The Huddled Masses #3

Football history generally focuses on the stars, the winners, and the championship teams from prominent programs. However, most who played football over the years did so in obscurity. Yet, some left a record of their football days in the form of Real Photo Postcards (RPPCs). Despite most images showing those who played before teams huddled regularly, we refer to them as The Huddled Masses.

Previous Huddled Masses: 1905 | #2

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Many football RPPCs display posed team shots, game-action images, or crowd scenes, but another great category is portraits of one, two, or three players, often standing in a studio. If you ever posted a picture of your son, daughter, cousin, or neighbor in a team uniform, you performed the same functions as those sending RPPCs to their cousins in the next county or state.

Below are some fun portraits in roughly chronological order. (Click images to enlarge)

c. 1900+ letter winner with star

Three fellas in McFarland, WI, in 1904

c. 1907 FHS players

A pair in Cooperstown, ND, in c. 1910. Gotta love the CHS logo.

c. 1915 trio from EAA

c. 1915 with odd hip pads

c. 1930 unknown high school player

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