First Athletic Trainer James “Jim” Robinson 1885 cabinet photo

 Jim Robinson is recognized as the first athletic trainer in the United States.  He was born in Manchester England in 1847.  He trained as a veterinary assistant in England.  In 1878 he immigrated to the U.S. where he started training horses.

  He eventually moved to training track and field athletes and then football players at Harvard in 1881-1882.  He then went to Columbia in 1883 and then to Princeton from 1883-1890 where he is pictured in this cabinet.  He trained at Manhattan Athletic club from 1890-93, Michigan 1896-97, Yale 1899-1900, and then back to Princeton from 1900-1906 until his death.

1890 Charles Emrich Navy Football Captain

 Charles Emrich was the captain of the Navy football team in 1890.  That year they played Army in the first battle between the two schools which began a long tradition.  In a previous thread I had posted the Army Captain Dennis Mahan Michie.  Navy went on to win this matchup 24-0.  Emrich died of typhoid fever in Hong Kong in 1900.

1896 George Walbridge Imperial Cabinet Photo

 George Walbridge was the captain of the 1896 Lafayette college football team that went 11-0-1.  They were retroactively named Co-National Champions that year with the team they tied Princeton.  On a train to Philadelphia to play UPenn Walbridge had his appendix burst and was rushed into surgery where he almost died.  His teammates ended up upsetting UPenn 6-4 and visited his hospital room to celebrate and support him.  He ended up missing the rest of the season.  

In 1898 he served in the Spanish-American war.  The following year he ended up entering Cornell where he continued his football career as a star halfback.  After graduation Walbridge started what became one of the largest construction companies in the United States.

1894 Bowdoin College Football Team

 Here is a nice mounted imperial cabinet photo of the 1894 Bowdoin College squad.  Bowdoin first started playing football in 1889.  Their main rivalry games are between Bates College played since 1889 and Colby College since 1893.  

1892 Yale Football Team Photo

 Here is a very clear image of the 1892 Yale football team.  Just like in their 1891 year they went undefeated and unscored upon with a record of 13-0.  They were retroactively named National Champions for this year.  While they did lose some stars from the 91 team, they did pick up Bill Hickok and John Greenway.  Many of the other players appeared in the 1894 Mayo Cut Plug set.

1893 Princeton University Champions Imperial Cabinet

 The 1893 Princeton Tigers football team finished the season a perfect 11-0  and being the undisputed national champions for that year.  One of the great things about this cabinet is the intricate detail taken of naming each player listed on the back.  Many of these players ended up in the 1894 Mayo set including Captain Thomas Trenchard, Langdon Lea, and Arthur Wheeler to name a few.  Another interesting feature of this cabinet is the early image of Nielson Poe wearing his Groton School jersey.

1882 Rutgers Football Team Photo

 I was excited to receive this one from a trade with a collecting friend who has an amazing early collection.  Even though Rutgers was one of the first colleges to play in a game in 1869, very few early images exist.  This is an albumen image of the 1882 Rutgers football team.  The team itself went 6-4 that season playing some of the bigger teams in the country.