Harvard Gridders Don Gay Plumage This Fall To Startle The Public Eye

When the Harvard football team trips out on the lush turf of the Stadium next Saturday, it will present a somewhat more gaudy appearance than it has for many a moon.

But advocates of conservatism should not get worried because the only change in the uniforms is the presence of white "snugtex" on the front of the jerseys instead of black. These white canvas strips on the front of the jersey and the front part of the arms will lend a touch of color to the otherwise somewhat drab, albeit traditional Crimson shirts.

One of Harvard's opponents this fall, and one which is reckoned as one of the strongest by some of the insiders-- namely Dartmouth--has made a notable change in its football uniform. Instead of the usual brown silk pants with the woven sections for ease of movement, the Big Green will sport a pair of breeches made of silk, aluminum-colored airplane cloth.

The Harvard uniform, in addition to its change of trimmings is somewhat lighter than the outfit of last year. This fall the well-dressed grid star will tote around 13 pounds 5 ounces of equipment on his person. This poundage is made up from the following items: Head guard, jersey, shoulder pads, hip and kidney pads, pants, stockings, shoes, and underclothing.

The game outfit is several ounces lighter than the practice uniform. While even the practice uniform is lighter than the equipment handed out last year at the Dillon field House, this year's game uniform is several ounces lighter still. The reason for the loss in weight which the players suffer between the practice field behind he Stadium and the gridiron of the Stadium itself is the fact that in a game, the athletes wear feather weight shoes--speed shoes--made to fit like kid gloves. Not all of the players undergo this loss of poundage, since the tackles do not wear the speed shoes and some of the other individual players find that the lightweight shoes do not withstand the punishment that they give their feet.

Roger Hallowell, ace center of the Crimson team in 1932, was so rough on shoes that he found that the speed shoes were left in tatters at the end of the second half. He decided to concede the speed to the sturdiness of the practice shoes and thereafter were only he heavier shoes.

The complete uniform of the Harvard players will cost a total of $59.50 and the whole list of equipment for each player brings up the expenditure of the H.A.A. to approximately $70 per man. Simple multiplication reveals that it costs about $3000 for the uniforms for the Varsity squad alone.

Another departure from past years is the fact that the players will wear exactly the same uniform in games, with the exception of the shoes, that they wear in practice sessions. Previously, the footballers, were a different uniform on Saturdays. Outside of the ever-present economic reason, the players often have a feeling of comradeship with the old uniforms and also hey have become used to certain shoulder pads and are put off their best game by being forced to break in a new set of pads.