How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

Wanted the Harvard Killers for Massacring Yale's Offensive Football Team...
(Cambridge, Massachusetts), ca. November 1968. Printed mock wanted poster, 18 x 12 in. (457 x 305 mm). Toned; scattered soiling; pinholes in each corner; tape remnants at top; scattered closed tears along edges. In mat.

A very rare--possibly one of the only extant--mock wanted posters for the famous 1968 Harvard v. Yale football game. Dubbed "The Miracle" and "The Tie", Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds to tie the game 29-29, inspiring the famous Harvard Crimson headline, "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29". This poster was, according to George Howe Colt, one of many at the time that were tacked up around Harvard's campus in anticipation of the November 23 game. The poster shows mug shots of each Harvard player (formal coat and tie photos culled from the game program) accompanied by gangster-style nicknames like "Two Gun," "Mad Dog," "Scar Face," "Potato Nose," "Baby Face," "Pretty Boy," "Machine Gun," and more. The large text reads, "Wanted the Harvard Killers For Massacring Yale's Offensive Football Team on Sat., Nov. 23, 1968 Warning These Men are Considered the Most Dangerous Deffensive Team in the N.C.A.A. Reward Free Trip to Sing Sing".

Played against the backdrop of deep social unrest and college protests over the Vietnam War, this was the 85th edition of the two teams' longstanding annual rivalry. Each entered the game 8-0, with Harvard's formidable defense pitched against Yale's league-leading offense. By the final three minutes of the game Yale had advanced a seemingly insurmountable 29-16 lead. With only minutes remaining, Harvard's prospects dramatically changed, precipitated by a fumble by Yale fullback Bob Levin, which then saw Harvard score two consecutive touchdowns and two two-point conversions, tying the game and sending the crowd into a frenzy. The two teams would go on to share the Ivy League title, the last tied game in their series history. In 2024, the Harvard Crimson ranked this match as the greatest game in the 149-year history of the Harvard-Yale football rivalry.

Lot includes a typed postcard, postmarked Nov. 8, 1909, informing a Theodore Chadwick of Cambridge, Massachusetts of the status of his application for tickets to the Harvard/Yale football game. 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. (82 x 140 mm). Lot also includes five press photos related to professional football.