Alabama's 1947 Homecoming

Photo via the Tuscaloosa Area Virtual Museum

The 1947 Alabama Homecoming Queen Sue Donegan parades before a sell out crowd of 25,000 at Denny Stadium atop the Crimson Tide's live elephant mascot. The football team was in the first year of Harold "Red" Drew's coaching tenure and faced a daunting LSU squad for the Nov. 22 contest.

Alabama's Harry Gilmer ran back LSU's first punt 92 yards for a touchdown less than three minutes into the contest and the Crimson Tide never looked back. The Tiger's ailing Y.A. Tittle was unable to mount a comeback and Alabama bested LSU 41-12. The victory earned the Crimson Tide an invitation to play in the 1948 Sugar Bowl.

Alabama's Live Elephant Mascots

Up until the 1950s, Alabama would sometimes parade a pair of live elephant mascots around Tuscaloosa (and even on the field of Denny Stadium) on gameday such as this pair in the Quad in1945. The practice was suspended when caring for the animals became too expensive.