This is a 20-minute clip, so watch it over lunch if you’re the kind of schlub who eats lunch at his desk. And if you’re at home, pour yourself a drink and get comfortable.
Love the towel worn as a scarf in the opening. Great chinos and sweaters in action at 2:28. Jackets and ties for trip to Cornell at 4:28. White bucks and grey flannels at 5:51. Rowing against Columbia through New York City at 8:29. More traveling clothes at 10:32.
And finally, at 19:28, the climax: a kiss from a debutante in cashmere and pearls.
Wow. It is amazing how little has changed in rowing in the past 60 years. Obviously the equipment and the technique has modernized, but little else has changed. We still race for shirts, we still toss coxes in after a victory, we still wear jackets and ties to travel (at least where I went to school), and from the way the guys were interacting, the team spirit is identical. I may have just graduated, but that hit me with a huge wave of nostalgia.
As a rower and a sucker for mens style this is a great video. Everything you see in this video is making a comeback. Wonderful look at style and the great sport of rowing, thanks for posting this.
Rowing against Columbia in the Seventies was a bit different than the movie. During races they had a cabin cruiser follow the shells with a police sharpshooter on top of the cabin. This was because of the propensity of the local residents to throw things off the bridges at the rowers; supposedly a couple of years before, a rower had been killed after being hit on the head by a brick (whether this was true or an urban legend, I don’t know).
Rowing was the best part of my college (and then law school) experience. Boy how I wish I could still get in a boat.
Jim:
Re: “Rowing was the best part of my college (and then law school) experience.”
The best part of my college experience was discovering OCBDs, khakis, Bass Weejuns, repp stripe ties, herringbone tweed jackets, navy blazers, and Albert Camus.
Old School Tie,
I just watched the film again, and could not find even one example of American modernity. Could you help me understand what you found “modern” in the film? Thanks.
Wow. It is amazing how little has changed in rowing in the past 60 years. Obviously the equipment and the technique has modernized, but little else has changed. We still race for shirts, we still toss coxes in after a victory, we still wear jackets and ties to travel (at least where I went to school), and from the way the guys were interacting, the team spirit is identical. I may have just graduated, but that hit me with a huge wave of nostalgia.
Thanks CC
Fantastic stuff. I wonder if there’s a video for Yale Crew floating around out there as well.
WR
That is one cold winter for Lake Carnegie to freeze like that. Only did that once in my time.
P. Langdale
Should throw that pic of the Essex Crew schedule I sent a few months back with this.
As a rower and a sucker for mens style this is a great video. Everything you see in this video is making a comeback. Wonderful look at style and the great sport of rowing, thanks for posting this.
That brought back a lot of memories.
Rowing against Columbia in the Seventies was a bit different than the movie. During races they had a cabin cruiser follow the shells with a police sharpshooter on top of the cabin. This was because of the propensity of the local residents to throw things off the bridges at the rowers; supposedly a couple of years before, a rower had been killed after being hit on the head by a brick (whether this was true or an urban legend, I don’t know).
Rowing was the best part of my college (and then law school) experience. Boy how I wish I could still get in a boat.
Jim:
Re: “Rowing was the best part of my college (and then law school) experience.”
The best part of my college experience was discovering OCBDs, khakis, Bass Weejuns, repp stripe ties, herringbone tweed jackets, navy blazers, and Albert Camus.
American modernity never ceases to amaze. Some European countries do not look even nearly as advanced now, in 2019. I mean that sincerely.
A good example of good clean fun and friendship.
Old School Tie,
I just watched the film again, and could not find even one example of American modernity. Could you help me understand what you found “modern” in the film? Thanks.