This remarkable artifact turned up recently, tucked away in George Cohen’s papers. It’s the program for the banquet that honored Rice’s 1937 SWC Championship team. We’d never seen one before and it is a real beauty:
What makes it really special is this autograph page, which seems to carry the signature of most of the players and coaches from the team:
Bonus: It’s beginning to feel like this will never end.
Melissa Note the Owl on the Menu page Wonderful, simple…. Need to bring him back!!!
Sent from my iPhone
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There have been a lot of really great owls come and go. I think I’ll start a series of posts on them.
My ex-father-in-law John Neece was on that team, but I don’t know his number. He was a halfback who lettered in 35-36-37. I tried unsuccessfully to enlarge it clear enough to see if I could recognize him. It’s so strange to see his name signed as “Johnny Neece”, since in my mind that is his son’s name. Unfortunately they are now both deceased. My ex-wife Sunny will be thrilled to get a copy of this.
Barney L. McCoy, Hanszen 67
Two comments. The menu is amazingly modest, especially for a banquet at The Houston Club. That’s probably a reflection of it occurring in the 8th year of the Great Depression. Secondly, the buildings in the background are a real head scratcher. The old Hanszen, Will Rice, and Baker towers are clearly visible but the downtown and other buildings don’t seem to represent their actual 1937 locations.
Under magnification, the buildings in the background look like they are drawn in and not part of the photograph.