Goldy Gopher

Goldy Gopher
Goldy Gopher at TCF Bank Stadium
University	University of Minnesota
Conference	Big Ten
Description	Gopher
First seen	1940

Goldy Gopher is the mascot for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus and the associated sports teams, known as the Golden Gophers, as well as the 2011, 2013, and 2017 UCA Mascot National Champion. During the year, Goldy makes over 1000 appearances and is at virtually all home games for University teams, usually wearing the appropriate sporting attire.

Minnesota became known as the "Gopher State" in 1857, the result of a political cartoon ridiculing the $5 million Railroad Loan which helped open up the West. The cartoon portrayed shifty railroad barons as striped gophers pulling a railroad car carrying the Territorial Legislature toward the "Slough of Despond". The first U of M yearbook bearing the name "Gopher Annual" appeared in 1887.

Minnesota's athletic teams became widely known as the "Gophers" by the 1920s but it was not until 1934 that the immortal Halsey Hall, great Minnesota sportswriter and broadcaster, dubbed Bernie Bierman's all-gold uniformed team "The Golden Gophers" (Bierman chose the gold color because the football blended in with the uniforms!).

The embodiment of the Gopher mascot came to life in 1952 when U of M assistant bandmaster Jerome Glass bought a fuzzy wool gopher suit with a papier mache head and asked one of the band members to climb into it. "Goldy" Gopher (the first name seems to have appeared sometime in the 1970s) became a fixture with the Marching Band and Pep Band, as each year a band member was chosen to don the suit for that season. Wherever these two bands performed, Goldy was there to glad-hand with the crowd, hug the little kids, torment the cheerleaders and generally add a friendly Minnesota flavor to the event.

During the early 1960s, Goldy was actually written into the football pre-game and halftime shows with a specific place to be. Limited visibility from within the suit made it difficult to see out, and any of the suit’s wearers with glasses would fog up while trying to peer out the mouth hole, as the eyeholes were useless. One benefit during the cold games at Memorial Stadium in November was that Goldy Gopher was one of the few fans that stayed warm.

Each band member who was allowed the joy of being the Gopher developed an individual personality, a unique way of relating to the crowd. And the mystique of Goldy Gopher became a tradition that absolutely prohibited removal of the head while in public, maintaining an illusion for the younger children that Goldy Gopher was a real live huggable animal.

The style of the gopher suit changed many times through the years, sometimes by chance, sometimes by design. Until the early 1970s, the head was narrow and pointy-nosed, reminiscent of the real animal. Then in 1972, Goldy suddenly grew chubby cheeks and a wider, forward-looking face, almost cherubic in appearance. In fact, the gopher of the 1970s and early 1980s was comparable in appearance to a teddy bear, a favorite of children and grandmothers. For a brief period in 1985, a fierce-looking “mega-rodent“ appeared, with a barrel chest, clown feet and sinister eyes. This look didn't last long, and Goldy soon again became a lovable, friendly character.

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Wikipedia