Poster: "Trailing Toomer’s Traditions: A History of the Modern Celebration at Auburn University"

Description:

     Today, throwing toilet paper on Toomer's Corner is a well-known and loved way to
celebrate in Auburn. Toomer's Corner has been a popular place to celebrate at Auburn University
since at least the 1930s (Logue 1938). But the act of throwing paper in downtown Auburn during
celebrations is more recent. Through this trend and the specific Auburn historical context,
throwing toilet paper at the Auburn oaks becomes a mode and method of Auburn community.
Not only through the University, but also the surrounding town of Auburn, Alabama.

Pictures of Auburn, Alabama, and its university often show an oak tree covered in toilet
paper. Why is this so important and unique? It stands out. Usually, wrapping a tree in toilet paper
is considered a funny prank because it can be hard and messy to clean up. Auburn even has a
special team that cleans up the toilet paper for the entire day afterwards (Henry 2017)

It means that Auburn has won in some way. Usually in sports, and usually football, but
not always. The tradition might come from ticker tape parades. At first, people did not throw
toilet paper, but paper from telegraph machines, called ticker tape. Ticker tape parades started in
New York in the early 1900s. Strips of ticker tape were thrown at parades from tall buildings to
show support. The practice even continues today (Jackson 2015).

Toomer's Drugs was the only place in town with a telegraph machine in the 1960s. It was
the only way to find out if Auburn won a football game away from home. At first, the ticker tape
was only thrown on the power lines in the nearby area. Later, the power lines were buried
underground, changing the landscape of the downtown area (Auburn University n.d.). Auburn
people still wanted to celebrate their wins, so they threw the ticker tape onto the oak trees. The
practice was not consistent until the middle or late 1970s

When did the toilet paper start? Some say it started after an Auburn game in the early
1970s, but sources disagree on which game. Many say it started with a rude saying (Stokes
2022). Which used toilet paper as an allegory for what the Auburn team would do to the other
team. There's also a story about toilet paper was already popular in Auburn. In 1962, an Auburn
professor, two students, and another person were arrested for stealing toilet paper from a cafe
and bringing it back to Auburn (Opelika Daily). That could correlate to the use in toilet paper,
but that correlation is not likely.

Toilet paper may have started to be advertised in Alabama in the 1880s (The Montgomery
Advertiser 1881, 3), then later in Lee County in the 1920s (Opelika Daily 1926, 2). The use of
toilet paper isn’t only a part of the tradition; it’s also a part of a wider trend in the history of
American toilet paper. Despite being a part of a larger culture, Auburn makes a unique
experience by treating the act as a celebration, away from the typical use.

-Riley Nelson 

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