Calling all Vol fans! You won’t want to miss Vintage Vols and Know-it-Alls at Xul Brewery, November 13, 2025, hosted by Friends of the Library.
Celebrate UT’s Homecoming with an unforgettable evening of historic vols sports films, trivia, and craft beer – all in support of the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound. Bob Kesling will emcee the night, featuring rare artifacts depicting icons like General Neyland and Lindsey Nelson. He will be joined by Heath Shuler, UT standout quarterback and 1993 SEC Player of the Year.
In addition to trivia and a silent auction, TAMIS will also present rare footage of Vols games throughout the years, including a recently unearthed find that hasn’t been seen in nearly 100 years.
Let us tell you about it:
The year was 1927. Motion picture film was an established phenomenon at this point, and the silent film era was coming to an abrupt close after the explosive phenomenon of sound-synced film. However, it was still largely a medium outside the hands of the everyday person. Home movies were very rare and expensive at this point. Just a few years prior in 1923, Kodak introduced 16mm film, a small-gauge format making it more affordable to create your own films.
It was still a rare experience to have film in the hands of the everyday person, but there were some who were eager to jump onto this new, more affordable format. For local news stringer James Thompson, 16mm film simply made sense for his business model. He was already capturing local events on expensive 35mm, but 16mm would allow him to film even more events for much less money. And it also worked as advertising: showing what is possible with home movie film encouraged new customers to purchase cameras and equipment at his store.
Thompson Company was also the official camera representative of Fox News Weekly, which created newsreels to play before movies in theatres around the country. Thompson and his crew would be sent to capture images of notable events like the Rockwood mine disaster in 1926, General John J. Pershing visiting Knoxville, the creation of the new Smoky Mountains National Park, and of course, popular events like football games.
While today a Vols fan can see the game practically anywhere, be it from the comfort of their couch or at a restaurant or bar, it wasn’t quite the same 100 years ago. Play-by-play radio coverage of the Vols game wasn’t until Lindsey Nelson came onto the air of the Vol Network in 1949. Most people would either attend the game in person or read about it the next day in the newspaper. To see the game replayed was almost unbelievable then.
Enter Jim Thompson and his film camera. He saw the potential. He understood the appeal of sports coverage, especially with his work as a news stringer, and knew that the era of General Neyland was bringing the Tennessee Vols to the national stage as a serious college football team. He set his sights on capturing the game, and there was no better place to start than one of UT’s strongest rivals: Vanderbilt.
In 1927, Vanderbilt absolutely dominated the rivalry. Vanderbilt took the first 12 games from the Vols. Tennessee had won a game in 1916, but immediately regressed and lost six more in a row by the time General Robert Neyland came to lead the Vols.
Vols fans could feel a change under Neyland. By the end of the season, the Vols were undefeated with only one blot on the record: a 7-7 game with Vanderbilt.
The 400’ reel of 16mm film unearthed from the Thompson Photo building this year captures the events of that game. It’s not just the age of the film that makes this find so special. This also marks a turning point in Vols football history. The following year, Gen. Neyland would bring Tennessee to a 6-0 victory against Vanderbilt, denying them even a single point. From 1928 to 2011, Tennessee went 71-9-2 against Vanderbilt, with the longest winning streak lasting 22 games from 1983 to 2004. Jim Thompson captured Vols history 98 years ago.
Unlike most home movies, it isn’t simply just the action on film. There are titles that explain what is happening in the film, like future Knoxville mayor Jimmy Elmore pushing through the defensive line for an eleven-yard gain. This is because Thompson created this film to be shown at the movie theatres, which he would continue to do for years to come. One photo in the McClung collection advertises a showing of the “first motion pictures of U. T. Vanderbilt football game” at the Tennessee Theatre.
As far as TAMIS is aware, this is one of the earliest films depicting the Vols football team at play. Thompson also has the second oldest film found in our collection of the UT Vols: a 1929 Alabama-UT game at Neyland Stadium, depicting the first victory against Alabama at Neyland Stadium in 14 years.
The film was donated by owner of the Thompson Photo building when the business closed earlier this year. Despite being stored outside of ideal archival conditions for decades, TAMIS was able to clean and scan the aging 16mm film, bringing the images within back to life.
Don’t miss your chance to be among the very first to see this film in nearly 100 years by getting your ticket to Vintage Vols and Know-It-Alls at Xul Brewery November 13, 2025. It’s a good day to be a Tennessee Vol!