I found this the other day and my first reaction was that it was taken in Austin. Then I understood what it was: a very rare shot taken looking west inside the old Rice stadium after it had been expanded in the late ’30s. I can’t remember ever seeing one before. The houses off to the right are Southgate:
For comparison here’s a 1949 aerial that I found in Herbert Allen’s papers. That’s clearly the same place.
Note the work had begun on filling in Harris Gully but the little footbridge is still there. That’s how I know it’s 1949.
The picture was labeled semi-helpfully: “Oil Bowl circa 1947.” Rice hosted this bowl game twice. In 1946, Georgia beat Tulsa 20-6 and in 1947 Georgia Tech defeated St. Mary’s 41-19. Click here for an interesting article about defunct bowl games that includes a discussion of the short-lived Oil Bowl.
Correction: An alert reader points out regarding yesterday’s Swivel Hip Six that there was no Baker College in 1952. He is obviously correct. The Rice History Corner regrets, but is not particularly surprised by, the error.
Bonus: I had a very busy day today and covered a lot of ground. The highlight was a detour over at Abercrombie where I found myself trapped in a place I’d never been before. Here’s the door that sucked me in, an innocent looking door that I hadn’t realized existed until this afternoon:
Of course (of course!) when I went to go back in it wouldn’t open. And you see that fence? It goes all the way around. Naturally there’s a gate on the other side:
My companion, who is blameless in this episode, got us out by banging on a window:
I have rarely experienced such delight. I still can’t quite wipe the smile off my face.
A fresh angle:
Parking’s a little tight…
Why has the band formed a ’34’?
I looked through the 1949 Threshers before the Owls’ four daytime home games and didn’t see mention of anything specific. But 1949 was the 15th anniversary of Rice’s first SWC football championship … in 1934. So it’s possible that the band was giving tribute to that team.
(On p. 6 of the Sept. 29, 1950, “Stadium Special” issue of the Thresher (https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/65965/thr19500929.pdf?sequence=1), the captain of that 1934 team described a key win over UT, “as told to Clark Nealon, then with the Houston Press.)
Should we ask Georgia Tech or St. Mary’s that question?
If this picture is as labeled, it’s not our band…
The top kickoff photo shows a kickoff from the “circa 1947” Oil Bowl, while the “34” photo is said to have been taken in 1949.
Looking at the game reports on newspapers.com and weather records at http://www.wunderground.com/history, I think the top photo, which appears to be a near-capacity crowd on a sunny day, is more likely to be of the 1946 Oil Bowl.
The 1946 contest was seen by “a crowd of 27,000” … and the high temperature for that day at Ellington airfield was 65 degrees (F) with no precipitation.
In contrast, the 1947 Oil Bowl was witnessed by “a small and near-frozen crowd of 20.000 (who) braved an intermittent drizzle … Weather was a disappointment to many fans who preferred to let the ducats go to waste.” In Sugar Land, the Jan. 1, 1947, high temperature was 36 degrees and 0.55 inches of rain fell that day.
Sources:
1946 Oil Bowl game story: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/10265404/
1947 Oil Bowl game story: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/117330979/
Jan 1, 1946 weather: https://rss.wunderground.com/history/airport/KEFD/1946/1/1/DailyHistory.html
Jan 1, 1947 weather: https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KSGR/1947/1/1/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA
Ha, we had a lot of drama on our first day back regarding that little corner of our world. We were without power for a couple hours while they worked to hook up portable generators back there.
If I’d been thinking clearly I would have sent you a photo!
Looking at the bottom of that treacherous door, it seems so others tried to kick their way baci in.
gp
SOME (others).
BACK (in)
SBT
[=sorry ’bout that]
At first blush –viewing, not drinking– there seem to be only 9 men on the kick-off team. There is room for 1 more closer to the near side-line, but is there a man missing? Which of you attended that game? John Wolda and Neil Havens are old enough to have been there.
Melissa,
Last week we stopped receiving the Rice History Corner e-mails. Could you check and make sure we are still on the list. Thanks.
Tom Hix
hix@rmi.net