In the days following our conversation, I searched through all the athletics photos that I could access in the archive and discovered that, with few exceptions, Chris is right.
Shots like this 1923 photo of three-time Big Ten wrestling title-winner Ed Templin are pretty much the standard.
Search and magnify as I might, I can locate nary a chest hair on the entire 1941 Men's basket ball team, which incidentally won that year's Big Ten and NCAA Championships. So much championship and so little hirsuteness: baffling! Are all these guys shaving their chests? Again, this isn't the exception: I searched through numerous shots of teams from a variety of sports.
However, Chris, my friend, you are not entirely alone. A number of boxers sport the chest hair.
Steve Gremban (left) and Dwaine Dickinson (middle) both showing a little fur in March 1949.
NCAA Boxing Champ Dick Murphy is not without chest hair in this 1951 shot.
Gene Rankin (the only boxer in NCAA history to win three titles-- 1939, 1941, 1942-- at the same weight class, 135 lb.) representin' in 1941
Even track star Chuck Fenske (below left) featured a touch of chest hair in 1941.
Fenske and Walter Mehl (above right) both look a little odd-- like they have the heads of middle-aged rather than college-aged men. Maybe it's just the high-waisted shorts, which still look peculiar on men at the moment.
I'm puzzled by the fact that in this February 4, 1940 photo of Fenske with the Wannamaker Mile Trophy, he looks smooth-chested (and more dashing). Am I just projecting hair onto Fenske's chest in the previous image? Are photographers touching up all these photos? Does something about the photographic technology wash out the chest hair? Is this just the difference a year can make in a young man's hair growth? Any thoughts or theories?
4 comments:
Its a shame that I have not commented on the post sooner. Thats not to say I have not been thinking about it. I'm a HUGE fan of chest hair, and love that you have taken time to take a closer look at what Wisconsin had to offer in terms of our beloved rugs.
I suspect this utter lack has nothing to do with grooming, but rather genetics. As I understand it, razors and trimmers of the past were excusively used from the neck up. And of course no waxing was happening. Maybe your research has shown otherwise? Are there any photos of a campus barber you could share?
The German/Polish/Scandinavian blood of the the average Wisconsinite may be the thing to blame.
And then there's age. Although some of these guys could pass for 50, most of them are probably no older than 23 or 24 ...25 at the oldest. In my family the fur comes late...and we seem to typify the average blood line of the average midwesterner. Come to think of it, a VERY short list of my high school peers had any notable hair upon graduating high school....and my closest friends and I have bonded years later through our mutual developments (and mutual excitement about it). The guys in the group basketball photo all seem 18, 19 or 20-ish to me. Their rugs are still embodied in a mere twinkle of an eye - not in anything tangible.
But why, Erk, do we have no swim team photos? Perhaps no swim team existed? Surely this would give us the clearest view of whats going on, uncluttered by tanktop disguise. As we see in Mr. Fenske, a neckline positioned a mere inch higher is enough to hide the goods.
I could go on and on, but will leave it at this for now.
xo
Your plea for swim photos reminds me that I neglected to include this old friend in the original post. Apart from this, all the swim photos I found were of smooth-chested kids like Fred Westphal.
Your comments about razors and trimmers makes great sense to me: I suspected as much, but I needed some confirmation.
My friend Chris is a coastie-- a barbarian from MD who may very well pollute the pristine milky gene pool of the Midwest with his hirsute DNA...
Being reminded of our old friend is nice, but only leaves me more curious about the more intriquing and appealing boys in the framed photos of the background. My imagination runs a bit more wild with them now, thanks to this post.
I love this post, and still call dibs on the photo on top in back.
xo
It was certainly interesting for me to read this post. Thanks for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. BTW, try to add some pics :).
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