|
Replies: 10
| visibility 6561
|
null [77]
TigerPulse: null%
8
|
Official history of Clemson colors & football
Aug 18, 2009, 7:11 PM
|
|
Could have sworn original school colors were purple and gold, but this refutes that notion:
Orange, Purple and the Tiger — The first "colors" of Clemson can be seen in an early diploma displayed on campus. But to everyone's surprise, they're red and blue! The orange and purple began when Walter Merritt Riggs formed Clemson's first football team in 1896. Because Riggs had come from Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (later renamed Auburn), he borrowed ideas from their team colors, orange and purple, and their mascot, the Tiger. Although the football team was known as the Tigers and often used "Eat 'Em Up, Tigers" as a slogan, it wasn't until 1954 that a Clemson student donned the mascot suit. In 1993, the Tiger was joined by the Tiger Cub.
|
|
|
|
 |
Dynasty Maker [3316]
TigerPulse: 100%
34
|
That's weird-I learned something completely different my
Aug 18, 2009, 7:55 PM
|
|
freshman year. I can't remember all of it, but I do remember something about the Ag students wearing burnt orange pants to hide all of the clay they got on themselves while out farming.
I had always heard that our mascot and colors were borrowed by Auburn instead of the other way around.
Live and learn I guess.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Walk-On [107]
TigerPulse: 100%
11
|
I was taught that the TIGER actually came from Princton...
Aug 18, 2009, 8:43 PM
|
|
And as for the colors...when the sun sets over the Blue Ridge Mountains the sky turns orange and purle...so we use ORANGE and Purple!GO TIGERS!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
All-Conference [401]
TigerPulse: 92%
17
|
I heard the mascot was an original, unoriginal idea
Aug 18, 2009, 8:50 PM
|
|
As in the players wore their hair long that almost looked like manes of a lion, but because we wore orange started becoming Tigers.
I knew the university colors were originally red and blue but athletic colors were essentially orange and purple from the start. Alot of stuff was borrowed from Auburn, not the other way around, but it was more coincidence on the Tiger.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Varsity [103]
TigerPulse: 92%
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Immortal [63886]
TigerPulse: 100%
60
Posts: 43982
Joined: 1998
|
Joe Sherman's book "History of Clemson Football"
Aug 18, 2009, 9:18 PM
|
|
states that the original FOOTBALL team colors were purple ("a rather pale purple") and gold, but the colors faded so badly from washes and sun exposure that replacement unis in mid-season made the others look "ratty". So Jess Neely worked with the School of Textiles and sporting goods manufacturers to get more color-fast, deeper colors that became Northwest purple and burnt orange. (page 50-51 of book).
I'm going with Joe's explanation. Mr. Sherman was also the author of "There's Something in Those Hills".
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ring of Honor [21055]
TigerPulse: 100%
53
|
Another story I heard was the Tiger mascot came from
Aug 19, 2009, 12:00 AM
|
|
Thomas Green Clemson's cane. It had a tiger head carved in the handle end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team Captain [458]
TigerPulse: 100%
18
|
Re: Another story I heard was the Tiger mascot came from
Aug 19, 2009, 12:09 AM
|
|
The cane in question is one owned by Benjamin Ryan Tillman. It is currently in the possession of a doctor in Clemson.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team Captain [458]
TigerPulse: 100%
18
|
Re: Official history of Clemson colors & football
4
Aug 19, 2009, 12:08 AM
|
|
Here is what I have found from many hours of research on the matter...
Academic Colors:
Clemson first colors were definitely red and blue. The first diplomas were presented on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1896 by "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman himself and have a red and blue ribbon on them. When Tillman Hall was last renovated an original diploma was discovered and we framed it and the University gave it to a family member of the original recipient.
Athletic Colors:
Newspaper accounts of the 1896 State Fair game clearly state that the South Carolina Jaguars (the Gamecock mascot came a few years later) wore garnet and black and the Clemson "team" wore red and blue. It was confusing and the next year the colors were changed. I have seen accounts of a change to Dark Blue and Gray (1903 yearbook "The Oconeean"). Somewhere along the line the colors changed to light purple and gold and - as stated above - were not changed until Coach Neely came along. Orange was chosen because it is a mix of red and yellow. The uniforms could could be used longer because red (even today) is the first color to fade. During the depression era this was vital because the uniforms could be used longer as they faded toward yellow. Players wore uniforms year after year and often wore different numbers from week to week. (Banks McFadden wore at least four numbers in the late '30s)
Auburn:
The colors could NOT have come directly from Auburn (formerly Alabama A&M and then Alabama Polytechnic Institute) because their colors were Orange and Navy. The colors were supposedly brought to them by a coach from Virginia. They started football in 1891, or 92 - I don't remember right off.
Team Name:
The team name, Tigers, was chosen by the players in 1896. The nickname was not widely used until about 1900. Most times newspapers said something like "the Clemson team" or "squad".
One piece of evidence is an obituary we found of a player from the first team that states the player claimed that the team's players chose the name Tigers due to the fact that Princeton (Tigers) had been National Champions two of the three previous years. I believe that Dr. Riggs let "his boys" pick the mascot and, either out of respect or under his influence, they chose the Tigers.
Lions: There is one newspaper account that mistakenly says the team members flowing manes and striped socks remind you of Tigers. The writer obviously was confusing his Lions and Tigers that day. I have found no evidence that Lions was ever an official nickname.
Documentation of this can be found in Special Collections at Clemson. The office of Clemson historian, Dr. Jerry Reel, is there, too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paw Warrior [4806]
TigerPulse: 100%
37
|
I have to dig out my graduation program to confirm, but...
Aug 19, 2009, 7:59 AM
|
|
I swear I remember the program stating that as of *today* (or at least as of May 1995), the colors of "the university" are purple and gold, while the "student colors" are orange and white.
Not really helping much to the historical perspective, but it's a much-overlooked trivia item for Clemson's current color schemes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Game Changer [1688]
TigerPulse: 100%
31
|
I know our official colors are orange and purple but I often
Aug 19, 2009, 8:09 AM
|
|
wonder why we used navy blue as a secondary color until the 90's? If you look at older pictures, the numerals on jerseys, the stripes on pants, and even an older helmet (including the throwback worn in 95/96) was navy blue!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Replies: 10
| visibility 6561
|
|
|
50
