1941 Cotton Bowl Trophy
This trophy was not in the best condition when I found it. It was in a storage closet and had been banged up pretty good. I spent a little time cleaning it up before taking this photo. Most of the damage to the trophy appears to be the wood finish on the base is gone, and the metal pillars and football player are "pealing." The pealing is simply because they are not solid metal of any kind. They are cast/made of one material but then "shrink wrapped" in a shiny gold or silver material. Over the years, those shinny coatings begin to peel off.
However, the strutural integrity of the trophy is alright. It is just not a very well made (quality material) trophy. In fact, its very similar to the quality that you might find today at a trophy shop....although a little better than that.
Either way, it has found a way to survive since 1941 without a real caretaker, and is still in decent shape.
Being that it is the 1941 Cotton Bowl; that game was played on Jan. 1, 1941 and capped off the 1940 season. The 1940 season was the year A&M was trying to defend its 1939 AP National Title. The Aggies went 9-1 on the season, and 5-1 in SWC Play. They Tied for 1st place in the SWC with SMU and finished 6th in the Nation. The only loss was to t.u. in Austin, where the Aggies lost 0-7. If I remember my history correctly, that was the game that Noble Doss (t.u.) intercepted a late A&M Pass that would have either given the Ags an 7-0 lead OR would have tied the game at 7-7. Either way, losing that game to t.u. kept A&M from a trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Instead the Aggies go to travel to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl where they defeated Fordham 13-12. Oddly enough, the Aggies won their bowl game the year before (Sugar Bowl vs. Tulane) by only one point as well (14-13).