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Vol. 75, No. 27
The Nebraskan
Friday, Nov. 3, 1961
What? 1912 Homecoming Mixer
Features Band Concert, Fireworks
By Sue Hovik
Alums who will return to
dear old NU for Homecoming
this year will find that many
of their time-honored tradi
tions have fallen by the way
over the years and that some
new traditions have been
added.
Since the first homecoming
in 1912, University officials,
the Corn Cobs, and Tassels
have changed many events to
make each Homecoming the
biggest and best.
Homecoming chairmen of
house displays would be
rather surprised and happy if
they saw the cost that was
previously allowed for decor
ations. These maximum lim
its have gone from $25, to
$40, $50. $125, $150 and S250.
During World War II the price
was set at S7.
For the music-minded and
party-going students, there
have been parties and dances
for Homecoming in the Union
ballroom, Colliseum, and now
Pershing auditorium. Tickets
could be obtained for prices
which varied over the years
from 50 cents in 1938, $1.50
ftl 1945 to the present $3.50
per couple.'
. During the latter part of
the 1930's, dance goers re
ceived tickets at a special
rate if they bought them
from Tassels or Corn Cobs
instead of waiting until they
got to the dance.
In ne Homecoming
mixer held in Grant Memori
al consisted of the dance, fire
works, and a band concert.
In 1918, the University Play
ers put on the "Pied Piper
of Hamlin" for Homecoming
enthusiasts.
I The Kansas Jay hawks were;
also the football opponents in
! 1921 and Cornhusker fans car
ried out the thme by carry-,
Ing a cardboard Jayhawk on
, to the field, slicing him in two
with an ax wielded by a Corn
J husker naturally, putting him
i in a coffin, and carrying him
off the field to the "Funeral
j March."
j "Memorial Stadium was de
J dicated at the 1923 Homecom- j
i ing ceremonies and that year j
! also initiated the beginning of j
, homecoming displays. j
In 1930 I niversity students
held a torchlight parade and
. an enormous bonfire which !
jwas 40 feet across the bot-!
torn and 50 feet high. Busi-
ness firms contributed the ma-,
terial plus 50 gallons of crude
joil to keep the fire burning.!
1 News pictures were taken
1 and sent over the United,
States. . I
Alums who were students
at Nebraska in 1937 will find
many differences from their
Homecoming. Nebraska was
in the Big Six conference at
that time. The cornerstone of
the Student Union was laid
at the ceremonies of the day.
Although there wasn't a
Homecoming queen, the Ros
in et Klub show in the morn
ing added to the festivities.
1938 didn't see a Homecom
ing queen either, but one of
the main attractions was the
drawing at the dance for a
football autographed by the
football squad and coach.
Questionable
The houses were asked to
keep away from "questionable
displays" by the Innocents
who had revived the display
idea in 1934. In the afternoon
they held a free matinee
dance, and the evening was
filled with the dance and car
nival concessions and booths
Homecoming Schedule
Friday
6:45 p.m. Pep rally beginning at the Student Union
. and proceeding to the effigy grounds.
7 p.m. Bonfire rally to be held west of the football
stadium. '
The Homecoming Queen finalists will be presented at
the rally. .
. Saturday
11 a.m.-l p.m. House displays in operation.
12 noon Queen's Luncheon at Hotel Cornhusker.
3 p.m. Nebraska-Kansas football game. Half-time
ceremony featuring the presentation of the
1961 Homecoming Queen and her attendants.
9 p.m. Homecoming dance spotlighting Leg Elgart
and his orchestra. The Queen will be pre
sented during the band's intermission and
the house displays awards will also be pre
sented at this time.
The pep rally the night be
fore the game was tagged the
"pre-amble to victory" in
1940. Students voted on eleven
candidates at the dance. The
sophomores and freshmen
held their traditional tug-of-war.
If the freshmen won,
they could discard their bea-
jnies for good. If they lost,
i they wore them until the first
snowfall.
1 Alums came on special
i irains from Denver and Mis
souri for the 1941 Homecom-
! ing. They saw a bonfire made 1
up of seven truck loads of
boxes and papers and danced,
at the post-game dance mati-j
nees w hich was especially for j
them and visitors.
Due to the war in 1942. the
Innocents sponsored a scrap:
contest for the trophies. They
also allowed a $5 banner to j-
be made on the theme of the
war effort or the game. The
amount of scrap and original
ity of the banner won the
prize. Innocents urged the
students to kill two birds.
Axis and Indiana, with scrap
instead of the proverbial
stone. The government or
dered no bonfires, but fire
works were provided in their
place.
