Introducing My Cubs Game Day Programs Collection

 Take a look at my latest project - the Cubs game programs from 1981 through 2019.

 

My collection already includes Cubs schedules from 1961, media guides starting with 1958, and scorecards going back to 1948.  The missing piece has been programs.  There is a good reason for their exclusion, though.  The Cubs didn't have real programs for many years.

From 1948 through 1981, the scorecard was the program.  That's what is says on the top, "Official Program."  It wasn't much of a program, though as it was just a cover, scorecard, one page of information, and the back.  I remember as a kid going to White Sox games and getting their large game program.  It was a book filled with information about the players.  The Cubs program seemed pretty inadequate compared to what the Sox put out.

 

Dallas Green must have felt the same way as me.  When he took over as GM for the 1982 season, the Cubs started putting out a game program in addition to the scorecard.  Each year until 2009 the team produced two to four different editions of the program.  A new, smaller program, Scorecard Extra, replaced the program in 2010.

 I bought several programs a few months back as part of my quest for team-issued cards.  That led me to find more programs on Ebay.  I decided to go all-in and attempt to get one of each of the various editions of the 1981 - 2009 programs.  The quest has been pretty successful as you can see from the picture.

My research has come up with a total of 107 different programs over those years.  The total includes special programs for post-season games.  I've been able to obtain 98 of them thus far.  None of the missing programs are currently listed on Ebay.  My plan is to snag them as they become available.

 I'll be posting information these over the next several days, breaking the posts up by the different incarnations of the programs.