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LSU Tailgating in the 60's 70's and 80's
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:27 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:27 pm
Anybody here tell us what it was like? Any kick arse stories from back then? 
32
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:34 pm to LSUFan102322
My parents and two other couples all had season tickets and went to the games together. We would bring sandwiches, snacks, and drinks and sit under the oaks near the union before the game when it used be called Deaf Valley. I would wander off and tear around the campus until gametime when I met them at our gate. We would leave after the game after I ran the field a few times and caught up with them.. This was in the late 70's. Alcohol and games didn't happen until my first semester and the student section in the mid to late 80's. True Story.
ETA: Thank god Girbaud jeans were in fashion for the student section. I could fit two full flasks in the front pockets to avoid the patdowns. Couldn't do that in my Duckheads.
ETA: Thank god Girbaud jeans were in fashion for the student section. I could fit two full flasks in the front pockets to avoid the patdowns. Couldn't do that in my Duckheads.
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 7:45 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:37 pm to LSUFan102322
Tailgating then wasn’t the “event” it became in the 90’s forward. The fraternities didn’t do a lot of “tailgating” they mostly partied and drank at the fraternity house before the game. And you didn’t have very many, if really any, who went to campus solely to tailgate without going to the game.
You had the cooking and somewhat of a party atmosphere. But it wasn’t really and all-day or all weekend event.
You had the cooking and somewhat of a party atmosphere. But it wasn’t really and all-day or all weekend event.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:38 pm to LSUFan102322
You could pull up in most lots close to Tiger Stadium, open up your tailgate and begin. After the game you were able to get out in 15 minutes and head home w/o heading the opposite direction for 2 hours.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:41 pm to LSUFan102322
Before the stadium expanded, starting in 79, you could park for free anywhere except the immediate area around TS.
Traffic flow was great both ways, but TS held only 68,000.
Traffic flow was great both ways, but TS held only 68,000.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:47 pm to LSUFan102322
I can tell you about the mid to late 90s.
Well I could if I remembered anything.
Well I could if I remembered anything.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:48 pm to LSUFan102322
i’ve asked many blue hairs this over the years and in the 50’s and 60’s they would have house parties, get hammered, then drive the game. all wearing suits and dresses of course.
tailgating as we know it today only began in the 80’s and was much smaller than it is now. Some people were cooking but picking up popeyes and literally popping the tailgate open to listen to pregame and have a couple of beers was more the norm. Those are some of my earliest memories.
My dad was smart and put his flask on me as we walked in because nobody was patting down children for booze
tailgating as we know it today only began in the 80’s and was much smaller than it is now. Some people were cooking but picking up popeyes and literally popping the tailgate open to listen to pregame and have a couple of beers was more the norm. Those are some of my earliest memories.
My dad was smart and put his flask on me as we walked in because nobody was patting down children for booze
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 7:50 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:48 pm to 91TIGER
I visited in 1986 as a student from an ACC school. It was a night game and we got there early. We were offered so much good food and drink walking around in our gear.
I mentioned something about the hospitality to one group and how we had been treated very nicely and told them my Auburn family warned me about the LSU fans. One guy laughed and said, y’all are just North Carolina, next week, we play (some SEC school), we ain’t gonna treat them like we are treating you.
Same thing going out, we got full again walking back to the car.
That was Bill Buckner/Mookie Wilson night.
I mentioned something about the hospitality to one group and how we had been treated very nicely and told them my Auburn family warned me about the LSU fans. One guy laughed and said, y’all are just North Carolina, next week, we play (some SEC school), we ain’t gonna treat them like we are treating you.
Same thing going out, we got full again walking back to the car.
That was Bill Buckner/Mookie Wilson night.
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 7:49 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:52 pm to Draconian Sanctions
quote:
i’ve asked many blue hairs this over the years and in the 50’s and 60’s they would have house parties, get hammered, then drive the game. all wearing suits and dresses of course.
tailgating as we know it today only began in the 80’s and was much smaller than it is now. Some people were cooking but picking up popeyes and literally popping the tailgate open to listen to pregame and have a couple of beers was more the norm. Those are some of my earliest memories.
