Local Life

Retro RFH 1930s Football Boys

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With the advent of the football season comes memories of old days when the RFH Band played on with more members, but many may not recall that the football team was small.

Band was big in the 1970s. But, going back more than half a century, like back to the 1930s, when RFH was Rumson High School, the football team appeared small. There was no regional. And the population was, well, small. There were sprawling estates, farms (with a lot of asparagus growing wild) and berries aplenty for picking.

And there was, indeed, football.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors what were the early years of football at what is now RFH.

This shot is of the Rumson High School team in 1934, or so the football says. It’s a snapshot of one of several pics donated to and hanging on the walls of Val’s Tavern, the go-to spot for unwinding and/or celebrating after a game, before or after reunions, and just plain old catching up with R-FH area friends.

Val’s has turned 75 and will be celebrating all year, but, hey, the tavern is still not as old as some of the teams. So, which came first, Val’s or the RFH team? How about Val’s or the RFH celebrations? Hmmm …

Now, about this team. Anyone know who these guys are? Don’t forget, RFH had some celebrities in its midst. For one, Vince Lombardi was a Fair Havenite of long ago for a time. And Rumson High 1932 grad Ken Lockwood told us several years ago that he rode the bus from Fair Haven to Rumson High with Nelson Riddle, who has been erroneously reported to have lived in Rumson. Not the case at all. Lockwood said he lived on Fair Haven Road. Riddle, in any event, played to the tune of a different kind of celebrity than sports — more in step with the band on the field. Get it?

Anyone else? Other celebrities? How about those players?

—Photos/courtesy of Val’s