Bucky, the immortal badger.
It’s hard not to love that sweater-clad, short-legged omnivore, equipped with impressive core strength and a smize that would have Tyra Banks herself weak in the knees.
The evolution of Bucky dates back to 1890s. In an effort to incite enthusiasm among gridiron spectators, the University of Wisconsin football team introduced a very furry, very alive and very uncaged badger as their emblem of luck and heroism to Madison students.
As the school quickly learned, this small, weasel-like mammal of the Mustelidae family has little interest in American contact sports. After a short history of terrorizing students, athletes and faculty alike, the first edition of Bucky Badger retired to the Henry Vilas Zoo, according to UW’s Campus and Visitor Relations website.
In the 1940s, after several decades of pretending a live animal was a sustainable mascot, artist Art Evans cast into circulation the first cartoon of the Badger we might recognize today. Fully naked and standing off its forelegs, the sweet, cuddly cartoon quickly won over the hearts of students and faculty alike. The name “Bucky” supposedly derived from the dated lyric “buck right through that line” from a now-defunct football rally song, according to the website.
Eight years after his print inception, Bucky escaped the page into the third dimension. In 1949, head cheerleader Bill Sagal became the first human Bucky Badger. The prototype costume introduced the bobbling badger head, a 3-foot-tall cranium composed of chicken wire and paper maché — not exactly couture, but U-Rah-Rah, right?
In 1955, Bucky stepped out with a fresh new sweater, a striped collar and boxing gloves. WWE UW?
By 1967 Bucky needed some extra cash, and put up an ad for babysitting. This career was short-lived.
Maybe that’s why he needed to learn to cook? The new acrylic grin undoubtedly helped with customer service.
In 1982, that grin lit up parades and rallies around Wisconsin.
According to the UW Spirit Squad website, “Bucky Badger has persevered through the years, even surviving a threat […] that Bucky be replaced by Henrietta Holstein, a loveable and productive cow.”
And thank heavens for that. God forbid the ruthless attempts to milk the udder.
Until 1989, when shit honestly just went a little far.
1994 launched a beautiful friendship between Bucky and Al Gore, as they addressed a Milwaukee high school after the Badgers rode the victory wave of the Rose Bowl.
In 2016, Bucky still has every citizen of Madison, Wisconsin wrapped around his paw. Unparalleled, felt-clad and instantly recognizable, he is more than a crowd favorite — he is the spirit of UW.
