This is just too cool. -LilBroey700
The other day I was watching the History Channel's American Pickers. This particular episode's first stop was in Georgia and while there was no college memorabilia featured on the show (there was actually a Tech grad in an episode once though) it none the less started the itch inside of me to want some new old Tech stuff. I then loaded up the ole laptop, typed in Ebay.com and for the next hour looked at page after page of Georgia Tech memorabilia and vintage items that I could possibly add to my collection at home. This got me thinking, since this is the dreaded dead period, we all need new topics to talk about especially since the debate over a playoff is now over(?). And since this a grand menagerie of current students (like myself), recent alums, and some not so recent alums, there is sure to be some pretty sweet and old pieces of Tech history that you don't see every day. Here is a small selection of my collection:
The newest stuff in my collection, which also happens to be my everyday stuff, is autographs from some of Tech's newest NFLers: Calvin Johnson, Tashard Choice, Morgan Burnett, and Bebe Thomas. I also have a piece of the goal post from the 2009 Virginia Tech game hanging on the same wall as those mentioned above autographs. But like I said, that's everyday stuff.
The items that I am really excited about are my collection of Blueprints, a very old ticket to a very historic game, a photo, and a book about the greatest coach ever to coach the game. But first the Blueprints.
I was very fortunate that I was able to get my hands onto these. I currently have blueprints as early as 1920 and as late as 1953 not including my own. I have every yearbook from 1920-1928. I also have a Blueprint from the years 1935, 1946, 1947, 1952, and 1953. It is really neat to be able to flip through these pages and see what Tech life was way back when. Reading about the V-12 Navy programs or about the Athletic teams and their seasons really makes me nostalgic and I wish I could go to school during the ‘50s, the "Golden Years" at Tech. I actually found a little surprise in one of them, tucked in between two pages of the 1928 Blueprint, was a program from that year's commencement program! My brother has one that has Clint Castleberry in it and my oldest brother (our very own retiree, Winfield) has one from 1917 that references the Cumberland game written by John Heisman himself!
I found and bought this ticket last summer. I was actually in the middle of Physics lab watching the auction timer and placing my bids. It is an unused 1956 ticket to the Sugar Bowl against Pitt. This game has Tech history and national history entwined all around it. Before this game, Southern teams did not play against teams with black players; home or away. Pittsburg had a black RB named Bobby Grier and because of him, the Georgia Board of Regents was not going to allow Tech to play Pitt in the bowl. We have all heard of the Sugar bowl Rebellion right? Well, this where it came from. Tech students, angry that their football team was being prohibited from playing, marched onto the capital and then later onto the Governor's mansion burning effigies of Governor Talmadge in the process. Well the Institute won its case. Tech became the first Southern team to play against a black player and Bobby Grier became the first black player to play a game in the Deep South. Georgia Tech went on to beat Pitt by a score of 7-0.
Here is also a photo of Astronaut and Tech Grad John Young saluting the American Flag while on the moon. The inscription reads "To Joe, with many thanks for a great time at Georgia Tech and warmest personal regards. John Young."
Lastly, here is my copy of Dodd's Luck; the autobiography of Coach Robert Lee Dodd. It is a first edition and in great shape. Sadly, it is not signed but I hope to buy a signed copy at some point. I HIGHLY recommend reading this. You cannot call yourself a true Georgia Tech fan if you have not or do not plan on reading this at some point. It should be on every Tech alum's bookcase or desk. The book is about more than football. The book is about the life of a great man and the impact he left on the Tech community. Reading this makes me wish even more I could go back in time and go back to school during the ‘50s, to play for Dodd. "He is Robert Lee "Bobby" Dodd of Georgia Tech - the gentleman coach of college football, and a ramblin', gamblin', hell of an engineer."
So what say you FTRSers?? I gave you my rarities in my tech memorabilia collection, what are yours?
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