Friday Afternoon Follies: Basketball, 1936

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Melissa Kean

It was a simpler time, and a time with much shorter shorts.

Basketball with chair 1936

Bonus: Those skimpy uniforms required really fabulous warm-up suits.

Basketball warmup suits 1936

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

16 Responses to Friday Afternoon Follies: Basketball, 1936

  1. Marty Merritt says:
    February 1, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    If you are not distracted by the very short shorts, you may well wonder why the ref is holding a wicker chair for the player to stand on. Maybe installing a net which fell off?

    Reply
  2. Deborah Gronke Bennett (BSEE Hanszen '82) says:
    February 2, 2013 at 12:34 am

    If the guy in the middle of the warm-up suits picture really is a basketball player, it wasn’t only the shorts which were short. 🙂

    Reply
  3. loki_the_bubba says:
    February 2, 2013 at 3:15 am

    Always good to see every player wearing Converse Chuck Taylors. I still wear’em.

    Reply
  4. Grungy says:
    February 2, 2013 at 5:34 am

    He appears to be pushing the rim back up.
    There was no dunking allowed back then, right?

    Reply
    • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
      February 2, 2013 at 8:19 am

      Grungy, I think that was before dunking became a thing to do.
      Shortly after dunking became fashionable, I heard or read one of the big names say something to the effect that the players of his day did NOT dunk because it was not thought to be a proper thing to do, or unsportsmanlike or something to that effect.

      I never heard of Wilt Chamberlin’s dunking a ball, but he used to roll it off his hand DOWN INTO the net. So you know he could have dunked.

      Reply
      • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
        February 2, 2013 at 8:42 pm

        BTW, Grunge, I seem to recall that when the pros started dunking, the colleges outlawed it for a number of years.
        Is that right, John Wolda?

        Reply
    • marmer01 says:
      February 2, 2013 at 5:15 pm

      I think Grungy is right about him pushing the rim (back) up. Note that there is a second referee helping to steady the guy on the chair. He’s holding on to his leg. I, personally, might have boundary concerns if a stranger grabbed me there!

      Reply
      • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
        February 2, 2013 at 8:43 pm

        Did all notice that wood is used in the construction, especially the NO see-through backboard?
        In 1935, was there any plastic other than cellophane?

        Reply
      • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
        February 2, 2013 at 8:46 pm

        mistyped, should be 1936.
        mea culpa, mea culpa

        Reply
      • Grungy says:
        February 2, 2013 at 8:47 pm

        Gene, there was Bakelite and nitrocellulose (plasticized by camphor used as film stock by Kodak).

        Reply
  5. nburch2 says:
    February 2, 2013 at 6:14 am

    Is the short guy Charlie Tighe?

    Reply
  6. James says:
    February 2, 2013 at 3:48 pm

    When I see pictures like the one with the player doing something to the rim/net, I always like to look at the background. In this picture I found it very interesting that all the spectators were dressed in suits and what looked like their Sunday best. How many people dress like that at a basketball game today? Oh how the times have changed,

    Reply
  7. Grungy says:
    February 2, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    How many people dress like that for the symphony any more?

    Reply
  8. Marty Merritt says:
    February 4, 2013 at 3:50 pm

    Yes, shortly after this period we begin to see Bakelite and Bakelite derivatives used as “premium” trim items in car dashes.

    Reply

Leave a Reply