# Did college students of yesteryear regularly wear beanies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719 "2013-01-10T04:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/1 "2013-01-10T04:08:16Z")
In movies I might see them wearing them, but I have to wonder why. Were beanies a fad, like bell bottoms and mood rings? They seem more geared to younger children, so I have to wonder why college students from the earlier part of the 20th century might have worn them. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/2 "2013-01-10T04:15:27Z")
College students in general didn’t wear them. In some places, freshmen or fraternity pledges were sometimes required to wear them as a form of hazing. See[here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_(North_America)l) ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/3 "2013-01-10T04:23:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > College students in general didn’t wear them. In some places, freshmen or fraternity pledges were sometimes required to wear them as a form of hazing. See[here.](http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/01/black-capitalize.html) The link you sent me was to a site that discusses using a capital B to describe Black people as in African Americans. I didn’t see any mention of beanies during fraternity hazing. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/4 "2013-01-10T04:49:35Z")
If they went to Yeshivas, yes. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/5 "2013-01-10T09:10:53Z")
I googled “freshman beanie” and got this: > [@](#): > > The Freshman Beanie dates back as far as 1904. A “plain black cap” had to be purchased within the first two weeks of the semester and worn at all times on campus. The freshmen wore a green button on their caps. In 1909, the Trustees ruled that freshmen would not wear any distinguishable head gear, categorizing it as a form of hazing. **The students protested, stating that the cap and button fostered a “stick-together” spirit among the freshmen** My bolding. It was a weird world on campus. but then, the campus also had > [@](#): > > a beanie burning ceremony in the fall of 1967. from : [http://www.lib.rpi.edu/Archives/traditions/freshmen/frosh\_cap.html](http://www.lib.rpi.edu/Archives/traditions/freshmen/frosh_cap.html) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/6 "2013-01-10T14:30:29Z")
Speaking of weird, I still have mine somewhere. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) 1967. Little mini red cap with small brim and “RPI” on it. Wore them during “Hell Week”, pledging time. Also the time for election of student body president. Political “parties” would sponsor candidates at rallies in the fieldhouse. Complete with beer and (no kidding) strippers :eek: (NY drinking age was 18 at the time). Also police on duty in the fieldhouse enjoying the _varied_ entertainment. Things got toned down quite a bit after that. Quite the [del]eye poping[/del] memorable time for a young freshman. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/7 "2013-01-10T14:36:50Z")
> [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > The link you sent me was to a site that discusses using a capital B to describe Black people as in African Americans. I didn’t see any mention of beanies during fraternity hazing. Sorry, that was for another thread. I fixed the link. > [@](#): > > By the mid 1940s, beanies fell out of popularity as a hat in favor of cotton visored caps like the baseball cap although, in the 1950s and possibly beyond, they were worn by college freshmen and various fraternities as a form of mild hazing. Lehigh University required freshmen to wear beanies, or “dinks,” and other colleges including Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, Rutgers, Westminster College and others may have had similar practices.[4] Benedictine College, in Atchison, KS, still carries this tradition for the first week of a freshman’s classes. [5] It is the only college in the country to maintain this tradition. [6] ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/8 "2013-01-10T14:38:20Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Speaking of weird, I still have mine somewhere. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) 1967. Little mini red cap with small brim and “RPI” on it. Wore them during “Hell Week”, pledging time. Also the time for election of student body president. Political “parties” would sponsor candidates at rallies in the fieldhouse. Complete with beer and (no kidding) strippers :eek: (NY drinking age was 18 at the time). Also police on duty in the fieldhouse enjoying the _varied_ entertainment. Things got toned down quite a bit after that. Quite the [del]eye poping[/del] memorable time for a young freshman. There are (or were) photos of the strippers in the archives of the Poly (the student newspaper). And until about twenty years ago, there was a semi-official event at which pornographic films were shown on campus during GM Week, in the same auditorium used for UPAC Films and the freshman lectures. There was even a committee that had to select the movie to be shown. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/9 "2013-01-10T14:48:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And until about twenty years ago, there was a semi-official event at which pornographic films were shown on campus during GM Week, in the same auditorium used for UPAC Films and the freshman lectures. There was even a committee that had to select the movie to be shown. When I was at the University of Colorado in the mid-1970s and porn films had just gone mainstream, the Law School used to sponsor films like _Behind the Green Door_ as fundraisers at on-campus auditoriums. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/10 "2013-01-10T14:49:57Z")
