Big Thursday was once one of the state's biggest holidays

Unless you lived in South Carolina more than 50 years ago, it's a good bet that you don't have the foggiest notion of what was once one of South Carolina's biggest "holidays." Nothing compared with the festivities of "BIG THURSDAY" — absolutely nothing!

It was not only the biggest sports events in South Carolina but ranked tops among the major annual occasions of any variety in the Palmetto State. Shucks, some say it was bigger than New Orleans' Mardi Gras.

Today's national basketball finals known as "March Madness" can't hold a candle to the excitement, pageantry and magnitude of Big Thursday in South Carolina.

The upcoming South Carolina State Fair Week in Columbia always reminds me of the Clemson vs. University of South Carolina football rivalry, which began in 1896. Thursday of Fair Week was when the two schools met for their annual confrontation. As newlyweds, my wife and I lived in the shadow of USC and enjoyed the final days of this magnificent occasion.

Big Thursday passed into the history books after the 1959 State Fair. The gridiron rivalry continues on an autumn Saturday each year, but it just ain't the same.

Statewide holiday

For more than 60 years, Big Thursday was a magical date for most South Carolinians. Even if you weren't a fan of either team, you probably got the day off to "celebrate" the big game. It was a legal holiday in the state capital, but other state offices and businesses across the Palmetto landscape closed for the "biggest sporting event of the year." You couldn't get waited on in stores that didn't shutter their doors because clerks were crowded around the radio listening to the play-by-play broadcast of the game. Hospital operating rooms were rumored to have radios blaring.

Big Thursday got to be such a huge event that Friday was added as part of the holiday. Some say it was because participants were unable or unwilling to go back to work on Friday morning because of too much excitement, but others put the blame where it probably belongs — too much liquid refreshment and late-night revelry.

Social occasion

Big Thursday had its social impact. Fans used to dress up in their Sunday best to attend college football games, but Big Thursday took stylish glamour to new heights. Debutante types in attendance may not have known the difference between a fumble and a clipping penalty, but, by golly, their shoes and bags matched. It was a day of high fashion, sporting of big mums and riotous tail-gating. Some even blame the demise of Big Thursday on impending racial integration of the colleges. They may be right. But, by and large, it seems Clemson got tired, after more than 60 years, of always playing the annual game on USC's home field and never at Death Valley in Clemson. Whatever the reason, the tradition was canceled, but the intense rivalry continues with alternating "home" games.

Riot of 1902

There were times during the 63-year history that officials considered canceling the annual meeting of the two teams because of hostilities among fans. In fact, they did cancel it for six years following the 1902 game. After-game revelry and carousing resulted in near rioting in downtown Columbia because a merchant had erected a derogatory image of a USC Gamecock on his storefront doing unmentionable things to the Clemson Tiger. Upon seeing this graphic insult, the upcountry lads headed for the USC campus, armed to the teeth, to confront an also heavily armed Gamecock contingent. Violence was averted — but barely.

On another occasion during halftime, a Clemson fan pounced on the field and at the 50-yard line, jerked the head off a live rooster. The cops got to him before the USC crowd wrung the Clemson fan's neck. The USC team has been known as the "Gamecocks" for many years, but originally their moniker was "Jaguars." There was never any chance that a Clemson fan was going to mess with a real Jaguar at halftime.

1946 gate crash

Perhaps the most outlandish game was played in 1946 before a more than double "sell-out" crowd.

A couple of New York City transplanted brothers figured they could capitalize on the popularity of the Big Thursday game by printing and selling thousands upon thousands of bogus tickets to the game. (The episode resurrected the South Carolina distrust of New Yorkers — a misgiving that scarcely had died down from Civil War days.) The cops found out about the ticket caper, arrested the brothers, and thought they had nipped the fraud in the bud. But on game day thousands of counterfeit ticketholders showed up, reaching numbers far beyond the stadium's capacity. Pandemonium reigned because no self-respecting fan was going to be denied entrance — legitimate ticketholder or otherwise. Officials tried to lock the gates when the stadium was filled to capacity, but to no avail because the fans crashed through the fences to the tune of 10,000 beyond the stadium's ability to accommodate them.

Where did the overflow go? Onto the playing field, of course. They crowded the end zones, player's benches and sidelines. Legendary Clemson coach Frank Howard later quipped that the team bench area was so crowded that he had to ask a woman standing between him and the playing field, "How's Clemson doing?" It was also reported that a long touchdown run was threatened until the referee persuaded the end zone crowd to step aside and, "Let the poor player cross the goal line."

The state's elite always showed up for the big game, and many had to make hard decisions regarding on which side of the field to sit. There were marriages that were termed "mixed," meaning that the wife was an alumna of USC but the husband had attended Clemson.

Half a governor

Even the governor of the state had to compromise. He would sit one half on the Clemson side, only to be escorted by the president of the college to the 50-yard line at halftime to be turned over to the president of the other college to sit on that side for the second half. (Both "colleges" later became "universities.")

Cow college

Animus between the two schools has existed from the beginning. In fact, it started under the administration of Gov. "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman in the 1890s. Tillman was a self-proclaimed "Farm Boy" and referred to USC as "A center of foppery (overly impressed with self) and snobbery." When Tom Clemson, son-in-law of South Carolinian and former U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun, offered land and money to start a school for "agricultural and military training" of farm kids in the upcountry, Clemson College was born. The original official name was Clemson Agricultural College. This "rural" connotation gave rise to rude references to "cow college" that have survived through the years: "Clemson cannot use artificial turf on the football field because the cheerleaders would have no place to graze." And, "How to tell when a Clemson graduate has died — all of the tractors in the funeral procession have their headlights on." Some Gamecock-referenced jabs are just as tacky.

Big Thursday games were won 33 times by Clemson and 21 by USC. Three ended in a tie. The lowest-scoring game was won by USC in 1920 and ended 3-0.

The Clemson vs. University of South Carolina game is still a big deal each fall, but it lacks the pageantry and excitement of Big Thursday.

As I said, it just ain't the same.

John Brock is a retired professor and newspaper editor/publisher who lives in Georgetown County. He can be reached by mail at this newspaper or via e-mail at brock@johnbrock.com. His Web site featuring his new book, "Southern Breezes Whistle Dixie," is www.southernobserver.com.