It's Football Season! Show your vintage football memorabilia

[ramram]

In honor of football season, how about sharing your vintage football items (let's stick with memorabilia rather than cards since we're on the memorabilia side over here).

I'll start it off with an photo I picked up a few weeks ago.

I recently came across what appeared to be a pretty neat image of a football team albeit in rough condition. As you can see, the picture was fairly large and was in a frame and had considerable dirt/mold within it.

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As I began to clean it up, it became apparent that this was the Homestead Library Athletic Club team of 1900. This was one of the earliest professional teams in existence and in spite of the odd sounding name, they were the best football team in the world and were considered the national champions in 1900 and 1901, going undefeated and unscored on in 1900. This team played at Pittsburgh’s Exposition Park and was loaded with All-Americans. The team was paid by the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minority owner William Chase Temple. Players were paid between $50 - $100 per game plus expenses.

As I further cleaned it, I was thrilled to notice that the players were identified along with their prior college affiliation or hometown. The players included Art Poe, wearing a very early harness helmet (one of the six Poe brothers to play football and brother of the Poe that is in the Mayo Cut Plug set) and also Dave Fultz, kneeling far right, who played major league baseball (see 1902 Sporting Life Cabinet set and 1903 E107 Breisch Williams set).

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Player’s identification are: Top Row – Pete Overfield (Univ. of Penn.), Arthur “Artie” Miller (Carlisle Indian School), Farr (Homestead, PA), Church (Princeton), Bemus Pierce (Carlisle), Hibbard (Univ. of Cin.), Brooke (Penn.), McNulty (Notre Dame), Winstein (Woods Run, PA), Lawich? (Braddock, PA), Bottom Row – John Hall (Yale), Arthur “Art” Poe (Princeton), John Ashley “Daff” Gammons (Brown), Lewis (Bucknell), Willis “Little” Richardson (Brown), George Young (Cornell), Otto Wagenhurst (Univ. of Penn.), David Lewis Fultz (Brown).

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The team folded after the 1901 season. Reportedly the 1900 and 1901 seasons were two of the rainiest seasons on record which prevented much of the fan base from attending (notice how muddy the lower half of the player’s uniforms are in the photo which was taken on the field of play). However, many of the players joined the Pittsburgh Star’s team in 1902 (Christy Mathewson played on this team) which was part of the first professional football league, the NFL.

Rob M

[baseball tourist]

Great photo and excellent history behind it! Love the jerseys and the nose guard .

[Bumpus Jones]

Nice work and nice photo Rob!

Yes, there was an NFL team in Cincinnati also called the Cincinnati Reds. They only lasted about a year and a half before folding and heading to St. Louis and changing their name to the Gunners. Here are some mementos from their brief existence. If anyone else has anything relating to this team, please let me know... Thanks.

[Fballguy]

A football thread...I love it! Started by someone named "ramram" no less. So I have to ask...Are you a Rams fan (like me)?

I'll try to get some pics posted tonight.

[ramram]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

A football thread...I love it! Started by someone named "ramram" no less. So I have to ask...Are you a Rams fan (like me)?

I'll try to get some pics posted tonight.

No, but I'm a "Rob" like you, lol. Chiefs fan here!

Rob M

[Bill Rayburn]

Here are some of my football prints.

[murphusa]

Found today Sitting on curb with other trash 10" weighs 7 lbs

[bigfanNY]

Program from 1935 NFL champ N.Y. Giants vs 1934 NJ state champ Paterson Panthers.

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

Program from 1935 NFL champ N.Y. Giants vs 1934 NJ state champ Paterson Panthers.

Sweet, I have a few Panther programs too, I should dig them out and show them.

[smokelessjoe]

Huge photo of the 1920 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team. I love the concept... Plus it's big: Measures 16" x 14"

Pictures below do not do it justice and I "still" have to do something about the cheap frame.

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by smokelessjoe

Huge photo of the 1920 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team. I love the concept... Plus it's big: Measures 16" x 14"

Pictures below do not do it justice and I "still" have to do something about the cheap frame.

Exceptional!

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

A lot of great stuff in this thread!

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[Buckeye2015]

Just added this original 1912 Ohio State Football Team Panoramic Photo

[Kzoo]

I'm not a huge football collector, but I've picked up a few nice pieces this summer. Here's a real nice 'friction' jersey from a local estate, a 'US' issued football from a game in Paris a few months after WWII ended in Europe with many of the player names, and a nice early team cabinet photo from 1906.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Speaking of football memorabilia, I want to buy a few Chargers AFL programs. How big of a no no is it considered to be for an otherwise nice program to be 3 hole punched?

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[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

Speaking of football memorabilia, I want to buy a few Chargers AFL programs. How big of a no no is it considered to be for an otherwise nice program to be 3 hole punched?

For me, it would be a deal breaker but I really think it's an individual choice. I'm not even a real "condition nut" but I couldn't live with what you describe.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

For me, it would be a deal breaker but I really think it's an individual choice. I'm not even a real "condition nut" but I couldn't live with what you describe.

I am afraid I agree with you. I can live with some wear, but I just can't get past the hole punches I don't think. I get why someone punched them but don't believe I would want programs with hole punches.

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[bobfreedman]

The football sits on top of the ad.

For sale if anyone wants to make an offer?

[Runscott]

Baseball Magazine - December, 1911 and December, 1913