From the New York Times archives: extraordinary racism
On November 24, 1901, the New York Times published an article (with the mysterious byline: “From Cassell’s Little Folks”) claiming that a version of football “very different from ‘Rugger’ or ‘Socker‘” existed in 17th-century Japan.
Actually, the whole thing (all two paragraphs) is interesting insofar as it hints at a monarchical origin for Asian football. Interesting, that is, except for one sentence that begins, “Considering how averse most Orientals are to hard work…”
For as much as we (yours truly included) rail on the modern media for their innumerable follies, we aren’t today exposed to media dripping with racist overtones. It was a very strange and different world then, friends.
Oh, and about Cassell’s Little Folks? The only thing I could find after a cursory googling was this eBay auction.
2 comments
It was called Kemari and many Japanese households would plant the four trees used to designate a pitch to have their own on their property. A pine, maple, willow, and cherry tree were used to designate the corners. Amazing what Google can spit out when you’re bored and trying to answer questions like ‘Why is it called a pitch?‘
Fantastic, SD!
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