[CarltonHendricks]

I sent my friend Tom Weil a link to this thread...Tom is the go-to guy for info on rowing stuff...below is his reply...Very interesting to learn it was tradition for coxwains to get a trophy rudder...as opposed to oarsmen getting a trophy oar...

Carlton -
Very nice bit of memorabilia, and it looks genuine.

The size: Rudders cause drag. The older ones were higher. As time passed, while higher ones weren’t immediately abandoned, lower ones were introduced. Today’s rudders are metal or plastic pieces about the size of playing cards and attached under the hull.

The practice, when “boat parts” awards were made, was to give decorated - or, as the Brits would say, “illuminated” - oars to the victorious oarsmen, and rudders to the coxswains (I have a couple of awarded bow balls as well, but that was much less common). It is somewhat interesting, but not at all unprecedented, that this was done for a lesser (Yale vs Columbia freshmen) race than what was the standard annual biggie - Yale vs Harvard. In a time when hundreds might turn out for crew when the year started, there were many shells and oars about the boathouse, and to find spares to tart up and give away was no big deal. Also, in that era there might only be three races - total! - in a year, so each one was a little more special, and perhaps there was some such sentiment attached to this one. These guys won their freshman Harvard race as well, so perhaps Mr. Muzzy had two to hang in his office or study. BTW, I can confirm that he did not participate in any Harvard race later in his time at Yale, and one might well conclude that, whether or not he was part of a very active intramural crew scene, he was not involved at the varsity level.

Best, Tom