Currently Out-of-Print.

The Golden Years

The story of the
BEE HIVE GOLDEN CORN SYRUP
Hockey Picture Promotion 1934-1968
A book by
Don Pillar & Aubrey Ferguson

“They used to have Bee Hive Corn Syrup and I collected the labels. If you sent away for them you would get a picture of the hockey player of your choice. They were nice pictures, and a pretty good size, about six by four. I’d say I did pretty well collecting those labels out of people’s garbage on my delivery route. With only 120 players in the league, I had 180 pictures.

… when we made our first trip to Toronto, the guy who used to take photos for the Bee Hive Corn Syrup cards had me pose for my very first card. While I was there I looked around and asked: ‘Is this where Syl Apps and those guys have their pictures taken?’ He replied ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘Then you won’t have to ask me to smile!’”

Gordie Howe in And… Howe!: An Authorized Biography


Sample Pages


Authors

Don Pillar (left) of Port McNicoll, Ontario, is a graduate of both York University and University of Toronto, and a retired teacher. His first publication was also a history book, Out of the Limelight: A History of Marble Mountain, Cape Breton.

Aubrey Ferguson (right) of Oakville, Ontario, is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, and a retired consumer marketer / businessman. Both Pillar and Ferguson are members of the Society for International Hockey Research. sihrhockey.org

The authors first met in March 2000 with Don’s visit to a “fellow Bee Hive collector in Peterborough”, where Aubrey and his family were living at the time. While it was obvious from their first encounter that they shared a mutual passion for both Bee Hive collecting and hockey history, little did they know that two decades later a detailed chronicle of the Bee Hive picture promotion, written from their combined perspective, would emerge.

While Don and Aubrey are pleased and proud of having accomplished their goal of writing a history of the Bee Hive hockey picture promotion, “the simple truth is, we wrote this book more for ourselves than anyone else. We simply wanted to piece together everything that we’ve learned about the Bee Hive picture promotion and to share it with like-minded collectors.”

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What they’re saying.

… sensational!!!! Extraordinary research and brilliant design. – Kevin Shea (Kevin is the award-winning author of 17 hockey books, and has been a recognized hockey historian for the last 20 years.)

Great quality book, super informative… a hobby revelation! Bobby Burrell (Bobby is a noted hockey historian and author of the Vintage Hockey Collector Price Guide.

… lavishly-illustrated… The attention to detail is astounding – Greg Oliver (Greg is a contributor to the SIHR website, and author of seven books on professional wrestling, and six books on hockey.

The book is glorious! Loving this walk back into my youth.Dave Stubbs. (Dave is a columnist and historian with the National Hockey League since February 2016, writing and producing multimedia features and news for NHL.com.)

Winner of the SIHR 2021 Paul Kitchen Award

On Saturday, May 15 2021 at the annual meeting of the Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) the authors of The Golden Years were selected to receive the Paul Kitchen Award for the best hockey research project produced during the previous calendar year.


SOLD OUT

The entire original print run of The Golden Years has been sold. Of course, as the book’s authors, we’re delighted it is now in the hands of so many… but we don’t want to disappoint anyone, if we can avoid it. So we’re investigating a reissue of The Golden Years through a “Print On Demand” publisher.

The updated Golden Years reissue will be softcover, otherwise similar to the initial book; pricing will be determined once a publisher is confirmed. If you are interested in learning more about The Golden Years reissue, please complete the form and we’ll get back to you just as soon as we have more information.

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