November 27

1868  Battle of Washita, Oklahoma occurs.  7th Cavalry under George Custer attacks Cheyenne camp of Chief Black Kettle.  The Cheyenne band attacked was not at war with the US, and Black Kettle, who was killed in the battle, had been the same unfortunate leader who had been attacked at Sand Creek some years earlier, when his band was likewise not at war with the United States.

1869  Suffrage bill introduced in, and passed in, the Territorial Senate.

1903  Casper's oldest bank declared bankrupt.  This was prior, of course, to the FDIC and the FSLIC, so the economic impact of a bank becoming insolvent could be truly devastating to those with accounts in the bank.  Attribution, Wyoming History Calendar.

1916 Laramie Daily Boomerang for November 27, 1916: ROTC established at the University of Wyoming
 

ROTC comes to UW, and the big water case advances.

1918  November 27, 1918. The Consumer Economy appears, and the Nation resumes a Peacetime Economy.

The Laramie Boomerang reported that the country was resuming a peacetime economy and cutting appropriations, which in fact was done very rapidly, and with a somewhat disastrous impact on the national economy and individual businesses. At the same time, the paper was reporting that a giant military commitment of 1,200,000 men would remain in Europe for the time being.

At UW, the campus military training detachment was standing down.  Mass military training at UW came to an end.

The Casper newspaper, however, was focused on Thanksgiving, which in 1918 occurred on November 28.

To my surprise, Thanksgiving was clearly already associated with shopping, giving evidence to that phenomenon having existed much earlier than I would have supposed.  Indeed, an occasional topic of historical focus in some areas of historical focus is when the consumer economy first appeared.  Whenever that was (and its generally regarded as having its origins prior to World War One, it was clearly before 1918 as the stores in Cheyenne were going to be open to 9:00 this evening.

1923 (linked in for the Casper item) Tuesday, November 27, 1923. Oklahoma Senate Approves Ban On Mask, Oil Filters, Odd feats of strength.

No, not that kind of mask you might see in a headline today, but rather the costume of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Wiggins shoe store mentioned in this article was still open in the 1990s, and maybe the 2000s.  It no longer is. By that time, it was one of two shoe repair shops still operating downtown.

Now there are none.

The modern oil filter was patented by George H. Greenhalgh. Prior to this, automobiles simply used a screen, which would partially account for the short engine life early automobiles had.

The Purolator oil filter is essentially what most vehicles use today, and is still in production.

The Purolator original design featured the cardboard filter which was inserted into a fixed housing.  I've worked on vehicles that retained this filter design exactly, and it is essentially the same as a modern filter except now the housing comes with the filter, and you replace the entire thing.  I've also worked on cars that used this sort of filter for their fuel filter.

While a revolutionary design, it did not become immediately widespread.  It wasn't until the 1950s, apparently, when they became universal, although my 1946 CJ2A, which I sold long ago, had one.  A 1954 Chevrolet Sedan I once had also had one.

1924  A schoolhouse was dedicated in Salt Creek.  Salt Creek was, and remains, one of Natrona County's earliest oilfields.

1941     Joint Army-Navy signal to Hawaii states, "This dispatch is to be considered a war warning.  Negotiations with Japan looking toward stabilization of conditions in the Pacific have ceased and an aggressive move by Japan is expected within the next few days. The number and equipment of Japanese troops and the organization of naval task forces indicates an amphibious expedition against either the Philippines, Thai or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo. Execute an appropriate defensive deployment preparatory to carrying out the tasks assigned in WPL46. Inform District and Army authorities. A similar warning is being sent by War Department. Spenavo inform British. Continental districts, Guam, Samoa directed take appropriate measures against sabotage".

November 21

1842  Alfred Packer, Colorado cannibal, born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. 

1860  Tom Horn born in Scotland County Missouri.

1865  Platte Bridge Station renamed Ft. Caspar in honor of the late Caspar Collins, who had lost his life at the Battle of Platte Bridge Station earlier that year.

1877     Inventor Thomas A. Edison unveiled the phonograph.

1887  The Wyoming Central Railway opened its line between Douglas and Glenrock, thereby extending its rail service to the state line.

