Butler Bulldogs

Prior to 1919, Butler's athletic teams were known as the "Christians". But numerous losses in the 1919 football season caused Butler's followers to grow weary of the nickname. During the week leading up to Butler's game with the heated rival Franklin "Baptists", Butler Collegian editor Alex Cavins and his staff, which included cartoonist George Dickson, decided something "hot" must be conceived for the school's weekly pep session.

About that time, the mascot of a Butler fraternity..... a bulldog named Shimmy (you couldn't shake him), wandered into the Collegian office. The idea was born. The next school paper came out with a big page-one cartoon showing Shimmy the bulldog, labeled "Butler", taking a bite out of the pants seat of a figure labeled John the Baptist. The caption was: "Bring on That Platter, Salome!" (Butler lost the game to Franklin, 14-0, but the name "Bulldogs stuck).