Florida State College for Women/Florida State University Odd Team Beanies

According to Robin Sellers' Femina Perfecta, in 1914 members of the even-year classes of Florida State College for Women (juniors and freshmen) wore their green and yellow class colors to chapel on the Saturday morning before Thanksgiving. A spontaneous pep rally ensued. On the following Wednesday, odd-year class members (seniors, sophomores, and sub-freshmen) carried canes wrapped with ribbons in their individual class colors of red, white, and purple. On Thanksgiving Day the odd-year classes defeated the even-year classes 26-5 in basketball and celebrated with a march into town before they returned to a traditional turkey in the recently-completed dining hall.


Sellers noted that the college newspaper, the Flambeau, reported that "the two famous basketball teams of the six college classes" each began the 1915 fall semester with pep songs and team cheers. Post-graduates, juniors, and freshmen (the odd team) chose for their insignia the red, white, and purple winners' colors from the previous year. The even-year team again wore their class colors of green and gold and waved a banner with "SSS" (seniors, sophomores, sub-freshmen) displayed. Again, the "odds" were victorious. On the Saturday following the festivities, the Flambeau formally named the teams "Odds" and "Evens" and declared them successors to the "Stars and Crescents." The Odd team formally adopted the victory colors of red, white, and purple, while the Even team chose green and gold. The Flambeau referred to the Odd team as "garnet" and the Even team as "gold," the college colors. In years to come these two teams created one of the most popular intercollegiate rivalries in the state.


From 1910-1920, President Conradi allowed students to establish several rituals, the most important of which were athletic contests between Odds and Evens. Competition between the two groups remained keen and Thanksgiving continued to be the focal point of the rivalry. Pep demonstrations presented on Tuesday and Wednesday nights preceding the Thursday morning contests highlighted the holiday week. A tradition developed that the side that took the stage on Wednesday night had the advantage in the next day's game.


Odd/Even rivalries continued practically unaltered from the 1920s through the 1940s. The only changes were the addition of a volleyball game to the Thanksgiving activities and the creation of honorary organizations supported by Odds and Evens. For example, on October 24, 1924, a group of Odds met in a downtown café and created an honorary society that they called Spirogyra. In 1930, the Evens created an honorary society they called Esteren. During World War II, Odds and Evens competed not only in sports but also for honors in selling war stamps. Despite the unexpected death of President Conradi in 1944, the traditional Odd/Even Thanksgiving sports events and the holiday dance were held as scheduled, in accordance with his family's wishes.


With the arrival of male students at the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida in late 1946 and the formation of the College Government Association (CGA), a CGA survey revealed that more than two-thirds of the 2,300 FSCW students favored canceling the traditional Thanksgiving activities, with the understanding that similar athletic events would be held later in the year. All but 34 supported cancellation of classes on the Friday and Saturday following the holiday. Odd and Even nights out, demonstrations, and sports contests were moved to the weekend before Thanksgiving. In November 1946, a Flambeau editorial noted the "passing of a tradition."


While it is evident that these Beanies have the typical FSCW Odd Team red, white, and purple colors, FSCW and FSU alumni have noted that shortly after FSCW became coeducational, FSU Freshmen still wore Beanies with these colors.