las Herbie, we hardly knew
From cartoon to icon,
Herbie filled the void
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Before marketing. Before search
committees. Before Nebraska even
had a mascot, an ugly cartoon charac
ter caught Don Bryant’s eye.
It was the 1974 Cotton Bowl, and
Bryant, sports information director for
the NU Athletic Department at the
time, was in the press room when he
“discovered” the Comhuskers’ new
mascot.
“They had a drawing of a very ugly
cartoon guy representing Nebraska
because Nebraska didn’thave any logo
like the Texas Steers,” Bryant said.
“It was kind of cute, but it was
ugly.”
“It” was Herbie Husker.
The first Herbie Husker looked 1 ike
a beat-up farmer covered in Band
Aids, Bryant said.
Bryant got in touch with cartoonist
Dirk West in Lubbock, Texas, and
had him draw a “cuter, happy-looking
guy” with a victory sign.
The drawing made it into the 1974
media guide, and Herbie grew from
cartoon to icon. It was a fate Bryant
never intended.
“It was just a cartoon of a cute,
little Nebraskan,” he said. “It was never
designed to walk around the field.”
Herbie filled a void for a football
team without a mascot.
Marketing started out small. Com
pared to the thousands of dollars in
volved in advertising today, two or
three businesses paid $25 each to use
the logo, Bryant said.
Then it caught on, Bryant said, and
Herbie, a name given to the mascot by
the media, became big business.
“Once he got walking around the
football field, he became more and
more known,” he said. “As the pro
gram grew, networks used the Herbie
cartoon and entrepreneurs started pay
ing the rights for it.
“It took awhile.”
Twenty-one years after Herbie’s
discovery and claim to fame, Bryant
took Herbie’s dismissal “like a man.”
Though he admitted Herbie wasn’t
the best-looking guy in the world,
Bryant said Herbie always would re
main a popular cartoon figure.
“I’m not nccessari ly in mourning,”
he said. “If there’s something better
that comes along, that’s fine with me.”
Herbie was under scrutiny from
day one, he said.
“There were some people who
didn’t like it because they said, ‘Oh,
gosh, farmers don’t wear overalls to
day,”’ he said. “I knew that, the artist
knew that — it was done for fun. It
wasn’t a portrayal of the farmer or
agricultural business leader.”
Even if some people didn’t like
Herbie in the beginning, Bryant said,
he became part of Comhusker foot
ball tradition. Yet, he said, fans will be
able to live without Herbie.
“Nebraska had a football tradition
L_-1
long before Herbie came along,” he
said.
Bryant, who is now the associate
athletic director for community rela
tions, has been with the university for
33 years and has seen mascots come
and go.
In the ’40s and ’50s, Bryant said,
Nebraska had a com cob that walked
around in a green and yellow outfit.
Tanna Kinnaman/DN
Don Bryant, associate athletic director for community
relations, mimics the response of some Nebraska fans who
don’t want Herbie Husker to retire. Bryant is shown with the
original oil painting of Herbie Husker. At left, Harry Husker,
Herbie’s predecessor, as drawn by Bill Goggins of Lincoln.
After that came “Hairy Huskcr,” a
symbol designed by Lincoln resident
Bill Goggins.
Goggins drew the character for a
Nebraska Farmer magazine article on
northeast and northwest ranchers pro
viding meat for the training table.
He modeled the design after the
Hastings Chamber of Commerce mem
bers who wore maroon suits and cow
boy hats to football games.
In the ’70s, with a football tucked
under one arm and a com cob sticking
out of his pocket, Herbie filled the
mascot void, Bryant said.
But if the ’90s is Herbie’s time to
go, he said, so be it.
“I will try to hold back tears,” he
said, laughing. “Everybody moves on.
It’s time for Herbie.”
I
First year students...don t forget to meet
withyourAdyiseron Thursday!
Arts & Sciences Adviser Thursday
Attention New Students in Arts & Sciences, Please see your adviser
at the appropriate room number listed below
Adviser Thursday: Group Advising Meeting - Thursday August 24,1995,4-4-5 PM
* ' ' '•
Department/Major
Actuarial Science
Anthropology
Biochemistry
Biological Sciences
Chemistry
Classics/Greek/Latin
Communication Studies
Computer Science
Economics
English
Environmental Studies
European Studies
French
Geography
Geology
German
Great Plains Studies
History
International Affairs
Latin American Studies
Math
Meteorology/Climatology
Philosophy
Physics/Akronomy
Political Science
Pre-Dental Hygiene
Adviser
CBA Advising Center
Ray Harries
Herman Knoche
Laurie Homer
George Sturgeon
Thomas Rinkevich
Vincent DiSalvo
Charles Riedesel
CBA Advising Center
William Long
LuAnn Wandsnider
Tom Can
Tom Carr
David Wishart
David Watkins
Priscilla Hayden-Roy
Fran Kaye
Tim Mahoney
Phil Dyer
Ralph Grajeda
Gordon Woodward
Mark Anderson
Harry Ide
C. Edward Jones
Phil Dyer
Julienne Hunter
Room
138 CBA
126 Bessey
176 Beadle
112 Hamilton
413 Hamilton
235 Andrews
428 Oldfather
113 Ferguson
138 CBA
146 Andrews
225 Bessey
1203 Oldfather
1203 Oldfather
312 Avery
330 Bessey
1228 Oldfather
1213 Oldfather
630 Oldfather
534 Oldfather
141 Andrews
827 Oldfather
307 Avery
1004 Oldfather
120 Brace Resource Rm.
534 Oldfather
104 Dental College
I Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Medicine, Pre-Mortuary Sci Info, Pre-Nuclear Medicine Tech;
Pre-Optometry, Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Physical Therapy, Pre-Physician's Assistant, Pre-Radidogical
Technology
Pre-Medical Technology
i Psychology
Russian
i Sociology
Spanish
| Speech Pathology & Audiology
; Undecided
| Women's Studies
Vicki Fisher
Gaye Homer
Richard Dienstbier
Radha Balasubramanian
Mary Jo Deegan
Alejandro Herrero-Olaizola
Check with Ellen Patterson,
Henzlik 105,472-8643
Anne Kopera
Barbara Di Bernard
104 Hamilton
UHC Conference Rm F (3-4pm)
117Bessey
1131 Oldfather
707 Oldfather
1205 Oldfather
208 Oldfather
337C Andrews
i Questions? Contact the Dean's Office, 1223 Oldfather, 472-2891
1
University of
Nebraska
Lincoln
COLLEGE OF ARCHTTECTURE
August 24,1995
4:00 p.m.
All School Meeting
Spkr-W. Cecil Steward, Dean
Mary Riepma Ross Theater
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
5:00 p.m.
Ice Cream Social
Hosted by AIAS, AS ID, SPAN
East Lawn of Arch Hall
(Rain-in Arch Hall Link)
ADVISER
THURSDAY
for New Students
in the College of Fine
and Performing Arts
AUGUST 24
4-5pm
WESTBROOK
MUSfc BLDG.
ROOM 109
Come and meet your advisers!
COLLEGE OF FINE&
PERFORMING ARTS
U UNIVERSITY OF NE3RASKA-UNC01N
Freshman journalism majors:
Join the wild and crazy journalism
bunch at UNL!
Learn about student organizations, faculty.
Eat free Valentino's jtizza!
Avery 22: Thursday, Aug.24,4:30 p.m.
about college activities at the College of
Engineering and Technology Adviser Advantage
for first time students. College guides will meet
students in the Fish Bowl (southwest comer of Walter
Scott Engineering Center) August 24 at 4:20 p.m.
Meetings will take place on the first floor of WSEC. |j|