They wore them at Union College up until a few years before I went there (my cousin had them). “Beanie burnings” were a form of protest set up to end the requirement. It was only required of Freshman. By the time it was phased out, they were only required to wear them until the football team won its first game. This was usually scheduled against a patsy team like RPI, so the beanies weren’t worn for more than a week or two. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/11 "2013-01-10T15:27:53Z")
Beanies were part of the low key hazing of freshmen at my university. We weren’t too keen on the idea of wearing them and fortunately we found an out. The campus gymnasium had a series of statues depicting classical athletes along the exterior walls about 20 feet off the ground. Without access to a ladder, we found an old pipe along the riverbank and late one night used it to shimmy up and glue the beanies on the heads of these heroic figures. In that way it was only freshmen and greek gods that were adorned in such resplendant manner that year. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/12 "2013-01-10T15:32:29Z")
My eldest, **elfbabe** , had a beanie in her freshman year in prep school in the late 90’s. It was for ‘orientation and hazing’ week. I wager she still has it somewhere in her memorabilia. The custom was retired by the time my youngest was a freshman there. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/13 "2013-01-10T15:58:36Z")
As a freshman at Georgia Tech in 1991, the tradition of [“Rat Caps”](https://www.google.com/search?q=rat+cap&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D14&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=m-XuUJjXD8W9iwLJr4G4Dg&biw=1920&bih=955&sei=nOXuUMTtM6TBigKEyIGYBg) was kept alive in spirit, but in reality, I don’t think I ever saw one in the wild, except at the school store. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/14 "2013-01-10T16:01:40Z")
I had what we referred to as a “freshman beanie” in 1970. Beyond orientation week, nobody paid any attention, and they really couldn’t make you wear it during the first week, come to that. In actuality it was a sailor hat with the school letters on it, not a classic “beanie”, and didn’t look that ridiculous, so people tended to wear them sometimes anyway. Including when they were no longer freshman. They changed the color every year, and you would see a few people wandering around campus in the ones from previous years. Often, people turned the sailor hat brim down and turned the thing into a “bucket hat”. Before I graduated, they quit handing them out. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/15 "2013-01-10T16:15:45Z")
The Wikipedia article citied [this](http://www.historynet.com/the-gi-bill-cover-page-october-99-american-history-feature.htm/3) source. It sounds like it’s describing a social custom that was enforced by social pressure from upperclassmen rather than a formal university rule that was punishable by being given conduct demerit points or formal written censures by the Dean or by being suspended or expelled or a municipal offense punishable by fines or jail time. Are there any schools where beanies were prescribed by a formal university dress code and failing to wear a beanie when required to do so was as bad as wearing a too-short skirt? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/16 "2013-01-10T16:26:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > There are (or were) photos of the strippers in the archives of the Poly (the student newspaper). And until about twenty years ago, there was a semi-official event at which pornographic films were shown on campus during GM Week, in the same auditorium used for UPAC Films and the freshman lectures. There was even a committee that had to select the movie to be shown. Did the strippers seductively and provocatively remove their beanies? ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/17 "2013-01-10T18:00:27Z")
My father was supposed to wear a beanie when he was a college freshman in 1958 (whether it was for the whole year or just a specific “hell week” timeframe, I don’t know). He was also supposed to shave his head and wear pajamas to football games. He managed to avoid most of this due to the fact that he looked much older than he actually was, and stood a few inches taller than most other students. Eventually he was ratted out (by his girlfriend, no less), and a pack of seniors tackled him while he was shooting baskets in the gym. They dragged him into the locker room and shaved several bare spots into his crew cut. He therefore had no choice but to pay a visit to the campus barber and request that he finish the job, and adhere thereafter to the required “dress code”. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/18 "2013-01-10T18:29:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Did the strippers seductively and provocatively remove their beanies? And were the beanies topped with little tassels that they could swing in circles? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/19 "2013-01-10T18:41:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Did the strippers seductively and provocatively remove their beanies? > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And were the beanies topped with little tassels that they could swing in circles? Oh man, I don’t think these Beenie Weenies were made by Van Camps. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719/20 "2013-01-10T18:42:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Did the strippers seductively and provocatively remove their beanies? > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And were the beanies topped with little tassels that they could swing in circles? They had pasties with tassels that would swing in circles. The police were there to enforce the nudity laws and would be closely observing the young ladies for any loose or falling pasties/garments. You would get “souvenirs”, pens, pencils, campaign buttons, maybe benies that had been provocatively rubbed on some of their nether and forefront regions. Oh my formative youth:D [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-college-students-of-yesteryear-regularly-wear-beanies/646719.md?page=2)