TUMBLEWEED SMITH

HIGH SCHOOL MASCOTS

One of the most enjoyable articles I have ever read is about high school mascots. I put it in a file somewhere and every once in a while I’ll run across it and enjoy it all over again.

I recently found an old column written by John Walker about high school mascots. In it he mentioned the Winters Blizzards and Hamlin Pied Pipers as being logical mascots. Years ago I did a column on the only unicorn mascot in the state. That was in New Braunfels.

A couple of my favorite mascots are the Trent Gorillas and the Crane Cranes. Big Spring High School’s boys’ teams are called Steers. The girls’ teams are called Lady Steers.

Walker put his tongue firmly in his cheek and pondered what some of the school mascots could be, like the Buffalo Chip or Carbon Copy. Others are the Dayton Tires, Wall Flowers, Bland Diets, Blanket Warmers, Boling Balls, Decatur Eighters, Detroit Cars, Dilley Dallies, Graham Crackers, Harmony Singers, Hart Breakers, Industry Workers, Kashmere Sweaters, Kermit Frogs, Hudson Packards, Lohn Sharks, Marfa Lights, Moody Blues, Morton Salts, Newton Figs, Polar Bears, Rice Crispies, Wheeler Dealers, Roma Gladiators, and La Grange Hookers.

I got out the Texas Almanac and decided I would add to the list of what some communities in our state might have for mascots.

These include the Aiken Backs, Alamo Defenders, Alice Wonderlands, Alvin Chipmunks, Angus T-Bones, Art Classes, Black Nights, Bois d’Arc Stumps, Bright Star Twinkles, Coffee City Saucers, Colony Ants, Cottonwood Trees, Cross Cut Saws, Cut N Shoot Outlaws, Dial Tones, Ding Dong Bells, Early Birds, Ebenezer Scrooges, Gun Barrel City Triggers, Hammond Organs, Holly Jollies, Kellogg Peps, Lavender Plants, London Bridge, Mars Rovers and Mayflower Ships.

Then there are the Mission Monks, Montgomery Wards, Murphy Beds, Nome Huskies, Noonday Onions, Oatmeal Cookies, Orange Slices, Oscar Winners, Pancake Syrups, Pandora Boxes, Paris Fashions, Peacock Feathers, Pearl Divers, Pike Fishes, Pinewood Derbies, Post Toasties, Princeton Smarties, Pumpkin Patches, Pullman Train Cars, Rice Pudding, Rosebud Bloomers, Roundup Stampedes, St Lawrence Rivers, Salem Broom Riders, Salmon Patties, Sandy Beaches, Santa Anna Generals, Shamrock Clovers, Silver Dollars, Sherwood Forests, Spring Bouquets, Star Brights, Sunnyside Ups, Swan Lakes, Tarzan Yells, Telephone Operators, Tool Pushers, Turkey Sandwiches, Union Labels, Valentine Cards, Van Movers, Victoria Secrets, Vienna Sausages, Welfare Rolls, and Wellington Boots

It is amazing what the human mind conjures up during this Corona Period in our nation’s history.

There is a lot of creativity going on right now. That’s something good that has come out of this pandemic.

I enjoyed doing this. It made me smile and sometimes cackle. If you know of some more potential mascots, please let me know. Thanks. (ts@crcom.net)