Tailgating is a word rich with meaning for the American sports fan. It conjures up images of cold beer, drinking games, tasty finger food, scantily clad coeds dancing wildly to hip hop beats, and crazed half-dressed football fanatics. However, tailgating isn't just about the debauchery or the football. These parties take place all over the nation -- from football stadiums to opening night of the Santa Fe opera. Tailgating has truly become an American tradition of food and fun.
What is a Tailgate?
Tailgating is a term used to refer to a party that takes place in or around an open tailgate of a truck. Tailgate parties are generally held before sporting events, often in the parking lots of the sporting venue.
The Original Tailgaters
The original tailgate party has its roots early College Football. While pro-football wasn't conceived until the mid 20th century the first college football was played amongst Ivy League colleges in the northern states. Often these inter-college games were marked with a feast of wild fish and game before and after.
In the years following the civil war, the tradition of the college football game began to take on new meaning as the north-south rivalries deepened. Often these rivalries carried onto the football field and into the picnic food served beforehand--each side distinguishing themselves by serving distinct cuisine. In the south, foods were derived from the traditional staples of pork, corn and beans, while northern cuisine was more diversified and prominently featured beef dishes.
During the 1920s and '30s tailgating was almost exclusively all day event taking place before and after games. But with the introduction of large electric lights in stadiums the night game would play a crucial role in the development of modern tailgating. Cooler night games allowed men and women to dress up for huge pregame bashes. The tradition of the night game continued unabated for about forty years until the beginning of the daytime college football coverage. This led fans to pack stadium parking lots for pregame festivities. With increasing media coverage, fan garb became more and more garish and absurd. Die-hards often paint their faces and bodies or wear as little clothing as possible in sub-zero temperatures.
This stereotype of the die-hard male football fan has become the norm in American culture. Thus the view of tailgating as a social mixer between men and women has largely gone by the wayside. Today's tailgating is primarily seen as a manly pastime.
The Commissioner of Tailgating
Joe Cahn has made a career out of the tradition of tailgating. Known affectionately as the Commissioner, Joe has visited all 32 professional football stadiums and a myriad of colleges. He has grilled salmon in with students from the University of Oregon and tasted Jambalaya and craw fish etouffee with Saints fanatics. Cahn is a true testament to the increasing diversity of this American pastime.
In a time when people are becoming increasingly isolated from one another, tailgating remains as the last great vestige of the American social experiment. Only here, under the body paint and the thin veil of grill smoke can people just be people, truly existing as our forefathers wished, as one indivisible national equal under the eyes of God and American Football.
Sources:
Chris Warner, The Colorful History of America's Biggest Sporting Pastime.
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