Happy Halloween
October 31, 2009 by collectableivy
Early College Football Program – Princeton v. Stevens 1875
October 17, 2009 by collectableivyThis very rare Princeton v. Stevens college program from 1875 sold recently at auction for $600. The program is four pages and this particular program has come apart. Never-the-less, an 1875 program in any condition is quite rare.
This game was played at Princeton. The Stevens Institute of Technology is a college based in Hoboken, New Jersey founded in 1870, specializing in the sciences.
Other early football programs:
Harvard v. Yale 1891
October 2, 2009 by collectableivyWe thought of the popular game show To Tell the Truth recently when looking at some Harvard v. Yale Football Programs from 1891. The premise of the game show was to have multiple contestants answer questions posed by celebrities. Only one contestant was the actual person they were posing to be, leaving the tag line at the end of the show “Will the real [person's name] please stand up?”
Below are two wildly different formats of a program for the same game. Perhaps one is a program and the other is a scorecard? Except, they both say “score card” on the top.
Perhaps one was issued by each team? Perhaps they were issued by competing companies each being sponsored by a different advertiser?
The actual game day program for the game, a separate and distinct item, was 32 pages and 8 1/2 x 5 inches inches in size and seen below:
A new car for $665!
September 24, 2009 by collectableivyThese nice advertisements are from the Army v. Navy Football Program from 1936, played in Philadelphia. The program includes fabulous ads for new cars:
This fabulous Lasalle sold new in 1936 for $1,1675
Tailgate Party
September 17, 2009 by collectableivyWith football season upon us once again we offer the following scenes of tailgaiting from college football programs including his idealized version from a Stanford v. California program done in 1965:
Or this more realistic version done in 1962 for a Yale Cornell game with a pretty nice spread.
Program Illustrators – Howard Chandler Christy
September 6, 2009 by collectableivyHoward Chandler Christy Howard Chandler Christy (January 10, 1873—March 3, 1952) was an American artist famous for the “Christy Girl”, similar to a “Gibson Girl”. He painted Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, a famous work he painted in April 1940. It currently is displayed along the east stairway in the House of Representatives wing in the Capitol building.
Some of his work is on display at New York City restaurant Café des Artistes – they include six panels of wood nymphs and paintings such as The Parrot Girl, The Swing Girl, Ponce De Leon, Fall, Spring, and the Fountain of Youth.
He illustrated several covers for Army Navy programs, including this beauty done in 1936:
And this Army v. Notre Dame Game in 1939:
And the Army v. Navy program in 1938
Programs with Cristy covers tend to sell at a premium due to the quality of his work and the name recognition. We have a nice selection of Army v. Navy programs at www.collectableivy.com.
Famous Illustrators – Abner Dean Cover Art
August 17, 2009 by collectableivyAbner Dean (1910 – 1982), born Abner Epstein, was an American cartoonist. In allegorical or surrealist situations, Dean often depicted extremes of human behavior amid grim, decaying urban settings or barren landscapes. His artwork prompted Clifton Fadiman to comment, “His pictures are trick mirrors in which we catch sight of those absurd fragments of ourselves that we never see in the smooth glass of habit.”
Graduating from Dartmouth in 1931, Dean studied at the National Academy of Design. He worked as a commercial illustrator, contributing to The New Yorker, Esquire (magazine) and other publications. His work for Life included illustrations of George Orwell’s 1984 for a Life article on Orwell.
As a Dartmouth grad, Dean did some Dartmouth cover illustrations such as this 1929 program vs. Cornell.
Smokin’ Programs!
August 8, 2009 by collectableivyParadoxically, College Football Programs have always had cigarette companies as advertisers. The trend began early on as you can see from the ad for this 1910 Harvard v. Yale Program advertising both ‘Egyptian Deities’ cigarettes and ‘Pall Mall’ cigarettes.
Or this Camels ad from an Army v. Navy program of 1936:
Chesterfield cigarettes as a long-time sponsor of color center-folds in many college football programs. A good example is from the 1949 Yale v. Cornell program featuring Bing Crosby, Arthur Godfrey and Perry Como.
As much as we look back and think it inappropriate, it is important to remember that without commercial advertising most programs would never have been printed. The revenue to print the programs came from sponsors and advertisers.
For a look at our many vintage college football programs visit out website at www.collectableivy.com
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
July 29, 2009 by collectableivyCollege Football Programs featuring Yale and Columbia during the 1930s and 1940s often took on a transportation theme as seen in this program from 1935:
The 1949 program for the game played at Columbia continued the theme.
As does the 1934 program from a game played at the Yale Bowl:
The Columbia-Yale rivarly is one of the oldest in the Ivy League, dating back to 1872. We have a nice selection of Columbia v. Yale programs at our website www.collectableivy.com
Yale Program Advertisements 1923
July 22, 2009 by collectableivyEven the advertisements from this Yale program of 1923 are stylish…
Romantic…
Interesting. A meter that mounted on the front of the car to keep track of it overheating…
Inappropriate…
