Lot # 1737: Rare 1918 Stanford vs. California Football Program - "The Game That Never Was"

Tuck and run for daylight, to speed away with this rare 1918 Stanford vs. California football program. Known as "The Game That Never Was", this ancient event saw a team of Student Army Training Corps volunteers stationed at Stanford take on an overwhelming California Bears squad at California Field. Citing excessive violence in football, Stanford choose to play rugby instead of the gridiron game from 1906-1918. As the Stanford football squad for this 1918 game versus California was made up of volunteers, some of whom were not enrolled at Stanford, Cal's 67-0 win is not counted in the regular season record, nor is it counted in the traditional "Big Game" rivalry between the two San Francisco area schools.

Dated Thanksgiving Day 1918, this ancient treasure is shaped like a football, with a patriotic red, white and blue color scheme on the cover. The thirty-two-page interior is loaded with photographs and other features, including a scoring grid page, team photographs, team headshot composites, student corps parade ground drills, their officers and coaches. While the front cover is moderately wrinkled/creased in the top-left quadrant, this antique publication is otherwise sturdy and pleasing with strong cover colors, a sturdy spine and supple pages.