Sugar Bowl New Orleans 1969 in local advertising

by nolahistoryguy | Jan 1, 2021 | 1960s, Football, Tulane

Sugar Bowl New Orleans 1969 featured Arkansas v. Georgia.

Sugar Bowl New Orleans 1969

Advertising graphic for the 1969 edition of the Sugar Bowl. Arkansas played Georgia on January 1, 1969, in the Sugar Bowl. The teams played in Tulane Stadium. Georgia lost, 2 to 6.

Origins of the Sugar Bowl

By the 1930s, two of the four “original” bowl games played. The Tournament of Roses parade organization added a football game in 1902. So, in 1926, the city of Miami added football to New Year’s. Miami held  the “Fiesta of the American Tropics.” The name later changed to the “Palm Festival.” The football game was dubbed the “Orange Bowl.”

While Pasadena and Miami started early, New Orleans was not to be upstaged. Discussions about holding a New Year’s football game in New Orleans began after the second Orange Bowl in 1927. It took until 1935 for the game to come together. So, the festival and game became the “Sugar Bowl.”

Why Sugar Bowl?

The New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Association chose “Sugar” for their “Bowl.” While this  seems obvious, there was more to it. Given the region’s relationship with sugar cane farming, it makes sense. So, it looks like a no-brainer. Additionally, there was a specific connection between sugar and Tulane University, the site of the game. The Foucher Plantation became Tulane University in 1871. Etienne de Bore, Paul Foucher’s father-in-law, successfully granulated sugar on the plantation.

Tulane Stadium

The Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl stadiums bear the names of their signature events. Tulane Stadium provided the 100 yards for the Sugar Bowl. The university built the stadium in 1926. The stadium retained the school’s name. So, Tulane hosted the game from 1935 until 1975. The game moved to the Louisiana Superdome in 1976. The Sugar Bowl calls the Superdome home to this day. There was one exception. The city of Atlanta offered the Georgia Dome for the 2006 game. So, New Orleans struggled throughout the Fall of 2005, with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The city was unable to put on a major event in January, 2006. So, Atlanta stepped up, and the game returned to the Superdome the following year.

1969

The caption for this graphic reads:

B&W photo, January 1, 1969. Graphic advertisement for the annual Sugar Bowl Football Classic in New Orleans, La. Written on photo: The New Year’s Day game will pit Arkansas and Georgia in the 1p.m. contest at the 83,000 seat Sugar Bowl Stadium (Final score: Arkansas, 6- Georgia, 2).

The record for this graphic includes no mention of where it was published. The State Library of Louisiana owns the original.

Sugar Bowl 2021

The Allstate Sugar Bowl doubles as a College Football Playoff semi-final game in 2021.

Happy New Year!