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Washington, D.C., 1924. "No caption (football team at stadium") is all it says here. Who can help fill in the blanks? Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.
President Coolidge himself was rumored to be coming to the game, but did not go. From the article below, his wife did. The 8,000 attendance figure would fit with the light number of people seen in the stands. The article is from the day after, and is more society-focused, talking about who was there but not including the final score!
The flag at half-mast could very well be for Henry C. Wallace, Sec'y of Agriculture, who died in Washington on Oct 26 and for whom flags were lowered (by order of the Sec'y of State) until after his funeral in Des Moines. There was a service at the White House before his body was brought back to Iowa.
This could be a photo from a President's Cup game. The President's Cup, donated in October 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge, was for the best service team (i.e., not a military academy team). The games were played at Griffith. My uncle played in the Cup game in 1931 when the Coast Guard defeated the Marines. The only information I can find is that "Army won the cup the first year [1924] of competition with a 12-6 victory." Interestingly, the Washington Senators in 1924 won the World Series at that park. Walter Johnson was the final game winning pitcher. Also, Babe Ruth was knocked unconscious during a mid-season game at the park in 1924.
Several of the men in this photograph are dressed in what indeed appear to be U.S. Marine Corps uniforms of that era. So it seems likely that one of the teams here was indeed the Quantico Marine Devil Dogs.
Quantico does seem to have played many of its games in Washington at Griffith during this era. But the lack of leaves on the trees and the heavy winter wear of many of the spectators seems to me to make unlikely that this was the October game vs. Georgetown.
The building in the background is not a military or government facility. It is, in fact, the Medical School of Howard University. So the flag at half-staff could be for any number of reasons. Interestingly, the Howard University Hospital now occupies the land where Griffith Stadium once stood.
Why are there so few people there. Was there a game being played that day or was just propaganda for a newsreel. The trees are totally bare and football season may have been over.
The Quantico Marines Football Team vs. Georgetown. Played on 10/18/1924. Marines won 6-0.
http://www.hoyafootball.com/games/opponents-q.htm
Star of the Quantico team was Frank Bryan Goettge, later killed on Guadalcanal.
The answer should be a simple matter of just locating the newsreel that was being filmed that day. I'll get to work on that.
Given all those uniformed men taking a close interest in the pre-game ball inspection, isn't this another photo from the Army-Marines game that took place at American League park in Washington, D.C. on November 1, 1924? An action shot from this game appeared in Shorpy on September 20, 2010: "Devil Dogs vs. Infantrymen. McQuade makes gain for Marines against Fort Benning."
Given the presence of men in uniform and the pomp and circumstance of presenting a ball to someone, it could be the November 1, 1924 game between the U.S. Marines and Fort Benning. But that wouldn't explain the half-staff flag. Wilson died in February and the flag would have been raised after 30 days -- although the flag code for flying the flag at half staff wasn't enacted until June of 1924. More likely the death of Senator Cabot, but then that was on Nov.9 and the USMC/Benning game was on Nov.1.
Florence Harding, First Lady, died on Friday, Nov 21. This might account for the flag at half mast in the background.
1. Football was and is a Saturday game.
2. Football season did not extend past the end of December. (The 1924 Rose Bowl was played on 1 Jan 1924).
3. Given the spectators attire, this is a late fall game.
as to the shenanigans on the field but the sign for the Oh Henry! bar says it costs 10 cents, isn't that an enormous amount of money for a candy bar in 1924?
"November 14, 1925. “Georgetown-Centre College game.” Georgetown University takes on Kentucky’s “Praying Colonels” at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C."
The second deck supports are straight, not Y crosstees, so it's Griffith.
brings back R.L. Taylor Ford!
I'm going with "Devil Dogs vs. Infantrymen - Nov. 1, 1924
American League park in Washington, DC
Jack McQuade, former University of Maryland football star, in a game that saw Quantico's Leathernecks mop the field with Army in a 39-0 rout."
http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/marines-vs-army-1924
I'm guessing that this photo was mid-February, 1924. The flag at half-mast would be due to the death of Woodrow Wilson.
Flag at half staff could be for Woodrow Wilson who died in Feb '24. No college games played at that time that I can find, so I'm guessing it's the Washington Redskins playing at home in Griffith stadium. Game ball presentation to/from who knows? That's my two cents.
Possibly for Henry Cabot Lodge, who died November 9th, 1924
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