Historic Photos of LSU Football: Best Holiday Gift

One of my greatest passions is LSU football. My admiration for LSU football is the combination of the culture, the atmosphere, the sport, and lastly, but most importantly, the history.

Even though I love watching LSU football in the present time I still very much enjoy seeing how LSU football has progressed over the years. How Tiger Stadium has grown, how the uniforms have changed, and also how the passion for LSU football has always remained the same. The best way to visually capture an era of LSU football is through historic photos from that time period. If you are looking to add another book to your collection of LSU memorabilia than I have the perfect LSU book.



Historic Photos of LSU Football by Mark E. Martin and Barry Cowan is the culmination of over 100 years of never-before-seen LSU football photos. To top off an array of priceless photographs the book also highlights significant moments in LSU's football history since it started in 1893.

Here are some of the photos you can expect to see in this 150+ page book.



This is a picture of one of LSU's teams in the early 1900s. I am sure these guys did not have to worry about being scrutinized on message boards 24/7.




ROTC use to be a requirement for students at LSU. It was later stopped in the 1960s. Here is a picture of some of the cadets in 1923 boarding a train for an away game at Vanderbilt. Here is an interesting little tidbit. During this time Louisiana Governor Huey Long wanted the train company to charge less for each train ride so LSU's fans could afford to go to the game. When the train company refused to lower prices Long jacked up a Louisiana tax he could inflict on the train company. Not wanting to pay this new fee the train company eventually lowered their prices as Long initially insisted.

Also in the picture you can see a paper mache tiger. Before LSU got their first live tiger in 1936 this paper mache tiger was brought to every game, home or away.




You have to love the leather helmet. Players use to pack newspaper in them to make them fit tighter. I admire photos like these because in each shot you see guys just playing football. No whining, no complaining, just hard nosed American football.




This is another great photo. If you had not already noticed on the far left of the screen is the 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon. You have to like the fact that the coach has a hat and a whistle - that's it. No headset or enormous playbook. Just a whistle and a hat.


And outside of these pictures there are some very interesting stories. In 1908 over 33 college football players were killed playing football. The reason was because the sport was over-the-top physical. President Roosevelt even talked about stopping the sport forever if rule changes were not made! Well rule changes were made and the sport only continued to grow.

Or how about the story behind Tiger Stadium? The state of Louisiana was not going to directly fund a stadium that was just for football. No need to worry as former Louisiana Governor Huey Long found another way. Long was going to put dormitories in Tiger Stadium. Because dormitories were seen as educational, Long got the funding he desired.

There are a lot more interesting facts and historic photos that I would like to talk about, but I could go all day. Overall, if you really want to experience LSU football from it's start to present buy this book. You might even learn about how Mike III was let out of his cage by Tulane students...