The Tonawanda Kardex (also known as the Tonawanda Lumbermen and during its first season, the All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team active between 1916 and 1921. It played its games in

Tonawanda, New York Tonawanda (formally ''City of Tonawanda'') is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,130 at the 2010 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal ( Tonawanda Creek) from North To ...

, a suburb of Buffalo with close ties to

North Tonawanda, New York North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 31,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its south b ...

where American Kardex was founded. The team is most notable for its one game as a member of the American Professional Football Association in 1921 (now the National Football League), the shortest-lived team in the league's history.

Early history

Professional football was being played in Tonawanda by no later than 1913 (this ''

terminus ad quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...

'' comes from records that show the team lost to the Lancaster Malleables in the region's showcase Thanksgiving game that year). They played their home games on the Tonawanda High School field, sometimes drawing up to 3,500 fans for a game. For the team's entire history, it was coached by Syracuse standout Walter "Tam" Rose. In 1917, it defeated the

Rochester Jeffersons The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played from 1898 to 1925, including play in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925. History Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of t ...

for the state championship. In 1919, it made the state playoffs but lost in the semifinals to the Buffalo Prospects, who went on to win the title. The 1920 ''All Tonawanda Lumberjacks'' were a very successful team, garnering a record of 7–1 against two local ''American Professional Football Association'' (the predecessor to the NFL) franchises and other independent teams, only allowing more than 6 points in one of their contests (the one loss, a 35–0 decision to Buffalo). Their last game of the season against the

was among the first games in the traditional Thanksgiving Day series.

Tonawanda in the APFA

Former American Kardex Company, Tonawanda, New York - 20211123

With their 1920 success (and a crackdown by the APFA on playing non-league teams), the Lumberjacks joined the league in 1921 as the ''Tonawanda Lumbermen'' or ''Tonawanda Kardex,'' named for (and presumably sponsored by)

James Rand Jr. James Henry Rand Jr. (November 18, 1886 – June 3, 1968)"James Henry Rand Dead At 81," ''New York Times,'' June 4, 1968.Ingham, ''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders,'' 1983. was an American industrialist who revolutionized the b ...

's American Kardex, a company that through mergers and acquisitions became part of Rand Kardex,

Remington Rand Remington Rand was an early American business machine manufacturer, originally a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers. Formed in 1927 following a merger, Remington Rand w ...

Sperry Rand Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroug ...

, and eventually

UniSys Unisys Corporation is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. It provides digital workplace solutions, cloud, applications, and infrastructure solutions, ...

. Before 1921, the team played its home games at Tonawanda High School; however, its lone game in the NFL was an away game, and according to contemporary news reports, the team had intended to play as a

traveling team Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

had it continued beyond one game. NFL records list the nonexistent and spurious "Lumbermen Stadium" as the team's home field. The 1921 season began much like the first, with a scoreless tie against the Syracuse Pros, followed by a 9–7 win against the

Cleveland Panthers The Cleveland Panthers were a professional American football team. They were an independent team founded in 1919 from the remains of the Youngstown Patricians. The Panthers played, with various degrees of success, continuously from 1919 and event ...

. A game against the Rochester Scalpers scheduled for November was canceled; instead, on November 6, 1921, the Kardex traveled to Rochester to play their sole APFA league game, against the

. There they played the worst game of their existence, a 45–0 blowout loss to the Jeffs in front of 2,700 fans. Several factors played into the Lumbermen's departure from the league. Records from the Pro Football Researchers Association indicate that Tonawanda had trouble scheduling games due to a lack of willing opponents. The now-renamed NFL's franchise fee for 1922 also increased from $50 to $1,000, making it harder for Tonawanda to play a second season in the league. The team's declining on-field performance was also a factor (Rochester and Syracuse were two teams that Tonawanda had beaten handily as an independent in 1920 but performed far less well against as a league member in 1921). Whether or not the team continued to exist is somewhat unclear. Records from 1925 show that the Buffalo Football Bisons played an exhibition game against a team from Tonawanda before the 1925 regular season, but it is not known if it is the same Tonawanda team as the APFA/NYPFL franchise. The "Lumberjacks" name is currently in use by

North Tonawanda High School North Tonawanda High School (NTHS) is a public high school located in North Tonawanda, New York. N.T.H.S. is the high school for the North Tonawanda City School District. The current principal is Bradley Rowles. Academics Academies North Tona ...

Team roster

Due to incomplete record-keeping during this time, some players from the 1921 team are only reported upon by their last name. Backnor, C; Fred Brumm, LT; Cassidy, QB; Joe Dussosoit, RE; Andy Fletcher, LHB; Art Georke, LE; Clarence Hosmer, LG; Rudy Kraft, LG-C; George Kuhrt, LT; Buck MacDonald, RG; Tom McLaughlin, RHB-FB; Bill Meisner, RHB; Frank Morrisey, RT; Frank Primeau, RE-QB; Tam Rose, LHB; Spin Roy, LE; Bill Sanborn, RE; Charles Tallman, RT; Red Werder, C; Wex, FB;Wise, QB

Season-by-season

References

External links

Historical Record for Tonawanda KardexTonawanda Kardex an NFL enigmaDeconstructing NFL UniformsTom educatesOne and DoneNFL team survived to lose one gameMade in WNYDid you know?
* ttp://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/unknown-stories/unknown-stories-of-wny-tonawandas-day-in-the-nfl/71-508465085 Unknown stories of WYN: Tonawanda's day in the NFLbr>The Fate of the Tonawanda KardexA story better than Hollywood or TonawandaThe Tonawanda Kardex: The NFL's shortest-lived teamWe're Lumberjacks and we're OK!The One Losing Game for Tonawanda's 1921 NFL TeamThere used to be an NFL football team in Tonawanda
{{New York Pro Football League American football teams established in 1916 American football teams disestablished in 1921 Defunct National Football League teams Sports in Buffalo, New York American football in Buffalo, New York New York Pro Football League teams Defunct American football teams in New York (state) 1916 establishments in New York (state) 1921 disestablishments in New York (state)