Rice Band Takes Austin, 1917

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Melissa Kean

Rice 13, Texas 0.

This was the first game we scored on UT.

No word on whether the band members were charged for their seats.

Football Band in Austin 1917

Football Band in Austin 1917 closeup

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9 Responses to Rice Band Takes Austin, 1917

  1. C Kelly says:
    September 11, 2015 at 8:28 am

    I wonder if they played an early version of “Louie, Louie.”

    Reply
  2. almadenmike says:
    September 11, 2015 at 9:48 am

    The Oct. 13, (https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/64921/thr19171013.pdf?sequence=1), Oct. 27 (https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/64922/thr19171027.pdf?sequence=1) and Nov. 10, 1917, (https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/64923/thr19171110.pdf?sequence=1) Rice Thresher issues have quite a bit of before-and-after information about this historic game.

    For example, there was a special train “composed of eight well-filled coaches, including a baggage car and three Pullmans” that took some 400 Rice students took to Austin to cheer the team. (An ad on p. 3 of the Oct. 27 Thresher said a round-trip train ticket cost $2.50; no mention was made of game-ticket prices.)

    An article on p. 5 of the Nov. 10 Thresher has an account of the train trip. I chuckled at the end of this sentence: “The baggage car, which served as a student exchange, was very popular. One could buy any kind of soda water (but no cigarettes); coffee, sandwiches and candy were there in abundance (but cigars were as scarce as a Rice holiday).”

    Since the campus on under its World War I military training regime, the male students were in uniform and were part of the march pictured above. The band appears to be a 6×6 block of 36 musicians. The Thresher article said that after the train arrived in Austin at 11:45 a.m. on gameday, “The students, excluding the Co-eds, then formed in two companies and marched in columns of squads from the depot, up the main street and around to the Driscoll Hotel. The Rice band preceded the companies in the march, and after arriving at the hotel the students were dismissed and were free to go where they wished.”

    And article in the Oct. 13, 1917, Thresher (https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/64921/thr19171013.pdf?sequence=1) tells of that year’s “Battalion Band”, whose formation meeting attracted “a full house on the third floor band room” but including “only eight or ten of the old men present from last year’s organization,”

    Also noteworthy, given the current, apparently declining, state of the MOB is this passage in that article: “There comes a realization among the student body in any growing school of the necessity of a student band. Such an organization is most essential to college spirit. It is an able supplement to the cheering In all athletic events. The band recharges the enthusiasm when It is most needed, and keeps the spirit from lagging in the critical times. This was a main cause in the making of a Rice Institute band some three years ago …”

    It’s also interesting that the first five Rice-Texas football games were all held in Austin. Rice lost the first three 41-0, 59-0 & 16-2. The ‘Horns didn’t travel to Houston until 1920 (A 21-0 loss for the Owls, whose second win over the ‘Horns wouldn’t come until 1924 (19-6, @Rice).

    BONUS: I love the “Look Out Longhorns” graphic that appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 13 Thresher. (I’ve posted it on the Rice Parliament fan message board (http://csnbbs.com/thread-747742-post-12358049.html#pid12358049).)

    Reply
  3. marmer01 says:
    September 11, 2015 at 10:15 am

    Apparently there is more to the story about charging bands for admission. It is apparently common practice in college football but the former SWC schools had an agreement not to charge each other until this summer when they decided to basically all follow the same procedures throughout the Big 12. While the news story is primarily about the Texas Tech band, I’ve seen several references to the cost preventing the MOB from going. However, I have NOT seen an official statement from the MOB stating that “we were planning to go but we can’t afford to if they’re going to charge for seats.” Was the MOB planning to go anyway? They usually do only one out-of-town trip a year.

    Reply
  4. almadenmike says:
    September 11, 2015 at 10:32 am

    Now UT says that Rice had 300 comp tickets that could have been used for the MOB: http://www.hornsports.com/wire/articles/update-ut-comped-300-tickets-for-rice-mob-r21

    Reply
  5. loki_the_bubba says:
    September 11, 2015 at 10:46 am

    I’m told that in the first picture they are coming off Congress Ave., headed East on 6th Street.

    Reply
    • almadenmike says:
      September 11, 2015 at 11:28 am

      An article in the Oct. 27, 1917, Thresher said the Rice train took the Houston & Texas Central railroad tracks. According to this article (http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/AUS), its Austin station was located at Congress Ave. & 3rd St., across from the other routing that had been considered, the International & Great Northern.

      Congress Ave. must have been “the main street” referred to in the Nov. 10 Thresher account of the downtown parade of Rice students from the train depot to the hotel. (The hotel’s name was spelled “Driscoll” in the Thresher, but possibly the writer meant “Driskill,” which is on 6th St.)

      Reply
  6. Clc says:
    September 11, 2015 at 12:13 pm

    Today at 6:28am.
    There’s a rumor that The MOB won’t be at the UT game this Sat. Is t… See More

    1Like · Comment · Share
    ..

    The Rice University Marching Owl Band – The MOB Sadly, it is true. We hope to join the fun in the future, when the costs are not such a big part of the decision.
    Chuck Throckmorton
    Director of Bands

    about an hour ago
    ..

    from facebook

    Reply

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