Ontario Football Conference (p. 43)
Club Records, 1907-1974 (pp. 44-59)
Team Leaders, 1954-1974 (pp. 61-64)
Seasonal Standings (pp. 65-66)
Miss Argonaut (p. 67)
All-time Roster, 1921-1974 (pp. 68-76)
League Directory (p. 78)
1975 Schedule (pp. 79-80)

View the Argonauts media guides from 1976 onward.

This page maintained by Ian Speers.
Last updated: 9 August 2001.
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