A co-worker of mine was complaining to me yesterday about how ESPN's morning show seems to be devoting at least ten minutes of every program to stories about Peyton Manning. He went on to say that while he has nothing against Manning per se, he also has no particular desire to hear about Peyton every morning.
Welcome to the wonderful world of the off season, that wondrous time when news flows like an Alaskan glacier and everyone seems to be recounting the same story with slightly different spins. I thought for this edition of Little Known Broncos Facts, I would take a look at a slightly different topic: Broncos souvenirs.
You might recall -- especially if you have read Denver Broncos: The Complete Illustrated History by Jim Saccomano, that the Broncos were very cash-strapped in the first few years of their existence. In fact, the entire paid attendance for the fourteen games of Denver's first season was 91,333 (that works out to an average of 6524 fans per game). This being the case, it should come as no surprise that the franchise decided to offer souvenirs to those fans in attendance.
Let's take a jump and see what the team sold during those first couple of seasons.
Souvenir | 1960 | 2012(proj) | 2012(act) |
Picture Pennant (a good picture of the squad mounted on a pennant) | $1.00 | $7.68 | $14.95 (no picture) |
Boys' and Men's T-shirt* | $1.00 & $1.25 | $7.68 & $9.60 | $17.95 & 17.95 |
Boys' and Men's Sweatshirt | $4.95 | $38.02 | $24.95 & $49.95 |
Bobbing Bronco Football Fella | $1.00 | $7.68 | $5.95 |
Broncos Cushion (Plastic) | $0.50 | $3.84 | $24.95 |
Broncos Iron-on Patches | $0.25 | $1.92 | No direct equivalent |
Broncos Tie Tac | $0.50 | $3.84 | $14.95 (decorative pin) |
Broncos Key Chain | $1.00 | $7.68 | $3.95 |
Broncos Key Chain with Pen Knife | $1.25 | $9.60 | No direct equivalent |
*Apologies to the ladies, there were no t-shirts nor sweatshirts listed for you.
Sadly, I was unable to find pictures of these original souvenirs. In any event, I hope you enjoyed this very brief and somewhat whimsical look back -- and perhaps, after reading those prices, you are now longing somewhat for the "good old days." Or maybe you prefer modern souvenirs, like the foam head pictured at the top of this article.
GO BRONCOS!!!!