1895  The Federal District Court, sitting in Cheyenne, held that the Treaty of 1868 exempted Indians from the State's game laws.  The decision would later be reversed.

1910  August Malchow defeated by Peter Jensen of Omaha, the "Battling Dane", in a fight at the Kirby Opera House in Sheridan.  See September 25 for more on Malchow.

1913  Nathaniel Burt, author, born in Moose.

1919  Chasing Carlisle. November 21, 1919

The Hole In the Wall Country, November 2019.

On this day in 1919, the newspapers were reporting that Bill Carlisle was headed for a location that was the archtype of destination for regional bands. . . some twenty years prior.

The Hole In the Wall.

After all, where would a Wyoming train robber on the lam go, other than to the same place that Butch and Sundance had?

Scene from the Red Wall Country, November 2019.

Well, it was a romantic notion.  Wyoming in 1919 wasn't the Wyoming of 1899, or even 1909, no matter how much the thought of a wild flight to the Hole In The Wall might have been fancied the imagination of a people for whom that region had been an impenetrable criminal fortress only a couple of decades prior.

In 1919, the territory was still wild in many ways.  Indeed, the first decade of the 20th Century saw an ongoing range war in the form of a cattlemen v. sheepmen killings.  As late as the latter part of the first decade of the 20th Century a criminal escapee simply disappeared forever.

But by the same token, by 1919 the criminal sanctuary no longer was one. There was no more Hole In The Wall Gang.  Most of the former members of that group were dead, in prison, or reformed.  Following the Tipton train robbery by The Wild Bunch, the authorities were no longer willing to tolerate the lack of law enforcement that allowed it to continue to exist and were willing to expend the resources necessary to penetrate it.  Prior to that happening, the badmen dispersed. Some would return, and as late as the 00s, but they weren't hitting trains.

Carlisle was.

Buffalo Creek Canyon, December 2019.

Indeed, part of the appeal of the Carlisle story is that he was already an anachronism, in his own time.  In 1919, the year after the Great War had ended, a war which had featured aircraft and submarines and mass violence on a mass scale, Carlisle was out on his own, in the vast countryside, raiding trains, badly.

People were sort of rooting for him.

Even as they knew, he'd be caught.

1940  Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn were married in Cheyenne.  The wedding took place at the Union Pacific Depot dining room.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1943  Goshen Vounty's harvest declared a success due to the efforts of immigrant Mexican laborers and Prisoners of War.  Attribution.  Wyoming Historical Society's history calendar.

1950  A DC3 (C-47) airplane crashed into Mount Moran, killing all 21 persons on board.  The plane was flying in poor weather.

1957  The Department of Defense announced that F.E. Warren AFB would be the nation's first ICBM base.

1975  Dick Cheney assumes the position of White House Chief of Staff under Gerald Ford.

November 20

1837  Republic of Texas Secretary of State Robert A. Irion recommended that Texas grant copyrights.Attribution:  On This Day.

1866     First national convention of the Grand Army of the Republic.  The GAR would be represented by local chapters throughout the US, including Wyoming, leaving memorials in at least Casper and Basin, Wyoming.

1869  First issue of the Wyoming Tribune published in Cheyenne.

1886  Thomas Moonlight appointed Territorial Governor of Wyoming.

 

1903  Tom Horn hanged for the murder of Willie Nickell.  He was actually hung with the rope he made, like the popular proverb, as he braided the rope while serving time waiting for his execution.

1920  An emergency landing strip was bladed near Laramie. This was not, however, Brees Field. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1945  Mindful of an industry that had become significant in the state even well before World War One, Gov. Lester Hunt urged western governors to cooperate in selling the West to tourists who would follow the end of World War Two.  Attribution. Wyoming History Calendar.

Elsewhere:

1868  Ft. Omaha founded in Nebraska.

1871  John and David McDougall become the first farmers in Alberta.

1910  Francico Madero declares a revolution in Mexico.  Madero's revolution was a success in that Diaz fled the country in 1911. He died in France in 1915, but Madero died well before him, as he was assassinated by those loyal to Gen. Huerta, who had no sympathy with Madero's views.

