Friday Follies: “To Hell With It,” 1964

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Melissa Kean

Zoom in on his button. That’s right about where I am these days, minus the beer but with much, much cuter shoes.

Bonus:

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14 Responses to Friday Follies: “To Hell With It,” 1964

  1. William A. Wheatley (Wiess '66) says:
    June 12, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    “Wrong Way / To Hell With It” That about sums it up for today.

    Reply
  2. Lavelle Fritz Ferris says:
    June 12, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    The original WRC – Will Rice Will Win! AND why I still get a bit confused when you use WRC as an abbreviation for the Woodson.

    Reply
  3. almadenmike says:
    June 12, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    FTR, a 10-second penalty was not enough to prevent Hanszen from beating Will Rice by 4 bike lengths in 1964’s record-fast — and injury-free — race.

    Here’s the Thresher report, writte by Lyn Martin:

    > > >
    On the hottest May 2 ever recorded by the Houston Weather Bureau, beer-bike race spectators overflowed the stands to see all the traditional records fall. Baker opened a lead in the first lap when Richard Juday nosed out Hanszen’s Jim Shultz, as both smashed Ron Keating’s four-year-old lap record (1:59.8). Baker faded and Will Rice grabbed the lead on the third lap while Hanszen waited out a 10-second penalty.

    A series of beer penalties cut the Will Rice lead to about three seconds at the beginning of the tenth lap when Hanszen’s Homer Walker set a new beer record (3.2 seconds) to shoot Hanszen’s Ron Keating out behind Will Rice’s Bill Walker. Walker’s remarkable 1:54.9 was not enough; he was passed by Keating in the third corner, as the Hanszen fifth-year set a new course record at 1:50.5 and finished four lengths ahead.

    The race, which was the first without significant mechanical failure or injury, saw the old record bettered 15 times as both the Hanszen and Will Rice averages came under 1:59.7. Baker’s fourth place average was still nearly three seconds faster than the winning average in 1963!
    < < <

    WRC did nose out Hanszen in the chorus competition, however, 121-119.

    (See page 23: https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/66385/thr19640506.pdf)

    Reply
  4. Bill Peebles, Hanszen '70 says:
    June 13, 2020 at 12:36 am

    Shouldn’t there be an air hole in the bottom of the can?

    Reply
    • Melissa Kean says:
      June 13, 2020 at 6:44 am

      I don’t know when that started. More research needed!

      Reply
      • Terry Cloudman says:
        June 13, 2020 at 7:35 am

        When I was a beer drinker in 1966 there was a hole in the bottom of the can for sure. I don’t know about 1965 I wasn’t 21 yet 🙂

        Reply
      • almadenmike says:
        June 13, 2020 at 11:03 am

        Bob Murphy and Maura Stetson wrote an informative 2-page history of Beer-Bike in the April 12, 1985, Thresher (pp 10-11) that included this:

        > > >
        By 1964, drinkers had introduced technical innovations to bring down their times. Beer was “specially de-fizzed by scientific methods” and the chuggers had special cans with custom-fitted mouthpieces and strategically-placed air holes which “received thorough testing.”
        < < <

        https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/67668/thr19850412.pdf

        The source for the quotes was not given. But it's clear that the can used by the 1964 Will Rice chugger in the photo above did not have the air hole that Bill, Terry & I remember.

        Reply
  5. Lynne Hsu Xavier (WRIC '88) says:
    June 20, 2020 at 12:46 am

    It’s interesting to me that except for the main subject’s shoes, all of the other clothing, glasses, hairstyles, etc. would not look out of place today.

    Reply

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