Football-Watching Tips from Employers' Mutual

In 1951, Employers' Mutual of Wausau (later Wausau Insurance) published a small, 32-page booklet by Irwin Rickel, who gave tips on how to watch the sport of football. In the forward, the then head coach of UCLA, Henry "Red" Sanders, stated that it was "the best football booklet of its kind I have ever seen both from a standpoint of authenticity and in its manner of presentation."

The main point the booklet tries to explain, is the difference between types of plays and formations one should expect to see when watching a game. Today's football fan probably would not need (for example) a breakdown between the "T formation" and the "single wing" provided in the book, in part because the game has evolved beyond those distinctions. But this was a time when games were not widely broadcasted to American televisions, and the game had yet to become the national pastime it has become. And so Rickel's booklet sought to give fans the means of better understanding the game, and hopefully recruit new fans to the sport by explaining the finer points on how it was played.

To me, the interesting part of the whole thing is that it was published by Employers' Mutual of Wausau. At no point in the booklet's 32 pages does it even mention insurance or what Employers' Mutual does. Maybe I've been conditioned by modern advertisements, but I keep expecting to see some cleaver line trying to sell me insurance. Something that says, "if your company is looking for an easy touchdown, you should talk to one of our representatives about an Employers Mutual liability policy!"

But it never does. The cover has a small "compliments of Employers Mutuals of Wausau" and their logo appears on the back cover. That's it.

Maybe they were just really interested in football at Employers' Mutual in 1951 and wanted to spred their love of the game to new fans.