 

Diaz's long life was one that featured many interesting turns. He joined the Mexican army in the first instance in order to fight against the United States in the Mexican War. He lead guerrillas against Santa Ana upon his return to Mexico. He fought the French with Juarez but was an opponent, sometimes a revolutionary, against Juarez thereafter. He came to rule Mexico in 1877 by popular election, and ironically stepped down after one term having run on that platform. He ran again in 1884 and remained in power until the revolution. While he ultimately was toppled in a revolution, his authoritarian rule of Mexico was the first real period of peace in Mexico since the revolution against Spain, and the country generally prospered. Had he stepped down, as he had indicated he was willing to do, he would be well remembered today.

 

Heurta would die in El Paso Texas, in exile, in 1916, where he was under house arrest after having been detected negotiating with the Germans for arms in violation of the Neutrality Act.

 

Of note here, the involvement in the US in the Mexican Revolution proved to be almost inevitable. The border region was chosen by participants in both sides as a place of refuge, to include both the humble and the conspiratory. Madero, Villa, and Huerta all chose the US as a place of refuge, and a place to base themselves in the hope to return to Mexico and achieve power. Tensions on the US border started with the revolution being declared in 1910, and as early as the first day of the revolution Mexican authorities were assuring the US not to have worries. Tensions would last long after World War One, and the cross border action that started before the war would continue on briefly after the war.

The Wyoming National Guard, like that of every other state, would see border service in this period, first being mustered to serve on the border in 1915.  National Guard service involved nearly constant active duty from March 1915 through World War One.

1917   The Battle of Cambrai opens, and Villa back on the front page. November 20, 1917.
 

As Wyomingites were headed towards Thanksgiving this week, they learned that the giant surprise British attack at Cabrai had been launched. The battle would feature British tanks in a major way.

And Pancho Villa was back in the headlines for the success of his old occupation, as he battled Carranza near the US border.

1919  November 20, 1919. Rumors

Carlisle was being reported as sassy and successful on this day in 1919.  In fact, his attempt at robbing a Union Pacific passenger train near Medicine Bow failed due to his own scruples. . . he couldn't rob soldiers, and he'd been wounded disarming a passenger.

Rumors were circulating that he'd sent a bragging telegram.  I'm not that familiar with the details of this story, but I don't believe that he did.

He had been lost track of, that's true.

But I don't believe that he'd made it to Casper.

The press was giving him greater abilities than he had.

1920 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Woodrow Wilson.

1941  Thursday November 20, 1941. Thanksgiving Day.

 This was Thanksgiving Day in 1941. . . unless it wasn't.

The situation was pretty confused, it's easier to read about it here:

Thanksgiving in World War II

American Thanksgiving is a fairly late Thanksgiving to start with. As has been noted here on earlier posts, this holiday is much less unique to the US than Americans think it is.  Most nations do it earlier, however.

It has moved around in the US case.  The Library of Congress's "Wise Guy" posts, summarize it as follows:

Is it time to buy the turkey? In 1939, it would have been difficult to plan your Thanksgiving dinner for 12.

Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. But that was not always the case. When Abraham Lincoln was president in 1863, he proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be our national Thanksgiving Day. In 1865, Thanksgiving was celebrated the first Thursday of November, because of a proclamation by President Andrew Johnson, and, in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant chose the third Thursday for Thanksgiving Day. In all other years, until 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated as Lincoln had designated, the last Thursday in November.

Then, in 1939, responding to pressure from the National Retail Dry Goods Association to extend the Christmas shopping season, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday back a week, to the next-to-last Thursday of the month. The association had made a similar request in 1933, but at that time, Roosevelt thought the change might cause too much confusion. As it turns out, waiting to make the change in 1939 didn't avoid any confusion.

