The Shmoe - Symbol of Pledgeship

The Shmoe, a pledge shield or pledge board in the shape of a billikin, has been the emblem of Red Shirt pledges since at least 1940-41. Made variously of cardboard, pressboard or wooden plank, the big-eared Shmoe depicts a smiling pledge happily attempting to fill the large shirt and shoes of a Red Shirt. The design is similar to the legendary "Kilroy Was Here" graffitti of World War II. The Kilroy cartoons cropped up on walls all over Europe and Japan, seemingly managing to get there before the rest of the troops. Pledge shields were probably adopted in imitation of Freshman Orientation garb of the late Thirties and early Forties, which featured beanies, a rectangular pledge card around the neck, and wooden paddles. Beta Beta pledges of 1941-42 also wore pledge shields. Even E.E.E. pledges sometimes worn pledge shields. The Shmoes hung around a Red Shirt pledge's neck by a thick white cord or red ribbon. When the Shmoe was turned over to show the class schedule on the back, the Shmoe hit the pledge's chin, and the cord drew tight around his neck. This insured that the pledge filled out a CLEAR schedule so that members would not have to spend much time reading it! When not on the pledge's head, the pledge beanie was placed upon the head of the Shmoe with the letters facing out. Traditionally, the oldest Shmoe available is used as a pattern for new Shmoes. Pledges must cut and paint them themselves. The design has remained largely unchanged, although from time to time slight variations have been used. The original Shmoe had the beannie over one eye in a jaunty fashion. This was copied from an original Shmoe for the Spring 1972 Shmoes. The Spring 1970 pledge class used a yearbook illustration of a Shmoe from 1951. This resulted in the "staring eye" Shmoe. Shmoes in the late Sixties were usually shown wearing red blazers instead of red shirts. Although regalia such as pledge shields may no longer be worn on campus, Red Shirt pledges continue to proudly make and display their Shmoes.