The Biff Jones Sandwich

Last week we received a small donation of menus and other UN-L ephemera from the late 1930's. There were several menus from the Student Union restaurants and many had great cover art and it was interesting to see what they served and how much it cost. It seems that sometime around or after 1937, the Corn Crib honored football coach Biff Jones by naming a sandwich after him. Below are a  photo of the menu and one of the Coach.

This was an interesting way to verify a date on the menu. It came with some other pieces from the late 1930s, but didn't have anything printed on it. Biff Jones coached the Cornhuskers from 1937 to 1941 (including a Rose Bowl appearance in 1940), so we know it had to be somewhere around that time.

Sawdust Football Field

Herb Gish, class of 1922, was interviewed by George Round in 1974. In his interview, he spoke about his time as a student athlete and how he helped prepare Nebraska's football field.

"Supposedly we had a sod field. But, there was very little sod after a little practice. It was most
hardpan clay and it was a case of trying to get the grass to grow in the summer time and get
everything fixed up, the wooden bleachers repaired and what not. Eventually, we got rid of the
sod, what little there was, by discing the field and mixing sawdust into the dirt. We had what we
called a sawdust field. The footing was not quite as firm but on the other hand, when a man was
tackled, he was not falling on brick paving."

Charles Bessey

Charles Bessey working at his desk.