At the time, the president's 1939 proclamation only directly applied to the District of Columbia and federal employees. While governors usually followed the president's lead with state proclamations for the same day, on this year, 23 of the 48 states observed Thanksgiving Day on November 23, 23 states celebrated on November 30, and Texas and Colorado declared both Thursdays to be holidays. Football coaches scrambled to reschedule games set for November 30, families didn't know when to have their holiday meals, calendars were inaccurate in half of the country, and people weren't sure when to start their Christmas shopping.

After two years of confusion and complaint, President Roosevelt signed legislation establishing Thanksgiving Day as the fourth Thursday in November. Roosevelt, recognizing the problems caused by his 1939 decree, had announced a plan to return to the traditional Thanksgiving date in 1942. But Congress introduced the legislation to ensure that future presidential proclamations could not affect the scheduling of the holiday. Their plan to designate the fourth Thursday of the month allowed Thanksgiving Day to fall on the last Thursday in five out of seven years.

This was the last  year of the confusion, and the split dates.  Sarah Sundin, on her blog, noted:

This was a hugely unpopular decision. While 32 states adopted the earlier date, 16 refused to. In 1939, 1940, and 1941, two dates were celebrated, depending on the state. The later original date was nicknamed “Republican Thanksgiving” and the new early date “Democrat Thanksgiving” or “Franksgiving.”

By mid-1941, Roosevelt admitted the earlier date had no effect on retail sales figures. On October 6, 1941, the House of Representatives voted to move Thanksgiving back to the last Thursday of November. The Senate amended the bill on December 9, 1941 (despite the previous day’s declaration of war on Japan) to make the holiday fall on the fourth Thursday, an accommodation for five-Thursday Novembers. The president signed the legislation on December 26, 1941.

So what about Wyoming in 1941?  Did we do Democratic Thanksgiving or Republican Thanksgiving this year?

Today.

Indeed, it's a little surprising, at least in a modern context, but Wyoming recognized today as the Thanksgiving Holiday for 1941. While Wyoming had a Republican legislature, and a Republican Governor, Nels H. Smith, serving his single term, it followed the Federal lead.

Lots of Americans were having their second military Thanksgiving.

Troops training in the field gathered around cook who is cooking turkey's with a M1937 field range.

Holidays in large wartime militaries, and while the US was not fully at war yet, this really was a wartime military, are a different deal by definition. The service does observe holidays and makes a pretty good effort at making them festive, but with lots of people away from home without wanting to be, they're going to be a bit odd.  Some troops, additionally, are going to be on duty, training, or deployed in far off locations.

As noted above, we've included a wartime photo of a cook in what is undoubtedly a staged photo cooking two turkeys in a M1937 field range, a gasoline powered stove.

They continued to be used through the Vietnam War.

Holiday or not, talks resumed in final earnest between the United States and Japan, with Japanese representatives presenting this proposal to the United States

1. Both the Governments of Japan and the United States undertake not to make any armed advancement into any of the regions in the South?eastern Asia and the Southern Pacific area excepting the part of French Indo-China where the Japanese troops are stationed at present.

2. The Japanese Government undertakes to withdraw its troops now stationed in French Indo-China upon either the restoration of peace between Japan and China or the establishment of an equitable peace in the Pacific area.

In the meantime the Government of Japan declares that it is prepared to remove its troops now stationed in the southern part of French Indo-China to the northern part of the said territory upon the conclusion of the present arrangement which shall later be embodied in the final agreement.

3. The Government of Japan and the United States shall co-operate with a view to securing the acquisition of those goods and commodities which the two countries need in Netherlands East Indies.

4. The Governments of Japan and the United States mutually undertake to restore their commercial relations to those prevailing prior to the freezing of the assets.

The Government of the United States shall supply Japan a required quantity of oil.

5. The Government of the United States undertakes to refrain from such measures and actions as will be prejudicial to the endeavors for the restoration of general peace between Japan and China.

The Germans captured Rostov on the Don in Russia and slowed the British advance in North Africa.

