ORONO, Maine — Live mascots are largely a thing of the past, and that's true for the University of Maine. But that doesn't mean the school never had live animals on the sidelines.
That's right. Bananas T. Bear wasn't always an anonymous student in a costume. Between 1914 and 1966, the mascot was a real bear. Actually, it was more than 12 different bears.
The school's first mascot was an elephant. Well, sort of. A sign on the UMaine campus reads, "From 1903 to 1914, the mascot was an elephant-shaped, tin sign stolen from a Bangor clothing company."
After that, black bears started getting involved. But why the name Bananas?
According to a "History of the Maine Bear" published in 1984 by UMaine's Sigma Xi fraternity chapter, which is now the keeper of Bananas, an Old Town animal collector gifted a black bear cub named Jeff to the UMaine football team.
The team first introduced Jeff to the public in 1914 at a pep rally ahead of a big game against Colby College. Legend has it the bear showed off for the crowd by standing on its hands, causing the crowd to go downright "bananas." Thus, Jeff became Bananas and was soon made the official UMaine mascot.
But being Bananas isn't all sunshine and roses, and historical accounts show it was clearly a different time period with fewer animal rights protections. A different black bear took over as Bananas in 1915 and nearly died when Art Smith, UMaine's football coach at the time, left it chained to a tree.
According to Sigma Xi's history of the mascot:
"[Smith] kept the bear in a pen on the athletic field and periodically allowed her to visit with students while chained to a tree on the mall. One day the adventurous bear decided to climb the tree to which she was tied. She bounded up the tree, over a limb, and then down. Losing her grip she slipped and hung by her chain. If it had not been for the timely passing of Professor E.R. Wingard, Bananas would have prematurely become history. The headline of the Maine Campus read 'Bananas Attempts Suicide.'"
That bear was later sold to a man in southern Texas, and the university continued to see many different iterations of Bananas after that. Bananas III was a particular fan favorite and denned for the winter in an abandoned pump house.
"During the winter months some of the Beta Brothers would check the den about once a month to see if Bananas was okay. If steam was seen to come from Bananas' mouth, then they knew all was well. Around the 15th of March, Bananas III would come out of hibernation and Stackpole would chain her to a nearby tree. "Near the pump house by the Stillwater," he says, "there was quite a cluster of alder bushes. We'd place her down by these bushes, she'd bend the branches over, and Bananas would start to eat the new tender buds, which proved to be a very powerful laxative, and we soon knew she was in business for the coming summer."
Here are some highlights from the other bears' time as Bananas, according to Sigma Xi's history of the mascot:
- Bananas IV summered at Kennebunk Beach and befriended a dog named Jiggs.
- Bananas V's stay at the university was short. She died from ulcers.
- Bananas VI tried to fight a Bowdoin College man's husky at the 50-yard-line of a football game, sparking a come-from-behind victory for UMaine.
- Bananas VII escaped from its pump house den and made its way into the university plumber's nearby home, where it settled by the fire.
- Between 1927 and 1929, four different bears filled the Bananas role due to "a series of bad-luck incidences with its mascots."
- Bananas XII was a "tough bruin" and "was such a favorite that much concern was raised about his welfare," leading the university to launch a funding effort in 1929 to pay for the animal's care.
Two more bears, Sally Bananas and Cindy Bananas, rounded out the live bear era in Orono. According to Sigma Xi's history of the mascot, the practice of using live mascots at UMaine ended in 1966 "when a Maine court outlawed the tradition."
From then on, it was bear costumes galore, with the first being made by Drapeau's Costume Shop in Lewiston in 1969. To this day, a member of the Sigma Xi fraternity dons the costume at UMaine events.
So, when you look out at the football field this UMaine homecoming weekend and see Bananas on the sidelines, envision what the scene might be if the mascot were a real bear.
And ask yourself: How would that bear fare against a real live University of New Hampshire wildcat? I like UMaine's chances.
