If you put enough of these together you start to see a reasonably coherent picture of life at Rice in 1934. Long-time reader Mike Ross noted over on Facebook that the band got new uniforms in 1934. True enough, and there’s a nice picture in Mary Jane Hale’s scrapbook that gives us a good look at them. The big hat is eye-catching but the capes are really the outstanding touch, I think. Who doesn’t look good in a cape?
Still, in spite of the new uniforms there were some problems swirling around the band. They are carefully laid out in this letter to the Thresher that I scanned long ago, suspecting that the day I would need it was going to arrive eventually. Some of these complaints sound familiar:
(A quick aside: Note the reference to Hans Ander as band leader in 1922. I have a fabulous story about him that I will get to soon. First I need to make a quick trip to Texas Lutheran University to see if I can nail something down. Stay tuned!)
Another faithful reader, John Wolda, noted in the comments that his father-in-law, Henry Nicholas of the Chemistry Department, was Rice’s Athletic Director in 1934. I had known this but forgotten it. Here’s the announcement of his appointment:
And here is Part 1 and Part 2 of an earlier discussion about Professor Nicholas, who spent thirty-five years teaching Chemistry at Rice.
I also already happened to have this image from Rice’s victory over the University of Texas in 1934, I believe because I was interested in Sammy on the sideline:
It’s always nice to beat Texas but what caught my eye here is the old north stands across the field. They were awfully old in 1934 and would be replaced the following year with an expanded steel stand :
This became an issue for me a while ago when the stands at the track stadium were torn down and I struggled to figure out when they were built.
So what’s the point of all this? Nothing really, just 1934. It was the Depression.
Bonus: The new parking garage/office building behind Allen Center is almost finished.