1942 NHL abolishes regular season overtime until World War II is over.

November 5

1872  Ulysses S. Grant was re-elected President.

1879  U.S. Army establishes camp on the Snake River.

1889  Wyoming's Constitution approved by the electorate.

1912    Woodrow Wilson was elected President.

Wilson took 36% of the Wyoming vote that year, with Republican Taft taking 34%.  Progressive Bull Moose Candidate Theodore Roosevelt, backed by Governor Carey who had left the GOP with Roosevelt, took 22%.  Socialists Eugene Debs took 6.5%.  Wilson probably only took Wyoming's electoral votes due tot he split in the Republican Party that year.  It's interesting to note that the popular Roosevelt came behind Taft.  It's also interesting to note that the platforms of Wilson, Roosevelt and Debs were all reform platforms.

1935    Parker Brothers began marketing the board game "Monopoly."

1940  President Franklin Roosevelt wins a third term in office.  Wyoming's electoral votes went to the incumbent President.

1943  A United States Army Air Corps bomber crashed near Evanston.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1961  The Upper Green River Rendezvous Site designated a National Historic Landmark.

1968  Richard M. Nixon elected President of the United States.

Wyoming voted for Nixon, as it has for every Republican Presidential candidate after Lyndon Johnson.

1968  Republican John Wold elected as Congressman from Wyoming.  The Casper based oilman served one term as he gave up this seat to run unsuccessfully against incumbent Senator Gale McGee.

1994    George Foreman became boxing's oldest heavyweight champion at age 45 by knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their WBA fight in Las Vegas.

1996    President Bill Clinton won a second term.

50% of the Wyoming vote went to Republican challenger Bob Dole, with 12% going to 3d party candidate Ross Perot.

1996  Mike Enzi elected Senator from Wyoming.

The popular Enzi remains in Congress and was a central figure in recent efforts to effect a longterm solution to the ongoing American government's fiscal difficulties.  He faces a challenge this year from Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

2014:   After one of the most unusual election seasons in recent Wyoming history, the voters returned results that were actually fairly typical for Wyoming, going back over the last couple of decades.

Republican Governor Matt Mead easily defeated all of his opponents, including Democratic, Libertarian and independent challengers.  A late Tea Party effort revived for Dr. Taylor Haynes fell flat.

The Secretary of State's office went to Cheyenne businessman Ed Murray who likewise easily defeated all of his challengers, which did not include a Democratic challenger.  The inability of the Democrats to field a challenger to the office is perhaps emblematic of their basic collapse, as the office was occupied by a Democrat not all that many years ago.

The Secretary of Education slot went to Jillian Balow in a race that turned out to be surprisingly lopsided, as her Democratic challenger Ceballos was widely regarded as the best Democratic candidate for any office this year and he seemed to have a good deal of support.  Still, he also managed to run a serious campaign and secure over 60,000 votes in a year when the Democrats failed to field candidates for State Auditor, State Treasurer and Secretary of State.

Senator Enzi and Congresswoman Lumis easily defeated their opponents.

In what was perhaps the most surprising news, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed amendment to the State constitution which sought to allow for two trustees for the University of Wyoming to be picked from out of state residents.

In Casper, voters approved both the lodging tax and the renewal of the option 1 Cent sales tax.

Overall, this year would seem to take the recent trend of the complete collapse of the Democratic Party in the state out even further than prior election cycles.  The Democrats were able to field only a single candidate for office who was regarded as being a serious contender, and in the end he did not do as well as anticipated.  They didn't field candidates at all for three of the significant state offices, and none of the candidates for Congress were serious contenders. If the history of prior years hold, the Democrats will continue to fail to pick up the signals from the results, which clearly show that in the last 20 years the state's voters no longer trust the Democratic Party and the majority of active Wyoming Democrats of former years have grown inactive or quit the party entirely, leaving it in the hands of those who seemingly can't read the signs.  To some extent, libertarian third parties did better in performance this year than the Democrats did.

On the other hand, an election cycle that started off with a Tea Party insurgency inside of the GOP saw the voters completely reject that element twice.  Tea Party candidates within the GOP were defeated in the Primary, and Tea Party type elements outside of the GOP did badly in the general election.  Tea Party platforms locally, which seemed to have perhaps defeated the NSCD No. 1 bond earlier in the year, failed to make an impact on the optional 1 Cent tax and the Lodging Tax.  A Constitution Party candidate on the ballot for the Natrona County Commissioners received the least votes of any of the candidates, even when a long term County Commissioner (a Democrat) failed to receive enough votes for reelection.

