Episode 4
The People's Game
Feature Stories
'Beehives' Create A Big Buzz
What started as a simple marketing scheme turned into a collectibles phenomenon that produced some of the most enduring artifacts in hockey history.Seeking to increase sales, the St. Lawrence Starch Company of Port Credit, Ont., in 1934 began a promotion in which customers could send in labels from its various products, including Durham Corn Starch, St. Lawrence Oil and Bee Hive Golden Syrup, and in return receive small mounted black-and-white photos featuring various NHL players. The photographs, taken by the famous Rice Studios in Montreal and the Turofsky brothers in Toronto, sometimes came autographed by the player.
Most fans procured their cards with proofs of purchase from containers of Bee Hive syrup, leading collectors to call the cards "Beehives."
Most avid collectors were children, many of whom would wait eagerly for up to four weeks for the pictures of their heroes to arrive in the mail. On some days, as many as 2,500 of the familiar brown envelopes containing the cards were sent out across Canada.
Apart from a slight design change in 1964 that upset many collectors, the promotion remained wildly popular for 33 years, during which over a thousand players posed for the cards. However, the "Beehive" phenomenon came to an abrupt end in 1967 when the newly formed NHL Players Association demanded a bigger cut for the use of its members' images. What was left of the supply of cards remained available for a few months, but no new prints were made.
The resulting scarcity turned the cards into collector's items. Those featuring common players can fetch an average of $5 each, while older photos can command between $10 and $25. The most expensive and rare card, featuring a photograph of Cy Wentworth in a Montreal Canadiens uniform, is valued at $8,000.
Bee Hive Cards, Courtesy of Rev. Goodhand
