Last week, I saw the article about the Jr. Billiken mascot taking a tour of St Louis and the USA over the summer. It brought back memories of a similar, yet less creative Jr. Bill mascot heist in the summer of 1974.

Bob Moore and I (both class of ’74) spent a good part of the fall of 1972 rebuilding the Jr. Bill mascot. It was a full sturdy chicken wire and papier mâché Jr Billiken about four feet high by three by three. (Photo attached from the 1973 yearbook.)

  After a full year plus of use it was in a bit of disrepair by the end of our senior year of 1974.  We were perturbed that no one from the class of ’75 seemed interested in rebuilding our friend. So after graduation, Bob and I decided we were going to rebuild it again in his basement. We had both been Student Council officers and we still had the key to the STUCO office where the mascot was kept. One June evening, we came back and loaded the Jr. Bill into the back of Bob’s pickup truck whisking it away from the hallowed halls of the Backer Memorial.

  The previous fall some De Smet boys had almost stolen our mascot buddy and the Student Council moderator at the time, Fr. David Wayne, S.J., caught them just as they were loading it into the back of a convertible on the east side alley. Disaster was averted! 

  This time though, Fr. Wayne, having noticed the mascot was gone with the week, and also realizing we still had the keys, quickly surmised we were the most likely suspects.

Fortunately, since we had officially graduated no jugs ensued.

Jack Huether, ’74