The Homecoming of yesteryear would likely recognize parts of its younger self, but what might have been commonplace during the weekend event in the late 1940s and 1950s has evolved in recent decades.
The University of Western Ontario has a rich Homecoming tradition going back six decades, preceded by many informal and faculty-based gatherings.
But exactly how old is Western’s Homecoming? That number is up for debate.
According to the book, Western’s First Century, by J.R.W. Gwynne-Timothy, the annual celebration started in 1949. “Class reunions at London were organized on a five-year basis and in 1949 the first Alumni Homecoming Day was started,” Gwynne-Timothy writes. “This included a parade of floats made by various entities and units within the university. This annual occasion, held prior to an intercollegiate football game, became a major attraction of the school year and was a highlight of alumni interest.”
If this date is correct, Western is celebrating its 61st Homecoming. But not everyone would agree with this anniversary date.
While faculty celebrations have been organized for several years prior, The Gazette, Western’s student newspaper, cites the first Homecoming weekend as being in 1950. The “Old Home” weekend on Oct. 7, 1950 was said to be the “first annual Homecoming weekend” and featured floats, football and a dance.
Taking a trip through The Gazette archives shows there are some steadfast traditions to Homecoming, such as the parade of floats and a crowd-rousing football game. These customs never get old.
But some have changed as generations revamp the weekend program to accommodate new trends and ideas, such as saying goodbye to variety shows and Homecoming queens.
Convocation Hall, now known as Conron Hall, was the site of the first official Homecoming weekend in 1950. Western President G. Edward Hall addressed alumni, numbering more than 10,000, about university expansion plans and other university activity, followed by a luncheon served in Thames Hall by the Women’s Undergraduate Society.
Taking the celebrations into the streets, a parade of floats attracted the attention of Londoners and alumni lining the curbs and hanging out of office windows as it weaved through the downtown to J. W. Little Stadium. Setting the tone for future activities, the “Old Home” weekend was complete with a football game against the Queen’s University Gaels and alumni danced the night away to the sounds of Alf Tibbs and his orchestra.
Skipping ahead 10 years, variety shows were among the highlights of the 1960s, but nothing overshadowed the football games led by celebrated Mustang coach John Metras. Fans could be counted on to fill the stands and show their purple spirit.
In 1970, five Mustang beauties competed for the coveted crown and Homecoming queen title. But as political and social views changed, some Homecoming traditions – like this one – fell by the wayside.
The earlier years of Homecoming proved to be fairly temperate, with an endless parade of floats, football games and big band music. But as it went on, and Western’s party atmosphere grew in reputation and occasion, things got bigger and rowdier.
In 1980, a mail service strike threatened to slow Homecoming plans and the alumni office was forced to take to the phones to notify alumni of the more than 70 class reunions at their alma mater. The message was delivered, as approximately 1,000 people closed down Western Road for a street party at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. Two house parties converged on the street after the hosts locked their doors and turned off the lights.
“Our next door neighbour had his baseball bat out,” one of the party hosts reported to The Gazette.
Adding to the eventful weekend, blues band Canned Heat opened to a disappointed crowd on the Friday night. Newspaper reports say the band was too stoned to notice the crowd reaction.
The 1980s turned out to be a record-setting decade.
In 1984, two parties turned sour as police raided the gatherings with a combined attendance of 2,000 people.
In one instance, police responded to neighbourhood complaints and attempted to break up the infamous Gatewood Complex party six times. Finally, donning riot gear, police used tear gas to stop partiers.
A second party on Queen’s Avenue was dispersed two hours later and resulted in the arrest of two student council members and two others faced charges for committing an indecent act – dropping their pants in public.
Riot regalia became part of the Homecoming convention the next year, as police were called in to break up yet another wild party.
By 1989, Mustangs were off their reins.
“Parents had to protect kids for assorted projectiles, drunken students were falling into the streets and one float was totally removed from the parade,” The Gazette reads.
Rather than toting noisemakers and Western regalia, students on the Delta Upsilon float tossed eggs, beer and bottles into the crowd on the parade route. These actions threatened to end Homecoming parades altogether.
A limousine was stolen from a Tim Horton’s and driven into the Music Building. And to top it off, the Wonderland Gardens pub was forced to book another band because the Blues Brothers Revival was being sued by Dan Aykroyd.
Things calmed down in the 1990s, as organizers tried to get a handle on the student antics of the early decade. Safety and organization became a priority.
Many alumni revisited former stomping grounds like The Ceeps and cheered on the home team at the football game.
Enter the new millennium, where Western put its wild past behind and returned to its roots of family fun and student camaraderie.
The word “Arts” was spelled out in the Thames River with old sandals in 2004, before the current made the letters drift away, and streakers ran for cover through TD Waterhouse stadium to the cheers of a roaring crowd.
The alcohol policy enforced at the football game deterred much of the disorderly spirit and many other varsity teams have joined in the weekend festivities, giving sports fans more to watch.
These minor indiscretions and a shift in focus show how Homecoming shed the skin of its wilder past in favour of a calmer, more subdue event of faculty reunions and family-focused activities.
Homecoming 2010 promises to return old friends and new traditions. Undoubtedly, it will be another one for the history books.