CALTECH STUDENT HISTORY NOTES
TRADITIONS
Big ``T'':
On December 25, 1915, the entire college under the leadership of Professors Clapp and Van Buskirk hiked up the Mount Wilson toll road to Henniger Flats and cleared some 70,000 square feet of the nearby mountainside to form a ``T'' which was some 300 ft. across the top and 400 ft. tall. In laying out this ``T'' the group was guided by signals wig-wagged to them by students on the roof of Throop Hall. The student yearbook is named after this old tradition.
In the years which followed it became the duty of the frosh class to clear the ``T'' of brush early in the fall term. For example the 1924 Big ``T'' boasts that the frosh class of that year, consisting of 160 young men, cleared the ``T'' in the record time of 40 minutes. They also placed a ``class monument'' in the lower right hand corner of the T cross bar. The 1925 Big ``T'' contains a picture of the monument installed by the class of 1928 in one of the lower corners of the T. This consisted of a substantial concrete block with the numerals 28 on the top flat surface.
Even today the scar left by the ``T'' is still visible in the right light and from the right vantage point; it is on a steep slope just to the west of Henniger Flats and just below the helicopter pad.
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| The "Big T" still visible from Victory Park about 1970. |
Pole Rush and Rodeo:
The first established manifestation of a competition between the Frosh Class and the Sophomore Class was the Pole Rush which began before 1919 and eventually became the Rodeo. The Pole Rush was a twenty minute, no-holds-barred pitched battle in which the Sophomores defended a one-by-six flag mounted on a pole about 12 feet high while the Frosh attempted to capture the flag. Apparently it usually began with all the Sophomores grouped around the pole while wedge-like attacks were launched by the Frosh from several direction. One account states that ``green paint, black grease and tattered B.V.D.s littered the field when the fracas was over''. The losers were responsible for organizing a dance for the whole student body and this event usually followed a few weeks later. Accounts of the event can be found in the 1919-20 ``Orange and White'' and the 1921 Big ``T''.
Since the Pole Rush threatened to become too brutal (to quote the 1925 Big T), it was replaced in the fall of 1923 by a ``tie-up''. The Frosh and Soph teams were each furnished with strips of canvas with which they attempted to tie-up the opposition. This event was held in an 80ft square laid out in Tournament Park. Two tug-of-war competitions were added so that the winning class had to prevail in two of the three events. Thus the idea of a series of events was introduced. The competition changed again in 1927, when a hard fought and protracted push-ball contest was held. In this event the Frosh were smeared with green pigment to aid in team identification.
The Rodeo was usually followed about a week later by the annual Rodeo Dance which was usually held in Culbertson Hall.
In 1929, the pushball contest between the sophomores and the freshmen was held during halftime of the football game against Pomona and this practice continued up through 1934. However, in 1934, it seems that the pushball ruptured and an alternative contest had to be rather hurriedly arranged. Thus a mud-pit was dug and a tug-of-war contest took place with each class trying to pull the other into the mud. So it seems that the Rodeo became the Mudeo as a result of a ruptured pushball.
Mudeo:
1953: Frosh vs. Sophs. Included sack race, horse and rider contest, tire battle, tug of war and wheelbarrow race. Loser pays for Frosh-Soph dance in April.
Oxy Rally:
In the early days, the Institute fielded quite a good football team and a particularly intense rivalry developed with Occidental College. And, as was the custom in those days, this rivalry led to a pep rally the night before the game which usually involved a bonfire and various inspirational speeches. Several long held traditions can be traced back to the ``Oxy rally''. The bonfire was usually held in the field in front of (to the west of) Throop Hall approximately where the Bridge laboratories now stand. In 1922, it was apparently the responsibility of the frosh to build the bonfire. Moreover, in that same year, after speeches by Milliken and others, the evenings festivities concluded with a serpentine that wound its way back and forth around the fire. This serpentine gradually evolved into a more demonstrative tradition. In 1924 and 1925, the students pulled pyjamas over their clothes and marched through Pasadena causing confusion and traffic jams. The rally of 1927 which was held on Friday, Oct.29, ended with a demonstration march through the Pasadena business district and also wound its way through the Strand and Raymond theaters.
Interhouse:
The tradition of a large, annual party involving all the students of the Institute dated back before the student houses were constucted. The particular tradition of ``Interhouse'' implying a party jointly organized by all of the student houses can probably be traced to the ``Interfraternity Ball'' which also predates the South Houses and was an annual dance jointly organized by the fraternities. This was first held in the 1920s. The last Interfraternity Ball was held on May 9, 1931, and the 1931 Big ``T'' expresses uncertainity with the future since the fraternities have been dissolved.
1953: Interhouse Dance. Much construction in lounge and courtyards. Blacker with golden mosque and flooded courtyard. Dabney with Chaos theme had squeaking prehistoric monsters, etc. Fleming had an icy Palace of Pleasure with an ice cavern complete with stalagtites and other decorations. Ricketts had a Palace of Darkness with cobwebs and tarantulas. Throop built the Carlsbad Caverns in the "Old Dorm".
Ride of the Valkyries:
1953: Blacker sound system for ride on exam day mornings.
Apache:
The traditional Ricketts dance called Apache (pronounced ``Aposh'') was first held in the year 1947-48 and by its second year had become the highlight of the Ricketts social calendar. As described in the 1949 Big T : ``Garbed a la Quartier Latin, Rowdies and femmes met at the candle-lit ``Cabaret Ricketts'', internationally famous underworld rendezvous. The Paris basement atmosphere was prevalent; lights were low, spirits high, beards long and skirts short.'' Traditionally substantial construction is neccessary to convert the lounge to this Parisian setting with snugs containing tables and candles. Entrance to the event was through the steam tunnels.
Waiters:
1953: Each of the four houses are represented by advertisements in the Big-T for the waiters from that house.
Ditch Day:
The present Ditch Day represents the evolution of a tradition which began at least 70 years ago. The first Ditch Day for the Seniors is described in the 1921 Big ``T''. On May 12 of that year, the Senior Class decided to abandon the campus for the day and they so informed the rest of the students (and the faculty?) by posting a notice explaining their action. They said they had decided to devote this day to their ``relaxation, amusement and recreation''. Apparently they enjoyed themselves on the beach at ``Ocean Park''. The notice also suggested that this become a tradition for the Senior Classes in years to come.
For the next few years Ditch Day remained unchanged though the venue varied and the notice left by the seniors became increasingly provocative. For example, in 1925, the seniors posted a notice in Throop Hall which stated that ``by virtue of their superior knowledge, the members of the senior class had the right to declare a holiday for their sole use with a ``yea'' or ``nay'' from no-one''. In 1927, the venue was ``Big Pines'' in the San Bernadino Mountains where on Sunday and Monday, Feb. 13 and 14, the seniors enjoyed toboganning and sledding in the snow. On April 30, 1931, they went to Balboa Island off Newport Beach and, in 1935, they again headed for the beach.
There is no hint in these early accounts of the ``stacks'' which were to become such a tradition in the years to come. ``Stacking'' began in the student houses as a form of practical joke and was not, originally, associated with Ditch Day. It involved piling all of a students belongings into a stack, either inside of the students room or in the courtyard of the house. One of the earliest references I can find is to a spectacular stack constructed in the Blacker courtyard using Jack Chambers belongings. This reference is in the 1935 Big ``T'' which also includes a photograph of the stack. Later the word ``stack'' came to be applied to any re-arrangement of a student room including such things as the construction of a complete automobile in the room or filling the entire room with newspaper.
Last updated 4/10/04.
Christopher E. Brennen