Rooter Caps

In September 1939 the All Students’ Club broke with tradition and abandoned the traditional green freshman caps, adopting instead orange and white “rooter caps” sold to all classes by the Beaver Club (freshman caps did have a green button on the top, while all other caps had orange buttons). The hats served as the admission to the special “rooters” section at football games, and an expanded number of seats were available for students. The rooter caps had their inaugural use in performing stunts at the October Sewanee football game. A large orange U T was spelled out with the caps, which was changed to white on an orange background during the game. In the second half, S C O R E was formed with the orange side of the caps against a white background. Following the inaugural use of the caps; students were asked to wear white shirts, blouses, or sweaters; hats were to have the brims turned down in order not to show streaks of the wrong color; and students were asked not to stand up during the stunt to observe it because doing so spoiled the overall design. The caps were also used at the Auburn game.