For many years the Tank Scrap occurred after Midnight and did not conclude until the next Morning. In 1908 the faculty and upperclassmen agreed that the event would occur after 7:00 PM. On the afternoon of the Tank Scrap the freshmen started the ritual by assembling at such places as the practice field and marched in a military style column of fours to the Tank. Once there the freshmen established their camp and formed their defensive formation down hill and south or southeast of the Tank in the gullies of Happy Hollow. In the early days they then would sing and yell for as much as eight hours drawing crowds from as far away as Chicago that numbered eight to fifteen thousand. Enterprising locals in those early years set up refreshment stands. Local merchants also got into the act by advertising such things as the proper shoes and athletic supporters just for the Tank Scrap in the Purdue Exponent.
Students in front of the Tank.
