Brian over at the U-M Bentley Library was thumbing through the Fritz Crisler-era archives and found this gem and was kind enough pass it along.  Huge hat tip to Brian. It’s pretty standard fare these days for football coaches to make players sign some sort of pledge prior to the season.   Well, Brian found a 1939 version filled out by Old 98, who apparently spent the summer back home in Gary between his sophomore and junior seasons.   Here’s a look: Crisler wanted to know if they were enrolled in classes and if any were scheduled a) after 3:30pm, or b) Saturday mornings.   Harmon hadn’t enrolled yet. Then there’s this.   Obviously smoking was more common in 1939 (around 66% of men under 40 smoked according to big Tim’s project) and I’m not sure how well folks understood the impact the heaters have on athletic performance.  Clearly Crisler had a clue and apparently Harmon enjoyed the cool flavor of his smokes: In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell writes, “”It’s not that smoking is cool. It’s that smokers are cool.”  Harmon was cool, Daddy-O, at least through July.   I also love, ‘Are you smoking now’, as in, ‘Are you smoking as you are filling out this form, you nicotine addict?’  It’s unknown if Harmon had started to go for the gusto quite yet.?…

Check out this Ping putter bearing the name of Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon:

Check out this auction of a wire photo featuring L.A. Ram Tom Harmon flashing a pose. And it’s just gotta be that pose, right?  Right? Let’s make it so.  Add it to the roll, with the legendary drop by Magic: And the Thanksgiving Day Thank-You-M’am by Chuck W.: The seller must have known he was on to something with the Harmon photo, asking a whopping $95 for it.  I don’t think it’ll fetch that but we’ll see – I’m thinking more in the $30-$40 range is the right price. Thanks again to Dan for passing it along.  If you’ve got a truly unique piece of Michigan memorabilia around the house or if you spot a cool auction, let me know.

Check out Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon in this 1941-ish wire photo.  The 8x10 image features Old 98 looking slightly corny despite having a pair of fine-looking broads on each arm.  What a gas: