Jayhawk Follies Got Start As Substitute for Parade
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University Daily Kansan
Bv SHIRLEY PIATT
Streptocornhuskermycin, a cornhuskers from football fields. 1552 Jayhawk Follies at 8:20 p.m. man basketball game.
Doc Yak, played by Lynn Goodwin, college junior, has thrown away his old-fashioned pep pills for this new and better medicine, a fea
Mythical Hawk Was a Toucan
The mythical Kansas Jayhawk has many stories of its origin on record, but here's the official version.
By VELMA GASTON
In the last of the 1920s, according to a Daily Kansan story in the Nov. 25, 1928 issue, Thomas W. Caffey, a student who lived at the Pi Upsilon fraternity house, received a gift from Central America.
The story goes that because this specimen, by a stretch of the imagination, resembled the famous KU emblem the owner offered it as the first and last University mascot.
The gift was a toucan, a tropical bird of bright yellow and black hues with a long beak. The toucan's bill was said to be faintly tinted crimson and blue by all loyal to the University.
The bird, which represented the spirit of Kansas, was appropriately named "Chalkie."
Chalkie was tended by the pledges at the fraternity house with loving care. The bird gained nation-wide recognition during its brief reign as the University mascot.
Then on the night before the 1928 Kansas-Missouri contests, a zealous freshman was tending the bird, and in order to kep it warm through the cold November night, he began a new fire. During the night the heating plant failed and the bird caught cold. It died before morning.
Chalkie's death proved to be an ill omen. The tigers defeated the Jayhawkers 25 to 6 the following day and the 1928 homecoming was carried out with gloom.
The only flesh and blood Jayhawk was stuffed and remained in the thick of campus life for many years until he was apparently lost. His whereabouts remain a mystery today.
As the memory of Chalkie faded, Kansans returned to the popular fable which was summarized in a radio broadcast in December 1926.
"The Jayhawk is a myth, made up of a composite of the blue jay and the sparrow hawk, the Jayhawk myth has become the symbol of the spirit of robber birds, of reckless plundering. Only the benevolent spirit of comradeship, of courage, and of fighting qualities, remain."
medicine guaranteed to eradicate will be pushed by Doc Yak at the tonight following the varsity-fresh-
ture of the doc's medicine show to be shown in the Follies.
This year's Follies is packed with a variety of entertainment. The program includes square dancing, modern dancing, and a can-can chorus line. Musical numbers vary from songs by the glee clubs to musis by a hill billy band.
The crowd, although not as large as that which usually attended the homecoming parades, was surprisingly sizable. Success of the 1948 variety show prompted the homecoming committee to continue the show.
Candidates for homecoming queen will be introduced to the audience as a climax of the show. Introduction of the University women competing for the homecoming throne has been a vital phase of the Jayhawk Follies since the beginning of the show.
The Follies began in 1948 when the homecoming committee decided to substitute a Friday night program for a traditional parade which committee members believed took up too much of students' time.
The 1948 homecoming game was played with Nebraska early in the football season. It was to provide good weather conditions for the program which later became the Follies.
The program, a variety show, was held in the evening in the north bowl of the stadium. Although it was early fall, the piano player got numb fingers and the queen and her attendants shivered and shook as they were introduced to the crowd.
The 1949 homecoming game was played later in the season than the previous year's games. Weather conditions prevented presenting an outdoor show, so the Follies were moved from the stadium to Hoch auditorium.
The homecoming show was given its present name, Jayhawk Follies, in 1949, and the production changed from a variety show and developed a theme.
Featured in the Follies that year were a singing and dancing chorus of Jay James and Red Peppers, short novelty, black face, and balancing acts, two girl clowns, and a 30-piece orchestra directed by Russell L. Wiley, professor of band and orchestra.
One big flaw marked the 1949 Follies. A basketball game between the Varsity and the freshman teams followed the Follies. There was no admission charge to the Follies, but a charge of 50 cents was asked for the basketball game.
A short 30 minute intermission following the Follies failed to provide enough time to clear the auditorium of Follies spectators in time for the game. Many people lingered behind hoping to be overlooked and
Friday, Nov. 7, 1952
An original program with no admission charge written to make students forget education, drew a large audience to Hoch auditorium for the 1950 Follies.
Since the 1949 experience, Varsity-freshman basketball games have been played before the Follies.
The nightshirt parade enacted in
in doing so, to avoid paying to see the game.
Another skit told the story of "Phog" Allen's dream team. While coaching at KU in 1920, Dr. Allen had a dream, which tipped him off on a play. The team used the play and defeated Iowa State 7 to 0.
On stage to encourage the players was a cheering section of nearly 100 students who opened their mouths in "55-seconds-to-go-six-points-behind" horror, but never spoke a word.
The actual "dream" play was portrayed by actor-players performing a delicate and precise routine of charging, punting, and passing.
the 1951 Jayhawk Follies. The production consisted of skits of college life as it existed in 1900 and as it exists today.
The 1552 Follies is being planned under the direction of Clayton Krehbibel, assistant professor of music education, and Thomas Shay, instructor of speech.
one skit showed celebrators urging the chancellor to get out of bed and join in the fun.
Where Are They Going?
Then and Now was the theme of
Members of the Follies committee are Jim Perry, president of KuKu's men's pep organization; Grace Endacott, president of Jay Janes, women's pep organization; Jane Heywood, vice president of Jay Janes; Alane West, president of the women's glee club; William Krehbiel, president of men's glee club; Bill Sears, president of band; Lynden Goodwin, college junior, and Jerry Scott, college sophomore.
VERN SCHNEIDER
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