Talk:Bucky Badger

"Ask Abe" entry from the UW Alumni association. Includes some history. Probably not useful enough to include in the main article, but may be useful to other researchers. Alan De Smet | Talk 03:45, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

History of logo and trademarks
My addition to the history of the logo and it's trademark is based on an personal email exchange with Cindy Van Matre, Trademark Licensing Director for the UW-Madison. In addition to the information I've added, she recommended The Bucky Badger Story by Gwen Schultz, published by Hammock & Inglenook in 1981. Alan De Smet | Talk 00:13, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

== "Fuck 'Em Bucky" = I pulled a reference to a "Fuck 'Em Bucky" logo. It read, "The controversial Fuck 'Em Bucky logo has often been used on t-shirts and other media. This logo incorporates Bucky giving the middle finger. This is an unofficial logo and the school has frowned upon its use." While I have no doubt such an image exists and has been put onto t-shirts at least once, it's by no means common. During my four years as an undergrad at the UW-Madison in the late 90s, followed by three years working at the UW-Madison (2004-present), I've never seen such a logo. This is opposed to "Blind Bucky", which I have definately seen. A quick online search fails to turn up any references to the logo. (I find lots of references to the phrase "Fuck 'Em Bucky", but no concrete references to the modified logo.) All that said, I could be wrong, but I think we need a bit more evidence. Alan De Smet | Talk 02:16, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

It seems like every year a group (I think a fraternity) makes an unofficial homecoming game shirt with said image.


 * I think "Fuck 'Em Bucky" was a little earlier - when I was at Madison in the early to mid 1990s (pre-1996), they were very common. The University might have cracked down on them after that.  They definitely existed, though, and crop up on eBay from time to time.  --Chancemichaels 15:00, 18 August 2006 (UTC)Chancemichaels


 * The shirts with this logo certainly exist; I own one myself, acquired openly from some shop on State Street in about 1982 or 1983. Unfortunately, it no longer fits or I'd be wearing it this weekend and would post an image to Commons. 66.28.247.235 (talk) 19:21, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

They were commonly sold by t-shirt vendors on the mall when I was teenager, and also when I was a student in Madison -- i.e., throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The UW subsequently decided to enforce its trademark to put a halt to their sale. Here is what they looked like: https://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/6798237/il_fullxfull.464909413_tw6h.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.169.10.111 (talk) 19:32, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Here's an article published in Isthmus discussing the t-shirts and the University's crackdown in the late 1980s, which states "While Bucky proved to be the Big Man on Campus for decades, he had a secret: He wasn't registered -- as a trademark. So for years the poor guy was exploited with glee by bootlegging T-shirt printers. He was dressed in a Mao jacket with fist raised ("Go Big Red"), as a Rastafarian ("Go Big Dread") and with middle finger raised during the teaching assistant strikes ("Fuck 'em Bucky"). The university put a stop to such frivolity by having Bucky spayed and neutered as a trademark in 1988." http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=30345

Fuck'em Bucky t-shirts were originally printed by Sid Sweet of Sweet Tees and Sportswear, a stadium clothing vendor, around 1976. Other vendors soon followed and for a time in the late '70s and early '80s the shirt became the largest selling item at football games and other campus events. Sweet continued selling them thru 1988 when the University regained the copyright and forced him to desist.

Art Evans or Tom Spiece?
A few users have been replacing "Art Evans" with "Tom Spiece" as Bucky's artist. The Evans case is backed up with two references. There are no references for Spiece being the artist. If references exist, Google certainly isn't turning them. If someone has details of Spiece being the original artist, please add a citing it. Indeed, if you have a reference, there is apparently a controversy, and we should be presenting both names. Absent a reference, I will assume it's incorrect and continue to revert these changes. — Alan De Smet | Talk 04:25, 26 January 2007 (UTC) My name is Anthony Gillham and I wish to modify information about Bucky Badger. I was the Fencing Coach at Madison from 1972 to 1990. Sometime in the 1970's I was asked by the Athletic Department if I could repair the rather poorly made paper mache head which was an actual helmet that sat on the user's head. I suggested that I could make a better one. I was asked to do so and made the first one around 1978. I designed the current head and the uniform. I changed the head to be attached to steel struts attached to the shoulder pads, allowing the user's head to move inside. I subsequently made three more before I left in 1990. My design had the 'straight' W on the front. The 'W' was changed to the current version when U.W. obtained sole rights to Bucky. The fierce face version was around long before 1988; I don't know who first drew it. I have a drawing I made of 'fencing Bucky' with the fierce face, and a lady badger when UW swept the Bug Ten Fencing Championships in 1979. Anthony Gillham aorm.gillham@att.net — Preceding unsigned comment added by A. Gillham (talk • contribs) 22:26, 10 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Tom Spiece is my Grandpa and yes he created Bucky badger. 50.81.29.33 (talk) 00:45, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Renting Bucky
I almost reverted the uncited addition about being able to rent Bucky as implausible. Nope, it's valid. I don't know about the 700 a year claim, but the previous link might be a good citation for a more cautious claim. — Alan De Smet | Talk 00:38, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

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