Here Come the Clydesdales
Eight massive Clydesdales strapped into black and gold harnesses adorned with red and white ribbons towered over a crowd at Brookings Hall this afternoon. The world-famous Anheuser Busch Clydesdales are no new site to St. Louis, in fact, Anheuser Busch’s main stable is just twenty minutes away, but today they galloped onto campus for the first time to kick off Debate Weekend.
The scene from Brookings was mesmerizing. On a perfect fall day, students, faculty, and members of the St. Louis community were brought together under the Brookings Arch to stare in awe at the equestrian celebrities gracing our campus. St. Louis native Anita Radcliffe, who works as the Manager of Awarding and Compliance here at WashU, noted that growing up in St. Louis meant that Anheuser Busch “had always been a big part of [her] upbringing”, but that she’d never seen the horses in person, only on TV. “This is my brush with fame,” she said.
“It may seem like such a simple thing”, said Sophomore Hannah Sinrich, “but everyone was so excited. Especially with students coming from midterms and going into the busyness and excitement of the debate, this was a nice transition.”
The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales are an institution. They were initially introduced in 1933, the year the Prohibition was repealed, right here in St. Louis. In celebration, brewing baron August Anheuser Busch Jr. presented to his father, Busch Sr., a hitch of Clydesdale horses pulling a red, white, and gold wagon which carried the first batch of post-Prohibition-produced beer. Busch Sr., immediately understanding the advertising potential of a horse-drawn carriage piled high with cases of beer, sent the Clydesdales across the country to deliver a celebratory case to the White House.
Since 1933, the Clydesdales have presented ceremonial cases of Budweiser beer to mark many special occasions. Every year, three hitches of Clydesdales romp around the country, appearing at parades and sporting events, toting behind them a towering red wagon where a Dalmatian companion sits perched atop cases of beer. Today, we saw just that as one of these hitches graced our campus, galloping before a crowd at Brookings Hall before making their way up Forsyth towards the new Sumers Recreation Center, where Sunday’s debate will be held. Just outside the debate hall, Chancellor Wrighton accepted this honor, a commemorative case of Budweiser, on behalf of the University.
Never before have the Clydesdales set foot on a college campus for a university-hosted debate, but it seems fitting that the first time be here at WashU, a friendly neighbor of Anheuser Busch’s in St. Louis. “Anheuser-Busch has been a great partner of Washington University,” Chancellor Wrighton said, pointing to the scholarships their company has provided to WashU students and their support of our Medical School’s research.
WUPR readers over age 21: grab an ice cold Lily’s Lager, the special batch of beer Anheuser Busch is brewing exclusively for the WashU Presidential Debate, because now, it is time for Anheuser Busch to hand the reigns over to the candidates and media.