Pulp Fiction and the Rose Bowl

A sports magazine from 1940.

The 1930s and 1940s were the heyday of sports magazines and comics. As college football grew in popularity during this era, stories featuring characters who played the sport abounded. And the Rose Bowl game was a common setting for the climax of the stories with titles such as "Rose Bowl Express," "Rose Bowl All-American," and "Rose Bowl Outcast."

At least one, a novelette by Arthur Grahame titled "Alabama"  appearing in the Oct. 8, 1927 issue of Sport Story Magazine, featured a protagonist who played for the Crimson Tide in the New Years Day classic.

Dr. George Hutcheson Denny

Dr. George H. Denny at the 1926 Rose Bowl. On his left is
 Dr. S.V. Sanford, the Southern Conference commissioner.

In 1912, Dr. George Hutcheson Denny was named president of the University of Alabama. The 42-year-old former head of Washington & Lee arrived in Tuscaloosa with a specific plan to use the sport of  football to help the school grow.

From the very start of his administration, Denny, who was commonly referred to as "Mike," took a direct hand in developing the football program, recognizing its potential as a way to increase enrollment as well as gain political and popular support for his policies.

Dr. Denny at Washington & Lee.

He placed the football program under the direct budgetary and administrative control of the university’s athletic department. He oversaw the hiring of coaches and supervising practices from the sidelines. In the latter capacity Denny was regularly knocked over by players and the team develops a superstition develops on the team that "bowling over" the UA president is good luck for bowl games.

During his tenure, the Crimson Tide appeared in four Rose Bowl games and he was an attendance at the first three of them. In 1935 Denny was unable to travel to Pasadena due to an illness that led him to retire two years later. He became president once again in 1941 after the death of his successor Richard C. Foster. He stepped down a final time in1942 when Raymon Ross Paty was named president.

Known for his wire rimmed glasses and pipe, Denny was reported to possess a prodigious memory and it was said he never forgot the name of any person he met. Denny died on April 2, 1955 at his home in Lexington, Virginia where he is buried.

The first permanent home for Alabama football was University Field which opened in 1915. It was renamed Denny Field in honor of the university president. When the first section of the team's stadium was built in 1929 it also was named in honor of Denny and it retains the designation to this day.

Ring Around the Rosie

A newspaper cartoon from December 1937 in anticipation of the Rose Bowl tilt between Alabama and California. It was drawn by sports cartoonist Art Krenz who worked on the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) staff from about 1933 through 1940.

Alabama Rose Bowl Ticket Stubs

1926 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs Washington

1931 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs Wash. State

1935 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs Stanford

1938 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs California

1946 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs USC

Alabama's 1931 Rose Bowl Squad

Two of the pictorial pages in the 1931 Rose Bowl program showing the players for the Crimson Tide. These pages depict 18 of the 35 players Alabama listed on the Rose Bowl game roster.

1938 Rose Bowl Newsreel

Newsreel report on the 1938 Rose Bowl pitting Alabama against California. The Crimson Tide were defeated 13-0 for the first time in the New Years Day classic.

1946 Rose Bowl USC Souvenir Pin

A pin, ribbon and football for supporters of USC in the 1946 Rose Bowl versus Alabama. The button itself was about 1.25 inches around and the ribbon only 2 inches long. The miniature football was made of tin.