Bow Wow Wow

At high noon  on November 18th, thousands of students and alumni will fill Yale Bowl Stadium for the 139th Harvard-Yale football game (aka The Game), in New Haven, Connecticut. And sitting on the sidelines for Yale will be Handsome Dan XIX, arguably the most iconic mascot in college sports. He follows in the ivy-clad paw prints of 18 Handsome Dan predecessors. Among Handsome Dan’s tricks: he can stare down a stuffed Princeton tiger and, when asked if he would rather die or attend Harvard, he rolls over and plays dead.

Yale was the first university in the United States to adopt a mascot. The Dan Dynasty dates back to 1889, when a young undergraduate, Andrew B. Graves (’92), purchased a bulldog from a local blacksmith for $5. “In personal appearance, he seemed like a cross between an alligator and a horned frog, and he was called handsome by the metaphysicians under the law of compensation,” eulogized the Hartford Courant. “The title came to him, he never sought it. He was always taken to games on a leash, and the Harvard football team for years owed its continued existence to the fact that the rope held.” The Philadelphia Press recalled that “a favorite trick was to tell him to ‘Speak to Harvard.’ He would bark ferociously and work himself into physical contortions of rage never before dreamed of by a dog.”

Handsome Dan XIX

Each Handsome Dan since has won the hearts of Yalies, regardless of how much luck they have brought to the team. Handsome Dans have lived with deans, directors, and coaches. One Handsome Dan was taken care of by a head cheerleader who went on to become the Secretary of State. One Handsome Dan appeared on the cover of a national magazine and another had his picture taken with the President.

But no matter if you are rooting for the Crimson or cheering for Yale, we know Handsome Dan will be singing Yale alum Cole Porter’s (’13) classic fight song: “Bull-dog! Bull-dog! Bow, wow, wow, Eli Yale!”