Old Oaken Bucket
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| Old Oaken Bucket | |
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| Teams | Indiana Hoosiers Purdue Boilermakers |
| Originated | 1925 |
| Trophy Series | Purdue leads, 54-26-3 |
| All-Time Series | Purdue leads, 68-36-6 |
| Current Holder | Indiana |
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| Indiana (26) 1930 1934 1935 1940 1941 1942 1944 1945 1946 1947 1962 1967 1971 1976 1977 1981 1982 1987 1988 1990 1991 1993 1994 1996 2001 2007 |
Purdue (54) 1926 1927 1928 1929 1931 1932 1933 1937 1938 1939 1943 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1975 1978 1979 1980 1983 1984 1985 1986 1989 1992 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 |
| Ties (3) 1925 1936 1958 |
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The Old Oaken Bucket is the name of the trophy that is annually awarded to the winner of the Big Ten Conference college football game between Indiana University and Purdue University. It is one of the oldest football trophies in the nation. It is symbolic of collegiate football supremacy between the two largest public universities in Indiana which play it at the highest level, NCAA Division I. The trophy was first awarded in 1925 and is one of the most famous football trophies.
Purdue leads the series 54 to 26 with three ties. The Boilermakers have won eight of the last ten contests. Indiana won the 2007 contest 27-24.
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[edit] History of the Trophy
The concept of a trophy for football games played annually between Purdue University and Indiana University was first proposed during a joint meeting of the Chicago chapters of the Indiana and Purdue alumni organizations in 1925:
- “discuss the possibility of undertaking worthy joint enterprises in behalf of the two schools.”
During that meeting Indiana alumnus Dr. Clarence Jones and Purdue alumnus Russel Gray were appointed to propose a suitable trophy. At a subsequent meeting in Chicago Jones and Gray recommended some oaken bucket be that trophy and the chapters drafted the resolution that:
- “an old oaken bucket as the most typical Hoosier form of trophy, that the bucket should be taken from some well in Indiana, and that a chain to be made of bronze block "I" and "P" letters should be provided for the bucket. The school winning the traditional football game each year should have possession of the "Old Oaken Bucket" until the next game and should attach the block letter representing the winning school to the bail with the score engraved on the latter link”.
Purdue alumnus Fritz Earnst and Indiana alumnus Wiley J. Huddle were appointed to find a suitable oak bucket. They found such a bucket at the then Bruner family farm between Kent and Hanover in southern Indiana.[1] Although the bucket might have been used at an open well on the Bruner family farm that had been settled during the 1840s, the Bruner family lore indicates that the bucket might have been used under General John Hunt Morgan's command during the Civil War and might have arrived at the farm after one of the Bruner men returned following completion of their military service.
In accordance with the Chicago alumni organization's resolution, the winner of the bucket gets a "P" or "I" link added to the chain of the bucket. In case of a tie, an "I-P" link is added. Interestingly enough, the inaugural Old Oaken Bucket Game ended in a 0-0 deadlock Nov. 21, 1925, in Bloomington resulting in the very first and most visible link, an "I-P" link, being added.
[edit] The poem "The Old Oaken Bucket"
The name of the trophy refers to a sentimental poem written in 1817 by an unsuccessful printer and publisher, Samuel Woodworth (1784 – 1842) which begins:
- "How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
- When fond recollection presents them to view!
- The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,
- And every loved spot which my infancy knew!
- ...And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well—
- The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
- The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.
Although Samuel Woodworth was not from Indiana, the poem exemplifies the sentiment felt by the people of Indiana towards their home state. The poem was set to music in 1826 by G. F. Kiallmark (1804-1887)[2] and memorized or sung by generations of American schoolchildren; it made the poet's unpretentious childhood home in Scituate, Massachusetts the goal of sentimental tourists in the late 19th century.
[edit] External links
- Indiana-Purdue Series History
- History of the Bucket (Purdue)
- History of the Bucket (Indiana) including a good photograph
- Scituate Historical Society: Old Oaken Bucket Homestead
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