Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Pastime: Two shiny pennies for good luck


By Maylon Rice

High School Football – Lumberjack football is here as these hot days of August wind down.

And as I can always tell this time of year, the tradition – a time honored tradition of the lucky pennies fills my mind.

Back in the 1970s, when luck was needed for Lumberjack football success - even with a new highly rated coach who has his very own Peach Bowl watch from his graduate and assistant coaching days at Florida State – the cheerleaders gave each Lumberjack gridder two, shiny, lucky pennies.

Most of those pennies were inserted into the Penny Loafers worn by most of the gridders during the week at school – athletic shoes, back then, were worn only in games, and not at school.

For most part these pennies were just something that happened each season for several years in a row. To my knowledge, unless it has been revived, it is like the tradition of saying “Yes, Sir” and “No Sir,” and a healthy handshake has since gone away.


But for others, those with shiny pennies were indeed lucky.

Ah, Lumberjack football, and the memories just flood back over me. 

These teams today still play with heart, grit and determination to win, as well, as Lumberjacks should show each of us this season and every season.

Other memories flooding my Pastime today is that of Jack Scobey Jr., lugging a hand-held 8-millimeter film camera as he climbed the light poles surrounding several area stadiums to sit on a platform about like a deer stand, to film Lumberjack football.

Even at O. O. Axley Stadium, at the old high school site off Pine Street, Scobey would perch himself on top of the old press box – with a small tripod and film the silent, black and white “game film.”

Another football Pastime I recall is   the colorful gridders wear for the Warren Lumberjacks of yesteryear.


But those uniforms, even back in the golden years of the late 1960s and early 1970s, were indeed fashion statements. Sort of like the shiny headgear, camo style jerseys and fashion-form fitting football pants of today.

Lumberjack football uniforms were the best in SEARK.  Maybe the state.

The only football fashion that has held sway was possibly the unique stripes of the Pine Bluff Zebras, atop their shoulder pads.

The one time – other than in the preseason – when all ‘Jack football players had a clean, non-grass-stained uniform on was for the Homecoming Game.

The white canvass pants were clean – and all the pads – hip pads, knee pads, and thigh pads were in place. Usually there was a big photo in the newspaper of the two captains escorting the beautiful Homecoming Queen in pre-game ceremonies.

The Lumberjack captains were always decked out in fine football wear.

Today I am not sure – especially at the college level – if there are pads in those pants – surely not where those hard, foam rubber or almost plastic-like pad inserts were inside the pair of football pants of yesteryear.

Now what I always thought made the Warren High football jersey of the late 1960s and early 1970s unique was the design.

I have to give credit to the local pool-hall owner, restaurant king and part-time athletic supply sales guru – Wayne Wisner.

He helped put, what I always heard were called UCLA shoulder stripes, on the WHS jerseys. He made sure that the black jersey had a three-stripe addition of a thin strip of white, a wider stripe of orange and then around a thin stripe of white on each shoulder.

It made the jersey snap and look great.

The numbers were usually orange with a thin piping of white around them on the black jerseys. The orange was a color which stood out on the black jersey. The white home jerseys had orange numbers with a thin piping of black around the standard Roman-style numbers (not Roman Numerals) on the jerseys.

These were also in the pre-dated era of heated, press on numbers. These are sewn with numbers and stripes.

And then came the helmets.

Teams have worn white helmets with a bold “W” today known as the Wisconsin “W” on the hard plastic hats.

My memory of the late Oscar King Littlefield, one of the most gifted free drawing artists I have ever seen, painting these “W”’s on the helmets each pre-season. My position of being underfoot at the Eagle in those days, also gave me the unique position of helping take a clear paste like product – like old round tins of paste shoe shine wax and buffing these helmets to a bright shine.

Later on, came the orange helmets and a sticker of the log-rolling timber tool and an ax-wielding Lumberjack on each side of the helmets.

Tommy Massey who was a quarterback the year after my graduation has donated a full football suit to the Bradley County Museum. The helmet his senior year had been painted black with an orange stripe down the middle.


I can recall that all the face bars on the helmets were white or at best a dull shade of gray. 

One aging barrister in Pennington Township probably holds the record for the bloodiest face bar on his helmet for three years running.

 It is a wonder his schnoz has healed these 50 plus after his hard hits on opposing teams.

Today’s orange and black helmet and modern uniforms are snazzy, sharp and every bit the stylish garb worn by Lumberjacks of yore.

Only one little tidbit of WHS uniform history needs to be preserved.

Once when the football program was just getting started in the early teens of the last century. The all-faithful timber magnate at the time told the local coach he would purchase the team some professional looking uniforms as the local football club. This was in the days before a school board would outfit such a squad.

The timberman was a Dartmouth College grade – hence the orange and black colors.

When asked by the football uniform supplier what numbers he wanted for the uniforms the timber man was puzzled.

When asked how many boys had come out for the team, he knew that number, 13.

And the coach.

So, the first lumberjack professional prepared, sewn and outfitted team had numbered jerseys - numbered 1 through 13.

The coach wore a jersey with a big “C” on it for the coach.

Another Pastime worth remembering. Just like those two lucky pennies.

Go ‘Jacks, Play hard, win a District title and then go and Win Another State Championship.

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