This is correct. The house party trend went all the way up to the early 80s.
I can remember going to games as a kid and having to sit in the car outside people’s houses at these parties because that’s what you did.
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 7:53 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:54 pm to LSUFan102322
Set up at the Vet School. Dad made a little pit at work and used it to cook hot dogs and burgers. He got season tickets in 1979 when I was 6 years old. We continued going to games together until 1996. I bought his tickets from him and he decided he enjoyed watching from his recliner at home. Lots of football and whiffle ball games were played on the front lawn of the vet school.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:55 pm to LSUFan102322
quote:
70’s
We used to park right across the street from the stadium, in a grass field under an oak tree.
No paying for parking, no obnoxious paid tailgates.
Just a bunch of cars, rowdy guys tailgating, and a short walk into TS.
Those were the days
Posted on 8/21/25 at 7:58 pm to LSUFan102322
Probably a few OTers conceived in porta potties at a 70s LSU football tailgate
Posted on 8/21/25 at 8:01 pm to LSUFan102322
The real animal house DKE LSU circa 1980
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 8:02 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 8:02 pm to Y.A. Tittle
I was a student early to mid 80’s. Cant so much speak to the tailgating scene but one semester my dorm was in the stadium. Not nearly as great as you’d think. Ancient. Nasty. No AC. Had to be sure and move car from stadium lot for game days or get towed. Students used ID to get in. First come, first in. Stood in line early until gates opened about 5. Booze. Parties. Fights. About what you expect outside the stadium. Once inside had to deal with frat guys saving whole sections of seats for late arriving frat group. But after all that the games were hyped and jacked- even though some seasons were lean on W’s. Still- great memories.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 9:36 pm to LSUFan102322
quote:
Anybody here tell us what it was like?
Yes.
quote:
Any kick arse stories from back then?
Not really.
In the 70s, the family would arrive at noon or 1 p.m. Park for free right across from the stadium in a grass lot. Meet up with friends. Eat fried chicken or sandwiches. Throw the football and wait for game time. Meet at the airplane after the game if we were sitting away from parents. Back to the car and drive home. We never left a game early. Never.
In the eighties, party at the fraternity house, then walk to the game. No one ever parked or tailgated on the parade ground. Everything was closer to the staduim.
Posted on 8/21/25 at 9:40 pm to geauxjo
I lived in south stadium 67,68,69 and tailgating was pretty much non existent. In warming up to the game a bottle of food town bourbon and a box of ritz crackers was 5 bucks
Posted on 8/21/25 at 10:31 pm to AllemanWC
quote:
He got season tickets in 1979 when I was 6 years old.
"Charles McClendon, being carried off the field at his last home game at LSU, a 21-3 win against Mississippi St."
Posted on 8/21/25 at 11:19 pm to 91TIGER
And the win - loss numbers were not what they are today.
I remember tailgating a couple times as a young kid in the early-mid 80’s. We would kick the football against one of the buildings. I remember one game we went to they threw sugar packets after the game because we made it to the sugar bowl. Don’t remember what year that was though.
Edit after looking. It was ‘84 or ‘86
I remember tailgating a couple times as a young kid in the early-mid 80’s. We would kick the football against one of the buildings. I remember one game we went to they threw sugar packets after the game because we made it to the sugar bowl. Don’t remember what year that was though.
Edit after looking. It was ‘84 or ‘86
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 11:33 pm
Posted on 8/21/25 at 11:23 pm to Draconian Sanctions
quote:
My dad was smart and put his flask on me as we walked in because nobody was patting down children for booze
Posted on 8/21/25 at 11:23 pm to LSUFan102322
I went to two games in the early 70's we parked within 50 yards of the stadium in the parking lot next to the stadium. I did not see any tailgating at all. The stadium was full for a day game against Auburn but wasn't full for a night game against Notre Dame. We had 50 yard line seats for the Auburn game. The Notre Dame game we had end zone seats and plenty of empty seats all around.
This post was edited on 8/21/25 at 11:27 pm
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