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Refrigerator Bowl (defunct)
StadiumReitz Bowl
Location Evansville, Indiana
United States
Operated1948–1956

The Refrigerator Bowl was an American college football bowl game played annually from 1948 until 1956 in Evansville, Indiana.

The game was held at the Reitz Bowl, located at F. J. Reitz High School on the west side of Evansville. The stadium opened in 1919, has been renovated several times, and remains in use today as a venue for high school football. [1]

The Refrigerator Bowl was founded as part of a post-1945 bowl boom featuring a number of short-lived games emulating the better-known contests established before World War II: the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange, and Sun bowls. Like their predecessors, the new bowls were sponsored by chambers of commerce and civic organizations to promote and publicize various cities and their goods or services. Evansville at the time took pride in being known as the "refrigerator capital of the United States." In the postwar years, the city was home to three refrigerator manufacturers employing 10,000 workers, and produced 3,800 refrigerators per day. [2]

The Evansville Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) was responsible for running the game. Proceeds from it were used "to help support worthy youth charities" in the city. The most outstanding player of the Refrigerator Bowl received the William A. Carson Award, [3] and the YMCA's Camp Carson was the game's primary beneficiary. [4] Both were named after a prominent local businessman.

The Refrigerator Bowl was distinctive among the new post-World War II bowls in being contested on the first weekend in December rather than on or around New Years Day. And whereas most of its peers discontinued play by 1950, some after just a year or two, it survived well into the new decade. While the first two Refrigerator Bowls featured the local university, Evansville, the game ultimately attracted teams from as far away as Idaho and Rhode Island. At the time, the bowl's participants were all considered "small college" programs, but six of them eventually grew to compete at the highest level of the sport, in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.

The 1956 contest attracted just 3,000 fans, less than a third of the bowl's peak attendance, putting the future of the game in doubt. In late August 1957, the Jaycees finally announced the demise of the Refrigerator Bowl, citing "the lack of public support" and failure to find a sponsor for the event. [5] That same year, the city's largest manufacturer of refrigerators, the Servel Corporation, went bankrupt and closed its plant, [6] signaling the beginning of the end of the city's golden age as "the refrigerator capital of the United States."

Game results

Date played Winning team Losing team Attendance [7] Notes
December 4, 1948 Evansville 13 Missouri Valley 7 7,500 [8]
December 3, 1949 Evansville 22 Hillsdale 7 5,500–6,000 [9] [10] [11] [12]
December 2, 1950 Abilene Christian 13 Gustavus Adolphus 7 7,500–8,000 [13] [14] [15] [16]
December 2, 1951 Arkansas State 46 Camp Breckinridge 12 9,000 [17] [18] [19]
December 7, 1952 Western Kentucky 34 Arkansas State 19 9,500 [20]
December 6, 1953 Sam Houston State 14 College of Idaho 12 8,500 [21]
December 5, 1954 Delaware 19 Kent State 7 4,500 [22] [23]
December 4, 1955 Jacksonville State 12 Rhode Island 10 6,000 [24] [25]
December 1, 1956 Sam Houston State 27 Middle Tennessee 13 3,000 [26]

References

  1. ^ "Reitz Bowl". March 23, 2013.
  2. ^ "History Lesson: Refrigerator Bowl At Reitz High School". The Courier & Press. February 26, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Refrigerator Bowl Game Is Dead". The Evansville Courier. August 31, 1957. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "History Lesson: Refrigerator Bowl At Reitz High School". The Courier & Press. February 26, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Refrigerator Bowl Game Is Dead". The Evansville Courier. August 31, 1957. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Overview of Servel plant in Evansville, Indiana".
  7. ^ "Refrigerator Bowl Game Is Dead". The Evansville Courier. August 31, 1957. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Missouri Valley's Streak Of 41 Grid Wins Snapped". The Hartford Courant. December 5, 1948.
  9. ^ "Pleasant Weather Predicted for Hillsdale-Evansville Bowl Battle Today". The Evansville Courier. Evansville, Indiana. December 3, 1949. p. 8. Retrieved March 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  10. ^ Robertson, Bill (December 4, 1949). "Evansville's Air Attack Wins Bowl Tilt". The Sunday Courier and Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 1. Retrieved March 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  11. ^ Robertson, Bill (December 4, 1949). "Aces Defeat Hilldale In 22-7 Triller (continued)". The Sunday Courier and Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 2. Retrieved March 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  12. ^ "Evansville On Top, 22-7; Pins First Defeat on Hillsdale in Refrigerator Bowl". The New York Times. December 4, 1949.
  13. ^ Robertson, Bill (December 2, 1950). "Abilene Eleven Is Favored In Big Bowl Game". The Evansville Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 6. Retrieved July 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  14. ^ Robertson, Bill (December 3, 1950). "Abilene Captures Bowl Game, 13-7 Before 7,000 Fans". The Sunday Courier and Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 1. Retrieved July 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  15. ^ Robertson, Bill (December 3, 1950). "Bowl Game (continued)". The Sunday Courier and Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 2. Retrieved July 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  16. ^ "Abilene Christian Wins Refrigerator Bowl Tilt in Rain". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. AP. December 3, 1950. p. 2-B. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Arkansas State Team Ready for Bowl Today". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. Associated Press. December 2, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved January 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  18. ^ Middlemas, Larry (December 3, 1951). "Arkansas State Bombs Camp Breckenridge Eleven, 46-12". The Evansville Courier. Evansville, Indiana. p. 10. Retrieved January 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  19. ^ "Arkansas State Wins Refrigerator Bowl". The Washington Post. December 3, 1951.
  20. ^ Robertson, Bill (December 8, 1952). "Powerful Western Kentucky Dethrones Arkansas State, 34-19". The Evansville Press. Evansville, Indiana. p. 18. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  21. ^ "Safety wins for Sam Houston in muddy bowl". Evansville Press. December 7, 1953. Retrieved January 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Cartwright, Al (December 6, 1954). "Delaware Rally Conquers Kent State Foe and Thrills Refrigerator Bowl Territory". Journal-Every Evening. Wilmington, Del. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Delaware Beats Kent State, 19-7; Wins in Refrigerator Bowl as Zaiser Scores Twice in Fourth Period". The New York Times. December 6, 1954.
  24. ^ "Rhode Island Loses Refrigerator Bowl Duel To Jacksonville, Ala., State, 12-10". The Hartford Courant. December 5, 1955.
  25. ^ "Jacksonville rips Rhode Island, 12–10". The Evansville Courier. December 5, 1955. Retrieved December 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Sam Houston defeats Middle Tenn. 27–13". The Paducah Sun. December 2, 1956. Retrieved January 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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