Tank Scraps
This odd and very violent tradition is one of the oldest at Purdue University. It began in 1894 and was a fight between the freshman and sophomore boys with the upperclassmen as spectators. The reason for this battle was to win the privilege of painting your class' graduating year on the tank.
To the left is a picture of the tank. As you can see, the graduating class of 1907 won the tank scrap this year.
To the left is a picture of the tank. As you can see, the graduating class of 1907 won the tank scrap this year.
The fight wouldn't start until midnight which is when the freshman would have a huge bonfire and set off fireworks. The tank scraps drew in crowds from as far as Chicago and as many as 15 thousand. Stuart Field is where the scraps were held which was the football and baseball field. The bleachers would be filled with spectators.
The sophomores would then attack. Sometimes fights would last until the next morning. Sometimes their arrival was announced by the firing of a rocket.
First there would be an exchange of insults and chanting their yells. After that, the teams would place themselves in fighting position and attack. The longest tank scrap took 2 hours but they averaged half an hour.
Many injuries occurred every year. The captured would be tied up with rope and drug to the other side. Eventually the guys started bring knives in the situation to cut their buddies free. This added even more danger to the equation.
First there would be an exchange of insults and chanting their yells. After that, the teams would place themselves in fighting position and attack. The longest tank scrap took 2 hours but they averaged half an hour.
Many injuries occurred every year. The captured would be tied up with rope and drug to the other side. Eventually the guys started bring knives in the situation to cut their buddies free. This added even more danger to the equation.
The rope wasn't working out and was changed to a the padlock and chain came into the picture. Sophomores used these on freshman at the ankles to immobilize them. They could no longer cut their way out.
The final festivities took place at the Courthouse. The losing class, freshman or sophomores, would be forced to sing and yell the winners' yell. This is shown in the picture on the right. They would also do embarrassing stunts. One year, a freshman boy was stripped, covered in paint, and forced to do a dance. This all happens when the tank scraps are over and there is a winner. People from all over the area gather in large crowds to watch this happen.
The parade came last. The losing team would be chained in a line and forced to march through the city. This would be after they were painted and decorated how the winning team wanted them. If you look closely at the picture on the left you can see that in the front row that the guys are chained together.
In 1913 a terrible thing happened that ended the tank scraps forever. The fight only lasted fourteen minutes and Francis B. Obenchain was found unresponsive on the field. He was from South Whitley, Indiana and a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. Doctors were unable to tell the cause of the death. Some say it was from heart failure. The parents of Francis had him taken to Fort Wayne for an autopsy where it was decided he had died from a fractured neck. Tank scraps were abolished by the student government after the incident and Purdue University was fined $25,000 filed by the father of Francis B. Obenchain.
The tank scraps were a huge deal during this time period. All of the yearbooks starting in 1894 say something about the scraps. They always make sure to state the winner and some of the highlights of the fight like it was a football game. Below is a chart of all the winners from each year. Sophomores were usually the winners but every once in a while the freshman would pull through. In the later half of the tank scrap tradition, the freshman won a lot more than in the beginning.
1896 - Sophomore
1897 - Sophomore 1898 - Sophomore 1899 - Freshman 1900 - Sophomore 1901 - Sophomore 1902 - Sophomore 1903 - Sophomore 1904 - Sophomore |
1905 - Freshman
1906 - Sophomore 1907 - Sophomore 1908 - Freshman 1909 - Sophomore 1910 - Freshman 1911 - Sophomore 1912 - Sophomore 1913 - Freshman |