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NC State Sports, Illustrated:
The Wolfpack Gridiron, 1930s
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Designed by an unidentified artist, the program for the 1931 football season alluded to the team's nickname "The Wolfpack," which had been adopted in 1922. More anachronistically, it showcased the team's first colors, pink and blue, which had been abandoned in 1895.
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By 1935 the publication had been given a name, "The Wolfpack Gridiron," and was produced by sports publicity editor Fred Dixon of the College News Bureau. Although little is known about the artist A. Honeywell, it is likely that the news bureau had obtained the illustration from a source of stock images distributed to colleges across the United States. Using stock covers remained standard practice until photography took over in the 1960s.
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The cover art by Mac Rae Gillies is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's enormously popular illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post, drawn in the same era.
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Although the United States would not enter World War II for another year, cover illustrations began to incorporate patriotic themes in 1940. One of the most prolific sports illustrators of the day, Henry Alonzo "Lon" Keller, designed the logo of the New York Yankees.
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Until 1963, cigarette ads on back covers and in center spreads funded the publication of football programs. The ads often depicted athletes or spry, apple-cheeked fans, reflecting the contemporary understanding that no contradiction existed between smoking and physical fitness.
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