When the Script Ohio was not about the Sousaphone
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:42 pm
As I continue to wander through aspects of the history of the Sousaphone (http://www.tubapastor.blogspot.com), the following surprised me:
Wow! Okay, so . . .
1. Arch-rival Michigan was the first to do this famous formation (that's gotta hurt, if you're a Buckeye fan!)
2. A Sousaphone did not dot the "i" at first, but a trumpet player did (well, at least it wasn't a woodwind!)
3. When a Sousaphone finally did dot the "i," the player was ordered to do so by the director!
Here's the photo they post of that very first script Ohio performed by the Ohio State Band in 1936. You can see the Sousaphones there, in the loop of the "h," but clearly the "i" is being dotted by another instrument:
(Source: http://osumarion.osu.edu/news/when-curs ... nniversary)Interestingly, the first performance of Script Ohio was by the University of Michigan’s marching band in 1932. According to the student newspaper, The Michigan Daily: “Probably the most effective single formation was the word ‘OHIO’ spelled out in script diagonally across the field in the double-deck Ohio stadium to the accompaniment of the O.S.U. marching song, ‘Fight the Team.’ ”
It wasn’t until four years later, in October of 1936, that the OSU Marching Band first performed Script Ohio in Ohio Stadium. There is some debate over which game exactly: It was either on Oct. 10 when OSU went up against Pittsburgh or Oct. 24 when OSU played Indiana. Surprisingly, a trumpet player (John Walter Brungart) dotted the “i” that day. Four games later, a sousaphone player (Glenn R. Johnson) dotted the “i” on the orders of band director Eugene Weigel. The characteristic turn and bow performed by the sousaphone player did not become part of the “i” dotting tradition until 1938.
Wow! Okay, so . . .
1. Arch-rival Michigan was the first to do this famous formation (that's gotta hurt, if you're a Buckeye fan!)
2. A Sousaphone did not dot the "i" at first, but a trumpet player did (well, at least it wasn't a woodwind!)
3. When a Sousaphone finally did dot the "i," the player was ordered to do so by the director!
Here's the photo they post of that very first script Ohio performed by the Ohio State Band in 1936. You can see the Sousaphones there, in the loop of the "h," but clearly the "i" is being dotted by another instrument: