The 2009 football season marked the 100th anniversary of when Michigan and Minnesota first played for the Little Brown Jug.  Early that year I started on a quest to find out everything about the old trophy.  I reviewed the legends, interviewed writers, equipment managers, coaches and pored through newspapers, pottery experts, photos and other accounts on the history.  I even held the 5 gallon crock in my hands on a couple different occasions to get a good look.  Here are a collection of posts that sum up that research:

Chapter 1: What Really Happened in the 1930s
Chapter 2: Spinning Myths
Chapter 3: Getting it Right
Chapter 4: 2013: A Space Quandary
Chapter 5: Red Wing Roots
Chapter 6: Is the Greatest Trophy in College Sports a Fake?
Chapter 7: Open Questions
Chapter 8: Doc Cooke and the Real Origins of the Rivalry
Chapter 9: Gophers Here, Gophers There – When Michigan played Minnesota Twice
Chapter 10: How It Started: Minnesota Madmen 6, Michigan Machine 6
Chapter 11: A Righteous Sip, and Why Michigan Bought the Jug
Chapter 12: Making It Official—Jil Gordon & Painting the Little Brown Jug
Chapter 13: 40,000 Jugs—Financial Analysis from 1903

 

And Radio: And don’t miss these radio segments from WTKA 1050AM Ann Arbor from October 27, 2009 when Ryan Forrey of The Henry Ford Museum discussed several aspects of jug history, many of which were covered in these Lore posts: