Rutgers Trea$ure Hunter: A little history from those old game programs

After a bit of a hiatus, we are back with Rutgers Trea$ure Hunter.  This installment looks at some history in game programs as well as cover art.

The man who sparked our delving into Rutgers artifacts, John Arcand of Big Ten Trea$ure Hunter, has said he loves the history that you find in old programs.  He once purchased a Harvard-Rutgers football program (photo below) that had Robert Kennedy in it as a player.

So we're going to look at a little history found in a series of Rutgers football programs from 1971.

Once upon a time, cover artwork on programs had a little more character than it does today.  For example, this past season's programs at Rutgers featured various players on each cover.  It was a nice tip o' the hat to those individuals, but it was pretty mundane from an "artistic" standpoint.

Back in 1971, the University was focusing on its booming growth, and several covers highlighted various projects on the Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick campuses.  And photos weren't used; as was often the case in that period, sketches by Star-Ledger artist Bill Canfield were a big part of the cover art.   For example, on Oct. 9, the cover story/art for he Lehigh game was on the "Changing Scene at Rutgers-Newark".  Then University President Edward Bloustein had only recently taken office, and he wanted Rutgers to highlight its urban centers and for Rutgers to become a great "urban University".

The November 13 Holy Cross program looked south, and highlighted the Camden campus and its growing size and influence.

The late October contest against Columbia (are you loving these opponents?  Getting a sense of where RU was?) featured the "Science Complex" at University Heights.  University Heights?  Yep.  That was the Busch Campus' name prior to the $10 million bequest of Charles Busch, a man with apparently no known ties to Rutgers.  Anyway, the cover art may look familiar to any of you who took science classes or who now park out in the Blue, Purple, or Black lots for football.  Hill Center, Physics Lecture Hall, Engineering.  All on the cover.

There were numerous features and photos in these issues of the program. Like a team photo (yes, that is what the stadium looked like before 1994) and the traditional team captain photo taken by the Princeton Cannon in front of Old Queens (something I hope they will bring back....TRADITION!)

And in case you wondered where Richard Hale (he of the Hale Center fame) got his money.....

Or if you were dying to know whether current golf coach Bob Shutte had any earlier ties to Rutgers.....

Uhh, yes.  Hi, Dad!

And there was even an ad encouraging people to vote on the state-wide bond referendum, and a listing of how Rutgers would benefit from the funds.

Uhh, wait a minute.  Wait just one dog-gone minute.  What's that last item on the list of benefits?

A multi-purpose field house.  Not at Livingston, but on the University Heights campus.  Looks like we may have just stumbled upon Part Two of this edition of Rutgers Trea$ure Hunter.  Dave White.....brace yourself!

Tomorrow....

Prophecy from the past

Side Note on Bill Canfield

Bill Canfield was sports cartoonist and staff artist at the Newark News. The News ceased publication in 1972 and Canfield became the editorial cartoonist at the Newark Star Ledger. While at the Star Ledger, the subjects of Canfield’s daily cartoons closely matched themes in the paper’s editorials. Canfield’s cartoons have been exhibited and included as illustrations in several books. Bill Canfield was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame in 1988. Canfield worked in ink, crayon and blue pencil on illustration board and a portion of his work is archived in Syracuse University’s Library Special Collections.