The Legend of Corky the Hornet
Emporia State University
In the early 1930s, the Kansas State Teachers College students were known as the "Yaps." Not fond of the name, legendary coach Vic Trusler suggested to Cecil Carle of the Emporia Gazette that the team be called the "Yellow Jackets" because the men wore sweaters with black stripes on their sleeves. The name evolved to "Hornets" because of a lack of newspaper space.
Corky the Hornet made his debut in 1933, when sophomore Paul Edwards (BSE 1937) designed him for a campus-wide logo contest. Ray Maul, editor of ESU's student newspaper printed Edwards [logo?] in The Bulletin, and the [illegible] immediately [became?] [illegible]. [Illegible] 1936, Edwards [illegible] appearance by eliminating two of his legs in order to make Corky more human-like. According to Edwards, "Corky couldn't dance with a girl nor carry a football down the field with all those appendages." Edwards patented the Hornet, who has been modernized since his birth during the Depression.
In 1995, Paul Edwards donated to the university a walnut carving of Corky, which is on display in the Memorial Union Bookstore. The walnut carving is the model for the Corkys on Parade and the bronze Corky maquettes.
Courtesy hmdb.org
