On January 17th in 1914 the
Technology Club of New York had
a large event in New York City
and they invited, then president
Maclaurin as their guest. And it
was during that session there
was discussion about establishing
a mascot for MIT. At first there
were thoughts of about a kangaroo
and then an elephant for the
different virtues and personality
traits and qualities that those
animals brought. But then when
they referenced a book on animals
of North America they found that
the beaver best exemplified the
MIT spirit and the student of
the day. Specifically for its
engineering and mechanical skills.
So at that event, they presented
the president with two mounted
beavers and introduced the
proposal that the beaver be
established as the mascot which
the president at that meeting
accepted. And that was the
beginning of that relationship.
The whole idea of mascots actually
comes into popularity right about
the same time as MIT is founded.
In the mid nineteenth century
around the 1860s. The word
'mascot' itself is a French word
that means "lucky charm" and it
gets connected up with sports
teams a lot in the nineteenth
century. So it's not surprising
about the time that MIT is really
pulling together and the Alumni
Association is founded. It starts
to have athletic associations,
sports teams and student life
that some of the alumni began to
think MIT needs a mascot.
The beaver, nature's engineer,
industrious and nocturnal. Its
all the qualities that MIT
students at that time, MIT alumni
at that time possessed and
certainly they are recognizable
to us today.
In 1977 the first beaver costume
if you will, appeared on campus.
It was the 50th anniversary of
The Class of 1927 and they wanted
to celebrate the beavers roll,
and of course they had been
students in the early days when
the beaver had been identified
as the mascot. And it started
then to take off as a regular
element of activities around the
campus.
What you see behind me is if
not the first certainly one of
the early costumes of Tim the
Beaver. You see the oversized
head with the eye-windows, and
the bottom that is especially
fun because you can see this
suit that people would get in
and put on and it has a giant
beaver tail that hangs. . .
I always thought mascots were
pretty cool you know they just
bring happiness into peoples
lives and I wanted to be someone
who could do that. You just put
on the suit, you walk around,
give people high-fives, shake
their hands, give them hugs and
you pose for a lot of pictures.
Being Tim, there aren't many
rules to it. I think the main
rule is you can't talk but that's
why anyone who puts on the suit
can have their own little twist
to being Tim the Beaver. For me,
personally I just give a lot of
thumbs ups and shooting high-
fives. I sometimes do little
dances when the mood is dimming
down at the party. I just do a
little jig and people get right
back up to dancing.
I'm actually one of the shortest
Tim's that we have. The suits a
little big on me but it mostly
fits. There's actually a lot of
girls that are Tims, that people
don't realize. You usually
imagine its this big, tall guy
in the suit but really,
I'm a Tim.
Now Tim's an interesting name
in and of itself because there's
no official time, record or
meeting where that became the
name other than it just evolved.
And basically its MIT flipped
around. T-I-M. M-I-T.
I think everyone is very clear
in the first time they see Tim
he is a very welcoming figure.
He's fun, he looks like he's
having a good time, but not to
be misunderstood. He's a hard
worker and very much engaged
in what he's about.