This story was in the GT alumni mag that arrived yesterday. It seems that after the GT-Cal Rose Bowl of 1929 (1928 season) a bear was gifted to the GT team. Tech player, Stumpy Thomason, took the bear, named Bruin, back to his abode and proceeded to teach him various tricks. Bruin was a fun pet and all was good until the bear got a bit salty one day and sliced Stumpy's hand. It appears he was fond of beer and Coke. Upon graduation, he took Bruin with him to his first coaching job, in NY, for a team with a bear mascot. No further info on the bear is known. As far as I know, all true, at least that's the how the story goes.

I know how he got the name, "Stumpy".

5'7" 190 pounds. Human stump.

I recall reading that Cal had a live bear as a mascot for a time in the 1930s. It was cute as a cub, but as it got bigger, it was too mean to handle. I think they released it in the Sierras, but first they had to tranquilize it to remove it's collar that had become too small and was eventually going to strangle it.

stinger78 said:

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This story was in the GT alumni mag that arrived yesterday. It seems that after the GT-Cal Rose Bowl of 1929 (1928 season) a bear was gifted to the GT team. Tech player, Stumpy Thomason, took the bear, named Bruin, back to his abode and proceeded to teach him various tricks. Bruin was a fun pet and all was good until the bear got a bit salty one day and sliced Stumpy's hand. It appears he was fond of beer and Coke. Upon graduation, he took Bruin with him to his first coaching job, in NY, for a team with a bear mascot. No further info on the bear is known. As far as I know, all true, at least that's the how the story goes.

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"Coke Bear??"

Yes, as in Coca Cola.

stinger78 said:

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Yes, as in Coca Cola.

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Was this in the days when Coca Cola contained cocaine?

here ya go ..... pictures of the bear too

Stumpy's Bear

Only few know the official recipe of Coke, but the word is that the trace amount of cocaine in the original formula was removed in 1903, more than 25 years prior to Stumpy's Bear. The GT locker room was under the east stands when I was there. Not sure where that was at that time. Home Park, an early 20th century development, is still there, immediately adjacent to GT to the north across 10th Street. It is now largely rental properties for GT students. The stadium is at the south edge of campus on North Avenue. That's over 10 blocks away. Stumpy's bear must have had a rather large free range in North Atlanta. It's fun story, but hard to imagine happening today.

stinger78 said:

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Only few know the official recipe of Coke, but the word is that the trace amount of cocaine in the original formula was removed in 1903, more than 25 years prior to Stumpy's Bear. The GT locker room was under the east stands when I was there. Not sure where that was at that time. Home Park, an early 20th century development, is still there, immediately adjacent to GT to the north across 10th Street. It is now largely rental properties for GT students. The stadium is at the south edge of campus on North Avenue. That's over 10 blocks away. Stumpy's bear must have had a rather large free range in North Atlanta. It's fun story, but hard to imagine happening today.

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Oh, I don't know. There's been some years when I would have relished a live bear on the Cal sideline, maybe w/ a loose or defective chain? Particularly during a Furd or $C game

stinger78 said:

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Only few know the official recipe of Coke, but the word is that the trace amount of cocaine in the original formula was removed in 1903, more than 25 years prior to Stumpy's Bear. The GT locker room was under the east stands when I was there. Not sure where that was at that time. Home Park, an early 20th century development, is still there, immediately adjacent to GT to the north across 10th Street. It is now largely rental properties for GT students. The stadium is at the south edge of campus on North Avenue. That's over 10 blocks away. Stumpy's bear must have had a rather large free range in North Atlanta. It's fun story, but hard to imagine happening today.

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Thanks, I didn't know when the formula changed to remove the cocaine. I was thinking the cocaine was one reason for the bear's live of Coca Cola. Maybe he just like the sweetness of it all.