2016:   Lex Anteinternet: Rally for Public Lands, Casper Wyoming, November 5, 2016

November 2

Today is All Souls Day.

Today is Statehood Day in North Dakota.

Today is Statehood Day in South Dakota.

1812   Robert Stuart and five others began construction of a cabin at the mouth of the Poison Spider Creek in Natrona County..  The cabin was the first cabin known to be built by European Americans in Wyoming, although this does not discount the possibility that French Canadian trappers may have built structures earlier.

The temporary cabin proved to be very temporary, as it happened to be built in area of inter Tribal Indian strife and, therefore, was a dangerous location. Smith and company soon pulled up stakes and relocated for the winter in the location of the current Scotsbluff Nebraska.

For many years, this cabin was marked by a Wyoming Historical Marker sign noting it as the "First White Man's Cabin in Wyoming", but the sign came down some 20 years ago and was never put back up.

1824 In the popular vote Gen. Jackson beat John Quincy Adams in the race for the Presidency, but subsequent actions in Congress would see the House elevate Adams, and not Jackson, to the office.  This, of course, is not specifically Wyoming history, but the geography of what would become Wyoming was already mostly owned by the United States (with some still belonging to Mexico).

1875  The fourth session of the Territorial Legislative Assembly convened in Cheyenne.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1876  Future author  Charles King, 1st Lieutenant 5th Cavalry, serving in the U.S. Army, was detailed to engage in scouting in Wyoming and assigned to Ft. D. A. Russell where he would stay until July, 1877.

King would have an interrupted military career, serving as  late as the 1890s in the Philippines after having had a career in the Frontier Army.  While not well remembered in general for his literary works today, his books on the Frontier are still fondly recalled by those who study and have a fondness for the Frontier Army.

1880 James A. Garfield elected President.

Garfield was honored in at least Casper Wyoming, many years after his death, through the naming of a public school in his honor (which I attended eons ago).  Garfield Elementary School was school constructued in the 20s or 30s, and added on to during the 1950s or 1960s, and renamed to that name in the process.  During the reorganization of the Natrona County School District's schools in recent years, that school was closed and sold, but the name retained and applied to the existing Willard Elementary School, whose name was also retained placing two names on a single school.

1889 Wyoming's neighbors North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.

1907  Former Governor John E. Osborne married  Selina Smith of Princeton Kentucky.

1908  A music school opens in Sheridan Wyoming.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society Calendar.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for November 2, 1916: Attacks on Kendrick, Mexican rebel outrages, and other news
 

Presumably unaware that it was being attacked by The Cheyenne Leader on the same day, for its Kendrick articles, the Tribune kept up the drum beat. . . along with other shocking news.

The Cheyenne Leader for November 2, 1916: The Wyoming Tribune's attacks on Kendrick sponsored by Wall Street figure?
 

The Tribune had been (and will continue to) attacking John B. Kendrick daily on a matter of a state land purchase.  The Leader, in today's issue, claimed that the attacks were sponsored by an out of state opponent.

Even if they were, of course, the Tribune was staunchly Republican and backing all the GOP candidates that year. And it was sensationalist at the time as well.

1917   Freshman Caps? The Wyoming Student, November 2, 1917.
 

Freshman caps?

I'd  never heard of such a tradition, and it certainly didn't exist while I was at UW, that's for sure.

It seems they were passed out around Halloween and you were compelled to wear them, if you were a UW freshman, until the Thanksgiving break.

Based on the description, I guessed they were beanies.  And in looking up the term, I found that, yes, in fact, they were. Apparently this was a widespread college tradition at the time.  For example, the college paper for Ohio State reported in a 2014 article:

Freshmen Buckeyes were required to put on another hat besides their thinking cap back in the day

Just over 100 years ago, the tradition of the class cap was born, and all freshmen men were required to wear a class cap  or beanie as initiation into the university.

