# 3184l - 1998 32c Celebrate the Century - 1920s: Four Horsemen

 

Issue Date: May 28, 1998
City: Washington, DC
Quantity: 12,533,000
Printed By: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11.5
Color: Multicolored

 

The Four Horsemen was the name given to the University of Notre Dame football team’s backfield in 1924. Sportswriter Grantland Rice of the New York Herald Tribune conceived the title after a “Fighting Irish” victory against Army. Rice’s article reported, “Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction, and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden.”

 

Supported by the “Seven Mules” linemen and coached by football legend Knute Rockne, the Four Horsemen, quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Don Miller and Jim Crowley, and full-back Elmer Layden, lost only two of the 30 games they played from 1922-24. Their final victory was in the Rose Bowl – college football’s oldest and perhaps most prestigious bowl game.

 

After Rice’s article was printed, publicity aide George Strickler came up with a photo to promote the players’ reputations as the “Four Horsemen.” The players were shown dressed in their football uniforms mounted on four horses from a local stable. This photograph was featured in newspapers across the country and helped to popularize their legendary status.

 

Happy Birthday Knute Rockne 

Rockne’s family moved to Chicago when he was five and he spent his childhood in the Logan Square section of the city. It was here he first learned to play football and eventually played end for the Logan Square Tigers. In high school, Rockne played football and ran track.

After high school, Rockne spent four years working as a mail dispatcher for the Chicago Post Office. Once he saved enough money, he went to Notre Dame to study chemistry. While there he continued to play end and won All-American honors in 1913.

On November 1 of that year Rockne also played an important game that would change the way college football was played. Facing off against West Point, Notre Dame’s quarterback threw accurate downfield passes to Rockne to help win the game 35 to 13. While it wasn’t the invention of the forward pass, it was the first significant game in which the pass was effectively used several times.

In 1918, Rockne took over as coach of the Notre Dame “Fighting Irish” football team. Over the next 13 years, his team won 105 games, lost only 12, and tied 5, giving him a career winning percentage of .881 – the highest in college football history. Under his direction as head coach, the famous “Fighting Irish” saw five unbeaten, untied seasons.

Sportswriter Grantland Rice coined the name for a 1924 article. After Rice’s article was printed, publicity aide George Strickler came up with a photo to promote the players’ reputations as the “Four Horsemen.” The players were shown dressed in their football uniforms mounted on four horses from a local stable. This photograph was featured in newspapers across the country and helped to popularize their legendary status.