1895 Oregon Agricultural College (Oregon State)

 Here is a very clear large cabinet photo of the 1895 OAC (later Oregon State) football team.  As discussed in a previous post about Washington State, what makes this image truly special is the lack of football images from the west.  I am also blown away by the sheer number of players on the squad for such an early team.  The team itself went 0-2-1 with their only tie against Pacific.  An interesting note is that Paul Downing who is pictured top right was the head coach.  He was the captain of the 1894 Stanford team that had Herbert Hoover as their manager.  This was his only year coaching.

Bill Warner c.1900 Cornell Cabinet photo

Bill Warner was the brother of Glenn “Pop” Warner.  He himself had an important football career at Cornell and later coaching.  He played guard for Cornell from 1899-1902 and was captain his last two years.  In 1902 he played and won in the World Series of football and the first indoor football game for the Syracuse Athletic Association.  He was inducted into the college football HOF in 1971.

1873 Yale football imperial photo

 Here is one of the oldest college football photos in existence.  It is Yale’s “first eleven” who ended up playing Eton in 1873.  This was the first game of this nature that included these 11 Yale students playing a picked team of old Eton players.  Yale went on to win the contest 2-1.  William Halstead was the captain for Yale this year in only their second year in existence.

Charlie Gelbert cabinet photo UPenn Star and early pro football player

 Here is a nice photo from Charlie Gilbert’s estate.  He was one of the best football players in the 19th century.  He was a part of University of Pennsylvania’s undefeated championship teams of 1894 and 95.  He was selected an All- American 1894, 1895, and 1896.  He was later inducted into the College Football HOF.

After graduation he was a practicing veterinarian.  What is most interesting is his part in some of the first early pro football teams.  He was on Duquesne Country and AC for their championship teams in 1898 and 1899 and also Homestead Library and AC championship team of 1900.  He was also on the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York team in the World Series of Football.

William J. Leggett cabinet photo first college football captain 1869 game

 Here is one of my favorite images, a cabinet photo of William J. Leggett.  He was captain for Rutgers in the first college football game in history when they played Princeton on November 6th 1869.  They ended up winning this game 6-4.

1887 Lafayette College football team photo

 Here is a great imperial sized photo of the 1887 Lafayette football team.  They went 7-2 this season led by Captain Frederick Paye.  

Bill Hickock 1892 Yale Football Cabinet photo

 Here is a c.1894 Pach Bros cabinet photo of Yale football and track star “Wild” Bill Hickock.  He played during the dominant years of 1892-1894.  He played guard and was twice selected All American.  After graduation he coached in 1896 at Carlisle Indian School.  He was later inducted into the College Football HOF.  

1895 West Point Football photo

 Here is a beautiful Pach Brothers cabinet photo of the 1895 Army football team.  This team went 5-2 under Captain Edward  King and head coach Harmon Graves.  

1880 Yale football team imperial cabinet photo with Walter Camp

The captain of the 4-0-1 Yale Bulldogs in 1880 was R.G. Watson.  This would be Walter Camp’s 5th year with the program as he was attending medical school.  

The annual Yale vs Princeton game was played for the first time this year at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan New York due to the increased popularity in the game.  It was a snowy freezing game and Princeton held onto the ball most of the game without trying to advance the ball.  The poor product of this game prompted Walter Camp to eventually come up with downs in football that would change possession to other team if the football wasn’t advanced.  

This is an imperial sized Pach Brothers photo of the team.  I have never seen another football image with Walter Camp in an imperial sized format like this.

1870s Harvard Cabinet photo with Fred Thayer

 This is an amazing photo of Fred Thayer sitting on the left.  He was a football star for Harvard playing in the 1870s.  He also played baseball and is credited as the invention of the catchers mask.

1898 Harvard football team oversized imperial photo

 Harvard went 11-0 this season and were retroactively named national champions.  This was their second national championship of the 1890s with the 1890 team highlighted in another post.  College football hofers Charles Dudley Daly and Percy Haughton are both pictured in the image.  This is one of the more common 19th century team images, but I was very happy to pick up in such a large and clear display.

