Formal opening of Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, October 22, 1927

Formal dedication of Michigan Stadium October 22, 1927

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The Big House was formally dedicated ,October 22, 1927, with Ohio State University as the unlucky opponent for the Maize and Blue that day. The University of Michigan Wolverines prevailed in the “dedication game” by a score of 21-0. Michigan’s overall record for the 1927 season was 6-2 with both losses coming in-conference to Illinois (14-0) and Minnesota (13-7) [via Bentley Historical Library]

Among those in attendance on dedication day were “Bennie” and “Biff” the two live wolverine mascots Fielding Yost had acquired after a long search. For a number of years they were brought to the stadium for all the big games. The wolverines lived for a time at a small zoo near the Natural History Museum, but eventually became too vicious to remain on campus and were moved to the Detroit Zoo.

At the time of its completion, Michigan Stadium cost just under $1 million at $950,000 and had seating for only 72,000 compared to its capacity today of over 106,000. According to The Michigan Stadium Story – “Temporary wooden bleachers (that would, in fact, remain in place until 1949) had been erected around the top of the stadium to provide an additional 10,000 seats in anticipation of a capacity crowd.” You can see these “temporary” bleachers in the bottom left and right of the photo.

When you view the full-size image you can see the players on the field (looks like they are lined up for kickoff), officials, and thousands of fedoras. I’ve been looking at this image all morning and have yet to see a fan in the stands without a hat or cap.

Aren’t old photos great? Have a Happy Friday, everyone!

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Tagged as: dedication of Michigan stadium, Michigan Stadium, Michigan Wolverines, October 22 1927, Ohio State, the-big-house

{ 3 comments }

Terese November 20, 2009 at 1:04 pm

Thanks for sharing this great picture. I enjoy the link to the Michigan Stadium Story. It’s crazy to see what they wore in football! We’ve come a long way in safety.

Andrew November 20, 2009 at 1:14 pm: Glad to share I agree, it is crazy how little protection they wore back then. Also, they were all about the same size – no huge linemen. They sure looked tough and wiry.

Ben December 9, 2009 at 10:28 am