$7 Display Limit j
In 1943 house decorations,!
with a $7 limit, were placed
under the control of the War
Council because there was
only one Innocent. The re
strictions on decorations were
that members must do all the
work themselves and must
use material at hand. Second
place prizes were in the form
of $5 in war stamps which
were given ' to the student
foundation. University stu
dents didn't know if the y
would have cheerleaders for
the game or not because they
weren't chosen until a week
before the game. Only 135 ci
vilian tickets were available
for the dance.
Students in 1945 revived the
card section and pep and en
thusiasm returned to the cam
pus. They held a parade, ral
ly, dance, tug-of-war, thp
burning of the Jayhawk, and
between-class rallies in sev-j
eral buildings. The b a n d
formed the pins of the win-j
ners of the previous year s
house decorations at the half
time show.
1946 was (vpical of many
years in that Tassels chose
the Homecoming queen can
didates. A limit of $15 was
also placed on floats for that
year.
The Tassels and Corn Cobs
in 1948 thought up some peppy
and enthusiastic slogans for
creating spirit. Pompons were
given to all who sat in the
card section. "Slam the
Uclans" was printed on car
bumpers, and "Burma Shave"
type signs were put all over
the campus in groups of four.
The Carillon tower was de
dicated at the Homecoming
ceremonies of 1949 and stu
dents had enough spirit to
warrant two pep rallies.
In 1952, sororities and fra
ternities donated tht money
alloted for Homecoming to the
polio fund.
Yes, times have changed,
but we are now in the mid
dle of a bigger and better
Homecoming which may be
used 30 years from now as
an. example of how times
have changed.
NU Homecom ing
Wins Recalled
By Dave Wohlfarth
In the minds of 35,000 Nebraska football fans as they
troop to Memorial Stadium tomorrow will be a little
thing, a memory. This memory reminds the Husker fans
that it could happen again . . .
The scene is set. Homecoming, with all its gala
activities, has hit the campus again, and Nebraska will
be heavy underdogs in their gridiron clash with Kansas
tomorrow, but to the Scarlet fans this may be a good
omen.
The NU faithful recall just two short years ago when,
Nebraska shocked the football world with a 25-21 home
coming upset of Oklahoma. The loss ended the Sooners'
conference win string at 74 and was the first stumbling
block in the collapse of the great Sooner football dynasty,
the domination of the (then) Big Seven Conference.
That Saturday in late October of 1959 will live forever
in the memories of the fans and players and is certainly
one of the great Nebraska victories in its football history.
Heroes
Many recall the game heroes there were many and
some who played a vital role in the win are now playing
their last year for the Huskers and the rally the next
day when Chancellor Clifford Hardin called off Monday
classes .
Nebraska is in a similar situation this fall. The
Huskers, who have won only two games thus far, will
take on their most frequent Homecoming rival, Kansas.
In the last 24 years. Kansas has won four of nine meet
ings at Scarlet Homecomings. One game was tied.
Nebarska fans also recall the heart-stopping basket
ball victories against the highly-favored Jayhawks which
Coach Jerry Bush's cage teams have produced in the
last four years. This upset-itus has not spread into foot
ball games with the Kansans, however, as Nebraska has
lost lour straight to the Jayhawks.
The Huskers have not sprung their annual big upset
of the year yet this fall and this could be the occasion.
The Cornhuskers under the guidance of Coach Bill Jen
nings, have produced some national shockers in the last
four years. Nebraska has upset Penn State, Pittsburgh,
Minnesota, Oklahoma (twice), Texas and Army.
10 of 24
Nebraska has won ten of its last 24 Homecomings with
one game being tied in the period of 1937-1960.
The first Homecoming win on record was a 1919 win
over Kansas. Nebraska's coach was Henry Schulte, who
piloted his team to the Missouri Valley Championship.
The game was played at the State Fair Grounds.
In 1924 the Husker-Jayhawk game was rated a toss
up. In this game, the first Homecoming contest to be
played in the then newly constructed Memorial Stadium,
Nebraska scored twice in the final quarter to win 13-6.
The longest Cornhusker Homecoming winning streak
was from 1929 to 1937 with wins over Kansas (four
times) and Kansas State (four times).
The biggest Homecoming margin was recorded in
1941 when the Huskers beat Missouri 38-0. Nebraska
scored its greatest number of points in the 1950 tilt when
Bobby Reynolds scored 23 points to lead the Scarlet to
a 42-34 win over Oregon State.
Nebraska's longest losing Homecoming streak was a
four year drouth from 1945 to -1949. The Huskers dropped
their '57 and '58 games by decisive scores and were
whitewashed by Missouri last year 28-0.
MAKE THE BIG MOVE TO
PERSHING AUDITORIUM at 9 p.m. - - $3.50 per couple
