Yale’s original "Handsome Dan" bulldog has been dead more than 110 years, but the mascot's doppelganger is debuting in time for the time-honored matchup against archrival Harvard.
Folks at Yale and an architectural firm in Essex have rushed to finish the quarter-ton bronze and black statue and plan to install it outside the Yale Bowl in New Haven on Wednesday – in time for the Nov. 19 Harvard game.
There have been 17 Handsome Dans and the current Handsome Dan has posed with former president George Bush, Sir Paul McCartney.
The original dog died in 1898, but was taxidermied and is displayed in a Yale trophy room. His body was used to create a computer model, which was used for the statue's mold.
This is one of the final pieces of a project renovating the areas around Yale Bowl football stadium and other facilities for tennis, soccer, and lacrosse.
