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.