Alabama vs. Mississippi State, 1940

Alabama squad faced an undefeated Mississippi State team in Denny Stadium on Nov. 30, 1940 for the final game of the season. The Bulldogs blanked the Crimson Tide 13-0. Alabama finished with a 7-2 record and stayed home for the postseason. The Bulldogs went on to defeat Georgetown 14-7 in the Orange Bowl.

The video shows Alabama coach Frank Thomas' famous "Notre Dame Box" offense in action. The Crimson Tide would set up in a traditional "T" formation and then shift either into the box alignment or a short punt formation. Also clear in this clip is the field of the then-24,000-capacity venue as well as the scoreboard and the wooden end zone bleachers.

Alabama's 1927 Rose Bowl Sponsors

Photo via Tuscaloosa Area Virtual Museum

The sponsors of the Alabama Crimson Tide at the 1927 Rose Bowl game who traveled to California on the train with the team. From left to right: Mrs. Almetie M. Grimes (wife of C.B Grimes, owner of The Bama theater), Miss Elinor Williams, Mrs. Cornelia "Connie" Brown (wife of former player Johnny Mack Brown), Miss Louise Fargason (the fiancée of player Hoyt Winslett) and the wife of player Gordon "Sherlock" Holmes. Alabama tied Stanford 7-7.

Frank Thomas & the 1935 College All-Star Game

In 1935, after leading his team to a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford, Alabama coach Frank Thomas was tapped to be head coach for the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game.

The contest was the brainchild of Chicago Tribune Sports editor Arch Ward and it had been inaugurated the year prior. It was a pre-season contest that featured a team of college standouts against the National Football League champion from the previous season.

Voting to select the coaches for the college team was heavily contested with more than 7 million ballots were cast. Thomas garnered almost 2.5 million. By contrast, only 737,000 people voted in the poll to determine the players on the roster.

In August of 1935 Thomas travelled with Alabama's standout halfback Dixie Howell to Chicago to prepare for the game at Northwestern University. The opponent would be George Halas's Chicago Bears who had finished runners up for the NFL championship they year before.

On the second day of camp, Thomas was hospitalized with what was diagnosed with "acute arthritis" but was most likely a bout with the symptoms from his chronic high blood pressure. He continued to handle the coaching duties despite being confined to a hospital bed for the next week. Thomas returned to the sidelines for the second week of the team's preparations and the game itself.

The game was held on August 29, 1935 at Chicago's Soldier's Field in front of 77,450 customers who were drenched by a second-half downpour. The Bears bested the All-Stars in a 5-0 slog of a game that defied Thomas' plan of battle.

"It was that damned rain," Thomas said. "It turned what started out to be a great wide open game into a battle where the style was cramped."

1945 Sugar Bowl Ticket

Colonel Carleton K. Butler & The Million Dollar Band

The national reputation of the University of Alabama's Million Dollar Band was established under the 34-year tenure of director Colonel Carleton K. Butler.

The native Ohioan came to Alabama in the 1930s after earning degrees at Youngstown State and Kent State. Initially he served as the director of the Ramsay High School Band in Birmingham as well as serving in the same capacity at Tuscaloosa High School. When the Million Dollar Band's director Captain H.H. Turner stepped down in 1935, Butler assumed the duties.

As the Alabama football team enjoyed spectacular success on the gridiron in the 1930s and 40s, the Million Dollar Band also gained a reputation for its elaborate but technically superb halftime shows. Under his direction, the band played at 14 bowl games, three Alabama governor's inaugurations and performed at the inauguration of President Harry S Truman in 1948.

The band grew from and 80-piece all male ensemble to a 130-strong co-ed unit by the time of his retirement in 1969. (He eschewed the use of majorettes dismissing them as "show business.")

Butler received the honorary title of "Colonel" from the University of Alabama Campus ROTC in 1938 and was later named an honorary colonel on the staff of Gov. John Patterson.

The Arroyo Seco Parkway

1938 Rose Queen Cheryl Walker at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Cheryl Walker presided as the Rose Queen in the 1938 Tournament of Roses and subsequent Rose Bowl that saw California defeat Alabama, 13-0. Three months later, her duties included the inauguration of one of the countries most historic infrastructure projects - the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

When the bulldozer carrying Walker pushed the first mound of dirt on March 22, 1940 it launched the construction of a six lane road between Pasadena and Los Angeles - the first freeway in the Western United States.

The increase in automobile usage in the late 20s and 1930s prompted a push to build a direct connection between the prospering city and its neighbor eight miles to the northeast. The $5.75 million freeway was built in the route of an intermittent stream that had long been one of the main transportation routes between the two cities.

The road was completed and dedicated on December 30, 1940 by Sally Stanton, that year's Rose Queen. It was in operation on New Year's Day in time for both the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl that pitted Southern California against Tennessee (USC won 14-0).

At the time, the six "glass-smooth miles" represented a transitional phase between early parkways and modern freeways. The road's landscaped embankments, limited access, and depressed roadway made it the prototype of the Los Angeles freeway system.

Today California 110, or the Pasadena Freeway as it is also known, remains largely the same as when it was first completed but carries more than four times the traffic it was originally intended to. As a result it is now considered overly narrow and outdated (it was designed for traffic travelling at 45 mph) but $17 million initiative to upgrade the road proposal has drawn the ire of preservationists.

The freeway is in the National Record of Historic Places and one of the American Society of Civil Engineers Historic Landmarks.

Grant Gillis & The 1926 Rose Bowl

Alabama's Grant Gillis was Alabama's secret weapon in the 1926 Rose Bowl. For three quarters, while Washington's workhorse running back George "Wildcat" Wilson was in the game, Gillis' punts kept the Crimson Tide competitive.

By keeping the Washington offense at bay he bought time for the big-play theatrics of Johnny Mack Brown in the second quarter and ensured Alabama's 20-19 victory.

Gillis punted five times during the New Year's Day contest for an average of 40.8 yards per punt - the longest for 54 yards.No less than legendary sportswriter Damon Runyon declared him "one of the greatest kickers that ever dropped a football on his toe" after witnessing the contest.