Old Oaken Bucket
The Old Oaken Bucket represents one of the oldest rivalries in college history, between Purdue and Indiana. It dates back to 1925 when Michigan and Minnesota had a trophy between their two schools. They also had a rivary like the Purdue and Indiana rivary. When they would compete against each other in football they had a trophy they would pass back and forth to whoever won. They decided that Purdue and Indiana needed to have something like that to achieve when they competed together because of their huge rivalry they have between them. It would make the game a clean fun competition to have something to look forward to and to win.
The first bucket was not actually old or oaken, it was a shiny new model from Chicago. They knew this would not do so, they found an old farm in southern Indiana. They found the bucket used by General John Hunt Morgan as a jaunt through Indiana during the civil war! The bucket was found, in a bad state of repair and covered with moss and mold, on the old Bruner farm between Kent and Hanover. The Chicago alumni ethusiasically decided that would be the perfect fit for their trophy. It was taken back to Chicago to get refurbished for the 1925 game at Bloomington.
How does it work you are probably wondering. Well, whoever wins Purdue or Indiana they will put a “P” or “I” on a chain that attaches to the bucket and every year the winner from the previous year will bring the trophy back. The first year they had the bucket there was a 0-0 tie that is the “IP” at the top of the bucket. This year (2014) was the first year Indiana has won back to back years against Purdue since 1993. It has been back and forth every year since then so, it was a pretty sad day for Purdue this past November.
The bucket seems to keep getting kidnapped by partisans from both rival schools. Twice it was missing so long it was given up as lost but mysteriously it would turn up randomly just before the annual game. All the letters on the chain are a solid bronze except for one, a “P”, in 1929 it is made of gold. They have a gold P because they whooped Indiana 32-0 and students on the train ride back contributed “nickels, dimes, and quarters” to help pay for it. Purdue also has a “P” with a diamond on it to represent Purdue’s victory over Southern California in the 1967 Rose Bowl game. Indiana has an “I” with a diamond for unsuccessful trip to Pasadena in 1968.
