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.