1897 Yale Graduation photo with Handsome Dan

Yale was one of the first colleges to use a live mascot during sporting events.  Even though Handsome Dan was not the first bulldog at Yale, he eventually became the most popular.  Andrew Graves a football player, and member of the crew team bought Dan in 1889.  He soon became a fixture at Yale sporting events.   One of the tricks he was known for was when someone told him to “speak to Harvard” he would snarl and bark ferociously.

Andy Graves graduated in 1892 but Dan would continue being the mascot.  When he was out of town Dan would stay with his brother William Graves who also attended Yale.  In addition to his full time mascot duties Dan went on to win 30 awards at dog shows.

This photo is the graduation photo of the 1897 Sheffield School at Yale with William Graves posing with Handsome Dan.  Dan would pass away later in 1897.  He would end up being taxidermied and continues to be displayed at Yale to this day.  The next Handsome Dan did not appear at Yale until 1933.   They are now on Handsome Dan XIX.

1897 Yale football team photo Yale Field

I was gifted this great photo from a friend.  I like this one for a couple of reasons.  One being that you can see Yale Field in the background.  This is also one of the earliest and best images of a player in a head harness with Charles Chadwick in the middle. 

 

Harvard’s first mascot John the Orange Man Imperial Cabinet Photo

      Here is a wonderful piece of Harvard history consisting of a large, signed photo of John “the Orange Man” Lovett.  John immigrated from Ireland around the time of the potato famine in the 1840s and ended up in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He would work odd jobs around the area and in 1858 he began selling fruit in Harvard Square.

      It was said in 1858 that he went to Soldier Field to watch the Harvard men play baseball.  John ended up bringing them Irish sweet water consisting of water, molasses and vinegar.  He would continue to attend sporting events and became a popular fixture among the Harvard men.  Along with his donkey Radcliffe they became the first mascots for Harvard.  

     In 1891 the Boston Daily Globe dubbed him the most popular man at Harvard.  It was rumored that in addition to his fruit selling business he was sneaking liquor to the students in what was during this time a dry campus.  John would pass away from illness in 1906 after nearly 50 years being a fixture of Harvard and Cambridge.  

1898 Yale Football Team Photo

 I was excited to recently add this image to my Yale collection from a very nice fellow collector.  There are some great players this year including Burr Chamberlain who was the captain this year along with 4 time All-American Gordon Brown and halfback Malcolm McBride.  This was during a gap period from Walter Camp.  Even though the team was stacked with talent this year, the leadership was not there.  They ended up going 8-2 losing their final to games to Princeton and Harvard.

1895 Bates College football team with African American star Thomas Seth Bruce

 Here is a very nice team image of the 1895 Bates College football team.  This was the first year for Thomas Seth Bruce who I had highlighted in a previous thread.  Also in the image is  Nate Pulsifer who is bottom row second to the right.  He was the captain of the undefeated 1898 team and a minor league baseball player.  One of the Maine big three teams composing Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby College.

c.1894 Win Osgood University of Pennsylvania Cabinet photo

 Winchester Osgood was one of the best football players and all around athletes in the 19th century.  He started his football career at Cornell in 1889-92.  He competed in numerous sports including boxing, wrestling, track, and crew.

In 1893 he would transfer to the University of Pennsylvania.  His hard, tough running helped UPenn to their first undefeated season and national championship in 1894.  

After graduation Osgood continued to play football and coach.  His life was tragically cut short as he was killed in Cuba’s fight for independence from spin in 1896.

Yale football class of 1896 cabinet photo

 Just like the Freshman class of 1895 I posted in another thread this team image is stacked with great players.  Included in the image is Sam Thorne who was captain of the 1895 team and included in the 1894 Mayo set.  Bill Hickok, Richard Armstrong, and John Greenway who are also in the 1894 Mayo football set.

