The photo of the Princeton students is honestly a little terrifying. It looks like they just had a boxing match.
The line between snowball fight and iceball fight is a thin one.
Also difficult to say if they were freshmen or sophomores :)
Did nobody own gloves until the modern age?
Before the invention of sewing machines (19th c.), I assume gloves were either quite expensive or very simply made (simple woolen mittens).
The temperature needed to make snow balls is relative high (around 0 degrees Celsius) if you are used to -15C, and snow-ball-war is a physical activity which will make you warm. And you are more efficient without gloves.
Evenso fingers get pretty cold quite quickly. I would have thought they'd have at least knitted mittens.
Look man that guy over there has a snow ball and is ready to use it… we don’t have time to worry about cold fingers!
Not sure about the availability of gloves with five fingers. If you’re going to make a snowball you want to have your fingers free.
> ”A Republican--Democratic snow battle at the Capitol. Page Boys”, 1923
Maybe that’s how congressional leaders should resolve their differences.