University of Wisconsin Bucky The Badger Prism Shot Glass

THE MIDWEST. 
Shot Glass, Barware, Souvenir, c. 2000. 

Bucky Badger has been UW’s mascot since 1940. He was created as part of a group of comic collegiate mascots that a Los Angeles based company, Anson W. Thompson, produced for logo use. Prior to this time, the Wisconsin college and indeed the whole of the state had a badger association. It goes back to the first nations of the region, the Ho-Chunk and others, who had mined for lead for hundreds - if not thousands - of years in the area near what would later become the state capital. This wealth of mineral deposits led to a land rush in the 1830s by white settlers, who pushed out native tribes and whose male numbers were so great that a vote for statehood could be fast-tracked, letting Wisconsin enter the Union by 1848. But it all occurred so quickly that these early land claimants had no time to build homes. So to get through the harsh winters they lived in pre-existing and newly dug lead mines. Mocked as land burrowing animals, the miners proudly took up the name of one known for its tough ferocity. Thereafter, Wisconsin was called the Badger State. The University of Wisconsin, founded in 1861, did not use the nickname for its sports teams right away. They were the “Madison Boys” until 1889. That year it adopted the badger as a mascot, even using a live animal at games before it eventually became too hard to control and was retired to the Madison Zoo. The logo version of a badger wearing a sweater with the letter ‘W’, seen on this shot glass, was copyrighted on October 2, 1940. UW celebrates this as Bucky’s birthday. Yet our swaggering Mustelidae was not officially given a name until the school held a contest a few years later. The winning entry was Buckingham U. (Ulysses) Badger. So belly on up to the bar, you badgers, and use this shining and substantial shot glass to propose a toast to Madison’s - and now Stout’s Parkside’s, Eau Claire’s, Green Bay’s, La Crosse’s, Oshkosh’s, Superior’s, Platteville’s, River Falls’s, Whitewater’s, Stevens Point’s, and Milwaukee’s finest. (Bottle + beer can provided for scale only.) 

Condition: Used Very Good. 
Food / Beverage Related. 
Dimensions: 2.25” diameter x 3” high (volume: 2 fl oz) / 5 oz