100 Years of Buggy History – 1950-1953

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020; 2021

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series takes a look at the early 1950s. The rise of Soapbox Derby-style racers with derby wheels took DTD to a fivepeat before the 3rd greatest winning streak of all time got underway, but only by a whisker. Plus, Buggy initiates an entry fee, allows multiple buggies for the first time, and adds brakes!

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Rolls Report: Nov. 2 & 3 – The Strange Case of Dr. Bumper and Mr. Boson

Hello buggy-goers, I hope you had a fun and spooky Halloweekend like our students did. CIA gave us a taste for buggy identity theft, but this weekend’s practice was a real head-scratcher. Teams went all out, with all sorts of wacky costumes for their pushers/mechanics and for their buggies. If you missed out I’ve included some of my favorites here, and as usual there’s the link to the BAA’s gallery as well.

This weekend we had a couple of delays (which I’ll get into later), but teams were still able to get up to three and six rolls each day.

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100 Years of Buggy History – 1946-1949

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020; 2021

The war is over, and we won! This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series brings back Fraternities, Spring Carnival, and most importantly, Buggy! The post-war era brought a whole new style of buggy, but also brought with it some controversies. It also saw the entry of multiple non-Greek organizations for the first time! (As a reminder, the Men’s Dorms were permitted to enter in 1928, though it’s unclear if they actually did).

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100 Years of Buggy History – 1940-1945

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020; 2021

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series battles the Axis Powers as we head into the World War II years. But before we get there, we learn a little about the culmination of KapSig’s reign of dominance, the problems with wheels, and the dangers of cars on the buggy course. Plus, we’ve got plenty of information about Fall Carnival in 1942, and the unofficial Buggy substitute, the Jalopy Race.

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Rolls Report: Oct. 26 – Frankensweepstakes

Welcome to the special Frankensweepstakes Edition Rolls Report! I got to wear two hats: Rolls Reporting Officer and Safety Chairman. Since Jake and Tishya were out of town this weekend, Sophia (Buggy 100 Chair) and I filled in for the rest of Sweepstakes. It felt good to be back in the seat and I felt oddly nostalgic giving out accident reports again. This Homecoming Weekend saw a great alumni turnout and a (mostly) incident free day of practice, where teams got up to 5 rolls in.

It also seemed that I missed the Sweepstakes memo on matching socks… (thanks a lot Sophia and Diya).

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Rolls Report: Oct. 19 & 20 – A Tale of Two Buggies

Left: Bumper (Fringe 2018); Right: Bempest (CIA 2019)

If you’re seeing double, don’t worry, you’re not alone! CIA’s Bumper-inspired “Bempest” was turning heads all weekend. CIA got into the Halloween spirit early this year with a whole squad of costumed buggies. Pittsburgh was also in the Halloween spirit, casting a gloomy fog accompanied by an ominous murder of crows flying above the course.

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100 Years of Buggy History – 1936-1939

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020; 2021

Before we dive into the late 1930s, a quick explanation. Until now, we’ve been relying primarily on first-hand reporting (articles from the same year, or at worst the following year) to give a picture of the year in Buggy. For these primary sources, we’ve treated the articles as fact (unless, as noted in the Intro, there’s a reason to question it). Occasionally we have provided information from second-hand sources (such as articles from later years of the Tartan that look back from a historical perspective), as they add additional color, but they are also more unreliable, and thus we have called out the times we’ve provided information from those sources and our concerns (for example, in last week’s article, we noted that there is a conflict with respect to the material making up Beta’s 1932 buggy frame).

For the late 1930s, however, the Tartan digital archives are missing (1936-1939 are unavailable), and there are few non-Tartan sources for those years, so we are more heavily relying on those second-hand sources. So in this week’s article, we will tell you what limited information we know, which comes from first-hand sources, and then we will provide some additional color from the second-hand sources along with how accurate we believe that information to be. So without further ado, let’s dive into the 1930s, when it was a KapSig world and the rest of CMU was just living in it.

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100 Years of Buggy History – 1933-1935

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020; 2021

This week, 100 Years of Buggy History dives into the early-mid 1930s. This period was dominated by Beta (and there’s plenty of Beta photos), but we’ve got incidents, DQs, and even sabotage! And did you know that Pitt had buggy races as well?

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Rolls Report: Oct. 13 – The Good, the Bad, and the Buggy

Welcome back for another exciting Rolls Report installment. This weekend we saw the debut of a new team and the return of an old so our buggy family is growing bigger and bigger! Sweepstakes was a bit of an odd tri-generational mish mash with Jake missing and Tishya still broken. Willy Clark (last year’s Assistant Chairman) was a real hero and stepped up to fill in for Jake. And I gave Tishya a HAND (badum tss) with her Safety Chairing duties. There was of course the addition of Bingo (Diya’s dog) to this weekend’s Sweepstakes Committee, tagging along in the safety vehicle when things got RUFF (I’m on fire today).

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