A treasure from the original "Granddaddy of Them All," this is one of the finest pieces of football memorabilia that Leland's has ever brought to the auction block. We are proud to present the incredibly rare and equally important program from the first ever Rose Bowl, the most desirable football publication extant. The most expensive sports publication ever sold outside of baseball, a different specimen brought over $35,000 in 2003, and we have previously sold one for over $22,000. The difference between our former offering and now: this copy is MINT. A total of only three specimens have ever made it to the auction block EVER. While the Tournament of Roses existed since 1890, this was the first time the football game became a reality. Known as the "Tournament East-West Football Game," it conveniently coincided with the tour of the mighty 1902 Michigan Wolverines team which was underway in California at the time. The somewhat local Stanford Cardinals became their hapless victims and were decimated by a score of 49-0. This had an obvious effect on the future proceedings as the Rose Bowl football game would not resurface until 1916 and become a tradition thereafter. Remarkably, we have the equally rare 1916 program in in this very same auction. Forty pages in length and with remarkable content relating to this inaugural game, there are team pictures and detailed images of the players therein. Only a handful of specimens are known to exist, undoubtedly five or less. We know of only three personally in our 40+ years in this marketplace, and one of those is forever fortressed in a museum. This could be the finest specimen in existence.

Addendum: There is one visible imperfection in photograph #4 of this listing, and it is on the top of the page. However, it does not affect the overall sheer beauty of the program nor the overall display quality.