U-M legends

Attending the April 17, 1954, groundbreaking of a new swimming pool were President Harlan Hatcher, left, Athletic Director H.O. (Fritz) Crisler, right, and Margaret Bell, director of Women’s Physical Education program and for whom the pool was named. (Photo courtesy Bentley Historical Library)

This week in history (25 years ago)

Following the December 1984 closing of The Pretzel Bell at 122 E. Liberty, a restaurant and tavern that served as a gathering place for the campus community, the IRS on April 17, 1985, auctioned more than 500 items, many with significance to several U-M alumni who attended. Items included vintage photographs of the Michigan football team, a football used in the 1899 Michigan-Pennsylvania football game (bought by 1947 alumnus Fred Matthaei for $2,500) and the restaurant’s infamous cast iron bell (purchased for $3,000). The bell traditionally was sounded to commemorate a patron’s first legal drink. — from The Michigan Daily

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