According to OSU archives, the cap tradition began in 1912 and its look changed throughout its lifetime at OSU, including styles such as “jockey-style,” the “knitted toboggan” and the “peanut-shaped skull cap.”

And Penn State's college paper recalled the tradition in a 2015 article:

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In 1906, upperclassmen at the then-Pennsylvania State College voted to have freshmen wear something to distinguish them from the rest of the students — thus the tradition of the "dink" was born.

Easily identified by the small beanie caps, freshmen were expected to know Penn State trivia and history and were often randomly called upon by upperclassmen to prove they were knowledgeable about their new school.

At least some schools preserve the tradition slightly:

RAT caps were first found on Georgia Tech’s campus in 1915. They were originally called “freshmen caps” because of the white F on the front of the cap standing for “Freshmen” rather than the traditional “T” we see today. All freshmen were required to wear the caps every day until the end of spring quarter unless Tech beat UGA in the fall quarter’s freshman football game. Freshmen caught without their RAT cap were subjected to punishment including what is known as the “T-cut”, which entailed a student’s hair being shaved into the shape of a “T”. RAT rules were enforced by Ramblin’ Reck Club and other upperclassmen. Anti-hazing policies led to the end of RAT rules. Today, out of respect for the tradition, freshmen receive a RAT cap at Convocation. Although it is now a voluntary tradition, students are encouraged to show their Tech spirit by wearing it to home football games. The marching band is a proud supporter of this wonderful Tech tradition.

A line in the last paragraph suggests something that probably is self evident.  No matter what the traditional was, it'd be difficult for this tradition to be carried on today.  Even though this tradition is long dead, some (student probably) commented on the Ohio State items thus:

This is flat out hazing. If we’re trying to remember this in a positive light, the entire university needs to reconsider how we look at student initiations.

Hmmmm. . . I'm certainly opposed to hazing, and I'm glad these weren't around when I was in university, but that seems a bit of an over reaction.  Apparently some other reader (student?) also thought so as well, starting off with  "(***), you are softer than baby thighs." and going on from there.

Well, a long gone hat related tradition.  I know of a few others, but this is one that I frankly was completely unaware of.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Related threads:

Caps, Hats, Fashion and Perceptions of Decency and being Dressed.

1919  E. G. (Gerry) Meyer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and former Dean of College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  As of the date of this entry (2019) Professor Meyer was a alive and still occupying the noted position.

  

1948  Wyoming votes for incumbent Harry Truman in the 1948 Presidential election.  Truman receives 52,354 votes to Dewey's 47,947.

1976. James E. Carter elected President of the United States.

Carter can be regarded as fitting into the more recent era of  Wyoming's politics in which Democratic candidates have had a much more difficult time on a local and national level, in regards to Wyoming's elections.  Carter himself was elected in the wake of the Watergate Disaster and was not a popular candidate in Wyoming, where he did not receive the state's support.  No Democrat running for President has received any significant support in Wyoming since Lyndon Johnson.

1982  Governor Ed Herschler elected to an unprecedented third term.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

 

Gov. Herschler receving a Stetson from a ceremonial detail, dressed in the uniforms of the Frontier 5th Cavalry, U.S. Army, from F. E. Warren Air Force Base.

In contrast to Democratic candidates for Federal offices, Herschler is proof, along with later Governors Sullivan and Freudenthal, that the local Democratic party can still contend for the Governor's office, in spite of the decline in the Democratic Party's fortunes in Wyoming.  Herschler was a popular Governor, and had an interesting personal history, including serving as a Marine Corps raider during World War Two.

2004 President George W. Bush was elected to a second term.

2010  Matt Mead obtains the majority vote in the Wyoming Gubernatorial election.

2012  It is reported that half of Wyoming County, West Virginia, was without power due to Hurricane Sandy.

2015:  The City of Casper, in a special referendum, approved the reinstatement of a full ban on smoking in buildings open to the public.  The history of the topic had been particularly bitter and confused, with an ordinance having been passed, then amended to allow smoking in bars, which was struck down by the Wyoming Supreme Court.

