Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner was a beautiful wonderland Saturday night. The Tigers beat Alabama in an Iron Bowl with the SEC West on the line, putting themselves 60 minutes from the first College Football Playoff berth in their history. That calls for AU’s signature celebration.
One visual at the intersection of College and Magnolia:
And another:
Let’s get a sense of what’s going on in the city postgame:
Auburn is a madhouse right now. There is Toilet paper everywhere, everyone is drunk, groups of people are just walking through active traffic and random houses are shooting off fireworks. I love this place
— Bailey Rogers (@bjrogi) November 26, 2017
Oh!
Yeah, looks like some fun.
(College and Magnolia is also the name of our Auburn blog, FWIW.)
Wait, why’s all that toilet paper all over the trees and street?
Auburn explains the great tradition:
It's not hard to find the celebration after a big win at Auburn. Just head for the intersection of College Street and Magnolia Ave, where Auburn's campus and the City of Auburn come together. And watch out for flying rolls of toilet paper. Since the beginning of Auburn athletics, Tiger fans have celebrated victories there.
The intersection, which marks the transition from downtown Auburn to the university campus, is known as Toomer's Corner. It is named after former State Senator "Shel" Toomer (a halfback on Auburn's first football team in 1892) who founded Toomer's Drugs in 1896. Toomer's Drugs is a small business on the corner that has been an Auburn landmark for over 130 years.
The tradition of rolling Toomer's Corner is said to have begun when Toomer's Drugs had the only telegraph in the city. During away football games, when employees of the local drug store received news of a win, they would throw the ticker tape from the telegraph onto the power lines.
The beginning of the tradition of throwing toilet paper into the trees, power lines and every other stationary object on the corner is open to debate.
An Alabama fan poisoned the oaks at the corner in 2010. Those trees died, but the community rallied to plant new ones there, so the tradition of rolling the corner lives.
Auburn fans rolled the corner after Bama lost the national title game last year to Clemson. So, yeah, they’re going to roll enthusiastically after an Iron Bowl W.