Rivalries & rituals / The Hill game, 1932
Lawrenceville needs a minute with the laundry
A lucky shirt, a tie, and a laundry debate.
If I had a lucky shirt, I suspect I would never quite manage a rule for washing it. After a win, I would be afraid to wash the luck right out. After a loss, I would want to wash the misery right out. Either way, the hamper loses.
Lawrenceville had a red shirt that supposedly protected the team against Hill, provided the captain wore it the day before. A defeat required an immediate wash to restore its power. In 1932, as TIME reported, captain Fred Janney wore it. The teams drew, 7–7.
A tie would ruin my whole system. Celebrate, or do laundry? I would stand in front of the washing machine holding an empty basket, thinking it over.
Three weeks later the school was still debating whether to wash it, with most favoring leaving it unwashed for another year at least.
Left to me, I would pause too. Some problems are best aired out.