If you’ve tried to find out anything about the history of tailgate parties around the USA, you know that there are lots of theories. Here are just a few:
The first occurred during the first college football game between Rutgers & Princeton, where spectators spent their pre-game ritual grilling sausages at the “tail end” of the horse.
Or another story goes that a train transported a large number of fans to a Yale football game in 1904. By the time the fans had arrived to the game, most were quite famished and, according to Peter Chakerian's excerpt from his book The Browns Fan's Tailgating Guide, the fans made sure to bring food and beverages to the stadium prior to the start of the game.
And yet another was that Green Bay Packers fans coined the actual term "tailgating" during the team’s first year in business in 1919. Back then, the fans would back their pickup trucks around the field and fold down their tailgates for seating. Naturally, food and beverages were brought along to keep the appetite in check.
Some of you might wonder What is a tailgate party”? According to Wikipedia a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating, which originated in the United States, often involves consuming alcoholic beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas, before and occasionally after games and concerts. People attending such a party are said to be tailgating. Many people participate even if their vehicles do not have tailgates.
Why should any of us care about this new tradition/ritual/craze called tailgate parties? According to many articles found on Google, tailgate parties are autumn football rituals where both sides can come together to eat, drink and be merry BEFORE their respective team wins or loses, after which many folks are no longer in the mood for that type of activity. They’re a great excuse to arrive before a game, meet up with family & friends and have a great pre-game treat.
So you might wonder where Kelli’s enters the picture, right? It is NEVER too early to get your youngsters involved in this tradition AND on board with the right choice of teams to root for! So Kelli’s now offers a great line of licensed collegiate bibs, drinking cups and pacifiers, from teams like Alabama – Go Crimson Tide!!!) to Georgia to of course, University of Texas (just remember that Kelli’s resides in Texas!!!).