A close, trunk call, 1931
Lord Mayor of London
Low cartoon, 1931In 1931, King's participated as usual in the annual Lord's Mayor's Show procession, but were the cause of a disturbance that was reported in the national press when a troop of elephants passing the Embankment entrance to the College became enraged by students holding up Reggie.
The largest elephant charged the mascot and, grabbing it with its trunk, hurled it to the ground, injuring several onlookers in the process. The cartoonist, David Low, used reports of the incident when satirising the political process in British India. The cartoon is reproduced here.
Other intercollegiate battles
Kidnapping the LSE BeaverStudent rivalry was not confined to King's and University College, but spilled over into contests with Imperial and Queen Mary Colleges and especially the neighbouring London School of Economics.
One well-planned and successful rag against the LSE during the 1920s involved the King's Liberal Party Society organising an impostor to play the part of David Lloyd George, complete with morning coat and limousine, who proceeded to address the LSE Union in an appropriately overdramatic performance.
A riot ensued when the angry audience realised they had been duped and the Lloyd George actor sent flying before rescue by a strategically placed King's rowing heavy.
Following the Second World War, King's College was involved in numerous kidnapping and ransoming of rival mascots, including Queen Mary's leopard and the LSE Beaver.
In this exhibition
- Origins and mascots
- The heyday of the rag
- Later rags