Since these silent shots of a giant tiger deciding the fate of a giant bulldog with a golf putter and of the real life-sized facade of the “Strip State Club” are almost certainly homecoming decorations, the “Circa 1961” description for this fantastic old video of Auburn’s campus is probably off circa a year. (Mississippi State had the honor of being our homecoming opponent in 1962, Clemson had it in ’61—and Paul Davis, also a former Auburn assistant, and apparently the star at the the Strip State Club, didn’t start coaching at Mississippi State until ’62.) But who cares.
What matters is that these moving, color pictures (the aerial shots of a 1962 Cliff Hare Stadium would have been nice to have a couple of weeks ago) help you appreciate the once-upon-a-time devotion Auburn students had to the great Baal of homecoming victory (I mean, seriously—size-wise, these are on the scale of Old Testament idolatry, at least how it’s illustrated in Kid Bibles) in ways black and white stills do not. (Can’t see the video? Try here.)
The aliens who helped Auburn fraternity men build these marvelous monstrosities see your sidewalk chalk doodles and laugh.
h/t Riley Downing. First published March 20, 2012.
We’ll be documenting the evolution of homecoming at Auburn for the rest of this week. Like, nonstop vintage homecoming action. I’m excited. Stay tuned. Beat Western Carolina.
Related: Here’s the 1950 Auburn coed according to Florida homecoming decorations.
Do you want TWER to keep on keepin’ on? Do you have $5 a month?
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Ah … the brand new “Large Lodge” at 840 West Magnolia…
Very cool – nice to see the old OX house (right after the Pike house) about 7 seconds into the video.
Really amazing the size & detail with those decorations. Those API/AU students knew how to build!
Will you post this?
If anyone would like to join a Tide/Tiger Challenge tomorrow night at the Birmingham Marriott at 6:30, we have available seats at tables that have been paid for! Read more, or join the fun & reply at http://www.tigertidechallenge.com
Thanks
I was around 10 at the time the video was taken and we used to ride the train or drive from Montgomery to Auburn the day after HC just to see the decorations. GREAT experience for a lil’kid!!