Parades are almost a given at any Homecoming celebration, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is no different.  However, in the early years of the 20th century, Illinois Homecoming weekend featured something other than floats:  the Hobo Band Parade.

The actual origin of the Hobo Band Parade is lost to history; however, the tradition had already been established on the U of I campus for many years by the early 1900s, actually predating the Homecoming celebration it became associated with.

It was traditional for seniors to dress as a hobo, clown, or other character, grab an instrument, and lead the way to Illinois Field for the annual Freshman-Sophomore pushball game. In 1910, the pushball game became part of  the program of activities for the First Annual Fall Homecoming, and the senior class Hobo Band came along too¹.

The annual pushball game and other “class scraps” fell out of favor in the 1910s², but the Hobo Band Parade marched on for 37 years as an annual Homecoming tradition.  The Hobo Parade was eventually dropped from Homecoming festivities; no football program or Daily Illini makes mention of it after 1946. It is difficult to say why. It has been suggested that masquerade-type entertainment simply went out of style, and that post-WWII campus culture was a little less silly than before³.

Similar traditions existed at other universities, and some even continue to the present day⁴. However, after 66 years, it seems UIUC’s Hobo Band is relegated to retirement.

 

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1. Daily Illini, (October 14, 1910), p. 1.
2. Daily Illini, (November 16, 1916), p. 1.
3. Daily Illini, (October 29, 2004), p. B-12.
4. For example, September 5th, 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of South Dakota State’s Hobo Day celebration.