October 11

1809         Meriwether Lewis, soldier, explorer, dies by his own hand at age 39.  Lewis had performed heroically with the Corps of Discovery, but he suffered from what today would be regarded as periodic episodes of severe depression.

1869  The Red River Rebellion commences in Manitoba when Canadian surveyor Adam Clark Webb and his crew try to mark off a long farm field belonging to Metis André Nault.  Nault asked them to leave and they refused.  Metis then intervened, without arms, and compelled the surveyors to depart.  The Metis had roots down into Montana and traveled for hunting as far south as Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

1890  Wyoming's first state elected officers took their offices.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1912  The film Charge of the Light Brigade premiered.  The film has scenes that were filmed at the Army/Army National Guard training range of Pole Mountain in it.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1914  Richard Daniels Jr., one of the child actors in the Our Gang series, born in Rock Springs.  Daniels would continue to act in to his early adult years and remained popular with fans, but ultimately intentionally dropped out of sight.  He died at age 55 due to the effects of alcoholism.

1918  Countdown on the Great War. October 11, 1918. The flu takes hold in Wyoming.

Private Frank Sovicki, 338407, Company C, Fourth Infantry, of 318 East Central St., Shenandoah, PA., first Amer to escape from a German prison camp. Escaped to Switzerland, October 11, 1918.

1.  Allied forces take Niis, Serbia.

2.  The flu spreads in Wyoming:

The state was now reporting 2,000 cases of the Spanish Flu.

4th Liberty Loan parade, St. Helena Training Station.  October 11, 1918.

1929  JC Penney, whose first store was in Kemmerer, opens store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making his company the first retail chain to have an outlet in every state (the 48) in the US.

1936  Franklin and Elanor Roosevelt attended Sunday morning services at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Cheyenne.  In that earlier era, the extent to which the relationship between the President and First Lady was somewhat strained was not really apparent to the general public, although it was somewhat known to their close associates.  This had resulted from an affair that Franklin Roosevelt had with Elanor's social secretary early in their marriage. The marriage never really recovered as a traditional marriage thereafter and the pair went on to be close political partners with an unusual relationship thereafter.

1936  Educator, lawyer, author, engineer, and polymath Grace Hebard died in Laramie.

1968  Apollo 7 launched, Coup in Panama. October 11, 1968

Florida as viewed from Apollo 7.

1.  It was the first of the Apollo missions to be manned.

2.  Panama underwent a military coup.  It would remain controlled by its military for quite some time thereafter.  The democratically elected Arnulfo Arias had been in office twice before, in the 40s and 50s, but was in office for only eleven days on this occasion.

1919  October 11, 1919. Air Derby, Disasters At Sea, Strife in Russia, Newspapers by Air.

Lt. B. W. Maynard, right, in front of a DH-4.  Sgt. Kline was Maynard's mechanic and in the second seat. This photo was taken during the Air Derby.

The press was taking an interest in a particular pilot, B. W. Maynard.  Maynard was an Army aviator, but the press liked the idea that Maynard was an ordained minister, which he was not. Rather, prior to World War One, he had been a seminary student at Wake Forest.

Maynard had become an Army pilot during World War One, and he was still flying in 1919, just after the war was over.  He was killed in 1922 preforming stunts in a "flying circus" event.

Too much was going on, on this day, otherwise to really summarize it. Even the headlines of the papers were a mess.

One new oddity was, however, that the Casper Herald flew newspapers to Riverton, showing how much the Air Deby had captivated the imagination of the state.

2015:  Casper's Balefill Fire was rolling.

Holscher's Hub: Casper Bale Fill Fire, October, 11 2015

Holscher's Hub: Casper Bale Fill Fire, October 2015

2019  International Day of the Girl Child.

Elsewhere:

1649  The Sack of Wexford occurred in which the English New Model Army troops stormed the town of Wexford, Ireland and killed over 2,000 Irish Confederate troops and 1,500 civilians. [/quote]

One of the casualties of the New Model Army that day was a direct ancestor of mine, a resident of Wexford armed to resist the Cromwellian forces.