1886 Princeton football team cabinet photo

  The 1886 Princeton Tigers ended up going 7-0-1 and was named co- champions with Yale.  Actually the results of that last game were controversial because Yale was up in the final game but it was called a tie due to lack of sunlight.  Notables on the team include a young Knowlton “snake” Ames and Hector Cowan.  Henry Savage was the captain that year.

James O Rodgers 1897 Yale Football Captain

 James O. Rodgers played at Yale from 1894-1897.  He served as captain of the 1897 football team.  That year they went 9-0-2 serving a co National champions.  He was also part of the Varsity Crew team as pictured.  After graduation he went to Harvard law school and also coached the 1899 Yale football team.

1890s William “Pop” Smith cabinet photo

 Pop Smith was an unofficial mascot of Yale in the late 1800s.  He was born in England but lived in the states for about 50 years.  He was one of the first well known “Superfans” and attended just about every Yale sporting event.  He befriended many of the students and faculty and even posed in their group pictures.  He lived to be 87 years old and passed away in 1905.  This image was used on a late 19th century Yale tobacco tin.

1888 Yale Football Oversized “PA” Corbin football photo

 With Super Bowl weekend upon us I thought I would highlight arguably the greatest 19th century football team the 1888 Yale squad.  The first season under legendary coach Walter Camp they went undefeated going 13-0 and out scored their opponents  694-0.  Five players from this team would later be inducted into the college football hall of fame including (Pa, Corbin, Pudge Heffelfinger, Bum McClung, Amos Alonzo Stagg, and George Woodruff.

This is one of the greatest images I have ever handled.  Not only is it the largest measuring in at nearly 3 feet wide and two feet tall, but it also belonged to William Herbert “Pa” Corbin.  Pa Corbin was the captain of the team holding the ball front and center with the long handlebar mustache.  The image was passed down through the family belonging to his grandson William Herbert Corbin St. John.  After he passed away it was auctioned off along with a personalized Tiffany and co. match safe.

1890 Harvard Football Oversized Cabinet Photo

This is a large 21x17 photo of the 1890 championship Harvard football team.  There is a crimson ribbon on the upper right attached to the image.  The image itself is from the family of the captain for that year Arthur Cumnock.  It came out of the estate of his nephew John Wood Blodgett.  

Harvard went 11-0 and ended up defeating their rival Yale 12-6 to end their season.  For being one of the top 3 19th century teams they had not had a championship season since 1875.  The notable players on the team are Arthur Cumnock who I had highlighted in a previous post and Marshall Newell.  Newell is one of only a few players to be 4 time all Americans.

1893 Trinity College (Duke) Joseph Maytubby cabinet photo

 Joseph Maytubby was born in the late 1860s in Indian Territory future Oklahoma.  He prepared for college at Wapanucka, a school for Chickasaw youth.  It was here that Maytubby met a professor who had attended Trinity College in North Carolina and was most likely the influence for him attending there.

He began his studies at Trinity College (Duke) in 1892.  This was the same year Trinity moved to Durham, North Carolina.  He attended from 1892-1895.  During the 1893 season he helped lead the team to a 6-4 win over North Carolina and a 70-0 win over Tennessee.  In 1895 he was elected to be Captain of the football team but the program was shut down and didn’t return until 1920.

In 1896 Maytubby went to Law School at the University of Texas.  He once again played halfback on the 1896 University of Texas football team.  He was the first Oklahoma born Texas player in what would become a very common pipeline.  

1896 Washington Agriculture College vs Lewiston Athletic Association

 Here is a great photo of WAC (Washington State) vs Lewiston Athletic Association Dec. 5th 1896.  This is the second meeting between the two teams that season.  WAC one the first meeting easily but Lewiston tied up the second matchup 6-6.  Here is a nice portrayal of the events that day.  https://lmtribune.com/northwest/commentary-gridiron-showdown-pitted-early-lc-wsu-teams/article_e0bdd801-4fa3-5ff8-84ed-876094801ad5.html