From the Archives: Bell Rocket Air Men fly during first Super Bowl halftime show
- Share via
The first Super Bowl, held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, featured a halftime show titled "Super Sights and Sounds."
On that first Super Bowl morning, a short Los Angeles Times article reported the upcoming halftime show included, “such attractions as the Grambling College Tiger Band from Louisiana, the 193-piece University of Arizona Band, the Bell Rocket Air Men, a 200 voice chorus, 300 pigeons and 10,000 balloons.”
The demonstration by a team-man team of Bell’s rocket belts lasted only about 20 seconds. The belts carried only enough hydrogen peroxide propellant to reach an altitude of 100 feet and travel 300 yards, but it was enough to attract the attention of Times photographers Ben Olender and Art Rogers. Each of them took images of the flight demonstration.
These photos were found in the unpublished negative files from the first Super Bowl.
This post was originally published on Feb. 2, 2012.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
