The attendance for the Ice Bowl was 50,861 fans, which was 9 over the capacity of Lambeau Field at that time.
That's a lot of beer and a lot of brats. And they didn't have the heat warmers and such that we have today. Of course, the live experience was so far superior to the tv experience back then as well where as today we have tilted to to the tv experience being pretty fabulous.
One of the old guys who used to sit near us at Lambeau who was at the Ice Bowl told me they made make-shift personal heaters using an empty coffee can, some oil and a roll of toilet paper. I've heard that from more than a few people - maybe
@Alex P Keaton 's dad can confirm. Obviously something that wouldn't be allowed today or any time in the last several decades.
My dad doesn’t have an exceptional memory anymore at his age, but here were his recollections:
- people were trying to burn various things in the aisles/steps to stay warm. “There was a lot of crazy #### going on that day.”
- men were removing their snow pants and cutting them into strips to wrap around their wives/girlfriends’ feet/ankles. “Some women actually wore heels to the game. Can you believe that? I don’t know what the hell they were out on the prowl for.”
- some of his friends who were massively drunk got frostbite because their brains didn’t realize how cold their bodies were. “My buddy and I didn’t drink a drop of beer or liquor because I thought if we did we might die.”
Glad to have called my pops. He launched into a few stories I hadn’t fully heard before:
- was in the army at Ft Lee (Virginia) and drove with 4 other guys to be at the game. They almost got killed in a massive car accident in Pennsylvania on the way.
- Ken Bowman, the Packer center who just died, never got much credit for blocking on the final play according to my dad. “Bowman was a really good player and a super nice guy. He used to shop at your grandfather’s grocery store and was always the most polite, friendly guy.”
- Jerry Kramer, according to my dad, was always an ###hole and took all the credit for clearing a path for Starr on the final play. “He was always a ****. We saw him around town, at the bars, giant ego. Never liked him.”
There was more rambling and I stopped taking notes. My dad used to drink with Max McGee, I think dated his daughter (or another player’s — will have to get the details). So many people who grew up in Green Bay during that era have stories about hanging out with the team. Pretty hard to imagine in this day and age. Further aside on Ken Bowman, who became a lawyer in GB — he was friends with my FIL, who was a local judge. FIL also said he was a class act “not like many others on the team who were booze hounds.” Lol.
/tangent