HOBO DAY The date – November 2, 1912. The event – first Hobo Day at State College. Hobo Day is said to have originated with several students eating ice cream and talking at a local drug store in 1912. The topic of conversation was a way to rescue the sagging school spirit, caused to some degree when State lost its first two football games of the season: 34-0 to Carleton, and 73-7 to the University of South Dakota. Many ideas of a homecoming day were brought up, but none were taken with any enthusiasm until someone mentioned an idea that had been attempted elsewhere. Although the idea wasn’t very successful in other places, it did seem to hold some potential for South Dakota State. Thus, the biggest one-day event in South Dakota was born. Prior homecoming activities had featured a traditional “nightshirt parade” with snake dance which led the students through Brookings until they arrived at the train depot in time to meet the night train. That practice continued until one fall when the college authorities decided it was undignified for female students to participate in this activity. Thus the idea for any new tradition had to include the female students. Costumes conceived in 1912 had males dressed as hoboes and girls as maidens. Even the first Hobo Day would prohibit the use of the razor. Student regulations that year stated that any male student show shaved after the Monday morning preceding the festivities would be initiated into the Bull Moose Club with a barrel and an oak lathe. Girls had to wear their hair in a braid and anyone who failed to do so would be “painted with red ink and have their hair braided.” Students, dressed in costumes, assembled at the “Old North Chapel” before they marched to the depot to meet the Yankton College football team. The parade started toward the train depot with a Hobo Band and the entire student body following to meet the Yankton team. The Industrial Collegian reported: “At the rally, onlookers couldn’t tell whether they were in an 1849 Indian village or a twentieth century division point of the Northwest railroad.” On the way back to campus, most students stopped at Brookings residents’ back doors and “bummed” ingredients for mulligan stew. Weary Willie made his first appearance in 1950 and Dirty ’Lil became an annual attraction in 1976. The Industrial Collegian of Nov. 5, 1912, reported: “the first Hobo Day was one of the biggest days SDSC has ever seen.” And they hadn’t seen anything yet. For the record, the initial idea worked — the Jacks won the football game 6-3.
RECORD VS. HOBO DAY OPPONENTS
Team Augustana Creighton (Neb.) Hamline (Minn.) McNeese State (La.) Minnesota State, Mankato Missouri-Rolla Morningside Nebraska-Omaha North Dakota North Dakota State Northern Colorado Northern Iowa SDSU Army South Dakota South Dakota Tech
136
W-L-T 7-1-0 1-1-0 2-0-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 4-0-0 3-1-0 11-12-2 1-5-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 17-11-3 1-0-0
First 1946 1923 1920 2008 2000 2005 1927 1984 1914 1917 1981 2009 1944 1915 1913
Last 2004 1925 1945 2008 — — 1996 1998 2002 1995 — — — 1991 —
St. Cloud State St. John’s (Minn.) Stephen F. Austin (Texas) UC Davis Wichita State (Kan.) Yankton College Overall Record
2-0-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 56-35-5
1997 1953 2007 2006 1937 1912
2003 — — — — —
*While the records show 96 Hobo Day games, there have been 98 Hobo Days. There was no game in 1918 during World War I and in 1943, the game was between two Army special training teams from campus.
HOBO DAY SCORES 1912: Yankton College W, 6-3 1913: South Dakota Mines W, 36-0 1914: North Dakota W, 14-3 1915: South Dakota L, 0-7 1916: North Dakota W, 14-7 1917: North Dakota State W, 21-14 1918: No game — World War I 1919: North Dakota W, 9-7 1920: Hamline W, 14-0 1921: North Dakota W, 27-14 1922: South Dakota T, 7-7 1923: Creighton W, 27-20 1924: South Dakota W, 10-3 1925: Creighton L, 0-19 1926: South Dakota T, 0-0 1927: Morningside W, 44-7 1928: South Dakota W, 13-0 1929: North Dakota L, 6-7 1930: South Dakota W, 13-6 1931: North Dakota L, 6-34 1932: South Dakota T, 0-0 1933: North Dakota W, 18-2 1934: South Dakota W, 19-0 1935: North Dakota T, 6-6 1936: South Dakota L, 0-6 1937: Wichita State W, 20-6 1938: South Dakota L, 0-7 1939: North Dakota W, 14-13 1940: South Dakota L, 0-26 1941: North Dakota L, 15-33 1942: South Dakota L, 0-7 1943: Two Army Special Training Teams played to 6-6 tie 1944: SDS Army W, 6-0 1945: Hamline W, 25-0 1946 Augustana W, 26-6 1947: South Dakota L, 7-36 1948: Augustana W, 20-6 1949: South Dakota W, 27-25 1950: North Dakota T, 21-21 1951: South Dakota L, 6-26 1952: North Dakota W, 60-6 1953: St. John’s (Minn.) L, 13-26 1954: North Dakota W, 34-20 1955: South Dakota W, 27-7 1956: North Dakota W, 14-13 1957: South Dakota W, 21-13 1958: North Dakota L, 12-30 1959: South Dakota W, 12-7 1960: North Dakota L, 23-27 1961: South Dakota W, 34-6 1962: North Dakota W, 26-0 1963: South Dakota W, 63-0 1964: North Dakota L, 28-35 1965: South Dakota W, 30-14
2010 JACKRABBIT FOOTBALL MEDIA GUIDE
1966: North Dakota L, 0-43 1967: South Dakota W, 42-14 1968: North Dakota L, 16-21 1969: South Dakota W, 20-14 1970: North Dakota L, 3-36 1971: South Dakota L, 18-37 1972: North Dakota L, 21-51 1973: South Dakota L, 10-36 1974: Augustana W, 35-6 1975: South Dakota W, 24-22 1976: North Dakota W, 28-6 1977: South Dakota L, 10-15 1978: South Dakota L, 7-24 1979: South Dakota W, 26-21 1980: North Dakota State L, 16-23 1981: Northern Colorado L, 20-22 1982: North Dakota State L, 3-10 1983: North Dakota State L, 12-24 1984: Nebraska-Omaha L, 24-27 1985: South Dakota W, 24-12 1986: North Dakota State L, 7-49 1987: Nebraska-Omaha W, 28-24 1988: Augustana W, 37-22 1989: Morningside W, 13-12 1990: Augustana L, 0-31 1991: South Dakota W, 21-18 1992: Nebraska-Omaha W, 21-0 1993: Augustana W, 35-25 1994: Morningside W, 56-17 1995: North Dakota State L, 17-26 1996: Morningside W, 31-13 1997: St. Cloud State W, 21-16 1998: Neb.-Omaha (2 OT) W, 30-27 1999: North Dakota W, 21-7 2000: Minn. State, Mankato L, 17-21 2001: Augustana W, 31-21 2002: North Dakota L, 13-21 2003: St. Cloud State W, 27-24 2004: Augustana W, 38-9 2005: Missouri-Rolla W, 64-28 2006: UC Davis W, 22-21 2007: Stephen F. Austin W, 45-0 2008: McNeese State (3 OT) L, 44-46 2009: Northern Iowa W, 24-14 SDSU has played 48 Hobo Day games at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, with a 28-20-0 record. The games have attracted 514,977 fans, an average of 10,729 per game. Hobo Day 2010 is set for Oct. 23, when the Jackrabbits host Youngstown State.