The Ramblin' Wreck Parade

courtesy Phi Kappa Tau

The Ramblin' Wreck Parade is one of Tech's finest traditions, usually conducted on the Saturday morning of Homecoming weekend. Sponsored by the Ramblin' Reck Club, the parade is traditionally led by Tech's own Ramblin' Wreck, and run from the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, down Fowler Street to Fifth Street, and then up the hill to Techwood Drive.

The parade is born from the old `Flying Flivver' races of May 1929 and 1930, a road race that was run from Atlanta to Athens founded by The Technique. The race became a parade when the administration, led by the auto enthusiast and Flivver participant Dean Floyd Field, felt that a parade might be less hazardous than an illegal road race.

The first parade was in 1932 and was led by Dean Field in his beloved 1916 Ford, a vehicle many consider to be Tech's first Ramblin' Wreck. The first parade was won by the entry from Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

The Ramblin' Wreck Parade contains entries in three categories: the contraption, the fixed-body, and the classic car. In the contraption category, the wreck is propelled by an indirect drive train, that is a drive train where the transmission does not directly propel the vehicle's driving wheels. The fixed body relies on a direct drivetrain, as does the classic car category, whose entries are unaltered vehicles at least 20 years old.

It is interesting to note that as the Ramblin' Wreck Parade developed over the years, the inclination to convert it to the more usual `float' parades that all other colleges and universities have, has been adamantly opposed by the student body. The distinctive character of the Ramblin' Wreck Parade that has been preserved by the Institute, acts as a tribute to the ingenuity and nickname that has made Georgia Tech famous worldwide.

Freshman Cake Race

The Freshman Cake Race is Tech's oldest homecoming tradition, beginning in 1911 as a cross country race. The origin of the name comes from the practice started in 1913 of awarding the winners of the race with a cake. The cakes were baked by the wives of faculty and administrators as well as the mothers and sweethearts of the participants. The earliest races, run on courses two to four miles in length, were run voluntarily by members of all undergraduate classes at Tech, and drew large fields of runners.

The number of runners was evident in the number of cakes awarded in early years. During several years there were over a hundred, and a 1929 record revealed that 160 cakes were awarded.

The Cake Race was incorporated into the homecoming celebration in 1935, and made a compulsory event for freshman who were not disqualified because of physical limitations.

The inclusion of a homecoming queen in 1954, and later a homecoming king, augmented the awards to the winners of the race by giving them, in addition to a cake, a kiss from the homecoming monarch of the opposite sex. This award fell out of practice in the 1970's, as did the obligatory participation in the Cake Race of the first quarter freshmen.

Perhaps the most famous winner of the Freshman Cake Race is former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. The Georgia Tech Archives contain a photograph of him receiving a kiss from the homecoming queen for winning the race his freshman year.

Mini 500

courtesy NROTC

The Mini 500 is a multi-lapped tricycle race around Peters Parking Deck held the Friday afternoon before the Homecoming game. The event dates back nearly 30 years. It was inspired by a common fraternity prank that required pledges to transport themselves around campus on the children's conveyance mechanism. The women teams make 10 laps while the men make 15 around Peters Parking Deck and are required to make three pit stops for reversal of the front wheel.

-- Kyle Kessler, editor