Big Bertha, the largest bass drum in the world, became the "SWEETHEART OF THE LONGHORN BAND" in 1955.
Although she is more than seventy-five years old, her dimensions have remained the same year after year:
eight feet in diameter and fifty-four inches wide. When mounted on her trailer, she stands over ten feet
tall.
Bertha was created by C.G.Conn, Ltd., for the University of Chicago, and began her long and famous
career at the Princeton - Chicago football game on October 23, 1922. When the University of Chicago
dropped varsity football, the band was also disbanded and Bertha went into seclusion for a number of
years. It was when a movie about the life of the great John Philip Sousa was to be made that Bertha
made her comeback. She was offered a role in the film, "Stars and Stripes." Then, in 1955, Colonel D.
Harold Byrd, a long-time benefactor of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha from the University of
Chicago and gave her a new and glorious home in the heart of Texas. Mr. Moton Crockett, former Director
of the Longhorn Band, constructed a special trailer for her storage and transportation. Life for Bertha
since she has joined us has been luxurious and exciting. Her permanent dwelling is in the comfort of
our large Band Hall. For her performances at football games, she is graciously escorted by a group
known as the "Bertha Crew".
During the spring and summer of 1998, Mr. Crockett headed an effort by Kappa Kappa Psi and the
Longhorn Alumni Band to renovate Big Bertha. She received a fresh paint job, newly chromed clamps and
screws, and a new set of eight-foot Remo drumheads. Entering her 78th year, Big Bertha stands tall,
booms loud, and proudly exhibits a storied and colorful history as the world's largest marching drum.
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