Illinois Homecoming cap or beanie, made for and worn at the
first college homecoming in 1910. A Holy Grail of Illinois Homecoming memorabilia.
The printed label inside the cap reads:
Hang It On
Chicago
U of I
Homecoming
Oct 15 1910
Ills.
Chicago.
Stern Bothers Clothiers
Champaign Ills.
Also inside the cap are the names of students and alumni
that inked their name or nicknames such as H.Leo, Bill Lee ’11, Percy ’10, F.
Howard ’10, Rube ’13, Dick Graham, Dutch ’10, Penne ’10 and others.
The
University of Illinois is generally accepted to have held the first true
college Homecoming on this October weekend in 1910. There is some level of
discussion as to what constitutes a Homecoming and several other schools have
made the argument that they should also be considered when looking at which
school came first. Schools such as Baylor, Indiana and Missouri lay some claim
to beginning college Homecoming, but none other than Illinois seem to satisfy
the generally accepted criteria for calling an event a homecoming, a formal planned
annual event designed to bring alumni back to campus, and central to the events
a intercollegiate football game. It really does not make any difference to most
of us, but makes for an interesting story. Harvard and
Yale have played since 1875, and although initially not part of an official
homecoming is certainly one of the greatest football traditions and rivalries. What
is primarily of interest to us and the followers of this blog is that the
Illinois Homecoming tradition has generated some of the most unique, beautiful
and collectable of football items . Besides this cap, think oval homecoming pinbacks, for instance (see two such examples below).
For an interesting related site visit:
http://library.osu.edu/projects/beanies/illinois/index.html and click on the individual beanies at the top of the page..
