WBEN & The Whammy

This past Christmas my brother gave me a really cool book which details the history of my favorite football team from its inception up to their 50th anniversary in 2009.  It's called the Buffalo Bills Football Vault and is filled with great photos along with reproductions of various Bills-related memorabilia including ticket stubs, bumper stickers, schedules, team newsletters, trading cards, posters and much more.

The one item that brought back the most memories was a hex-wielding "Whammy" which was a "two sided, hand-held buffalo symbol possessing supernatural powers, used to cheer on the home team with one side and doom the opposition to defeat with the other side."  They were available only at Bells grocery stores and had the station logo from WBEN radio who were apparently sponsors of the promotion.  "Newsradio 930" WBEN is a News/Talk station in Buffalo, NY.

Anyone who lived in western New York in the early 1980s remembers the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce's "Talking Proud" campaign whose song will be forever burned in my brain.