Big Bertha (drum)

The university claims Big Bertha to be the world's largest drum; it measures 8 feet (2.44 m) in diameter, 44 inches (1.12 m) in depth, and stands 10 feet (3 m) tall when on its four-wheeled cart. The drum weighs more than 500 pounds (230 kg). Big Bertha is wheeled onto the field for the half-time show during varsity football games, and is used in other occasions such as parades and spirit rallies. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called "drum wranglers." The crew move the drum and play it after touchdowns. Big Bertha is nicknamed the "Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band".

Big Bertha -- "The world's biggest drum" in October 1922.

In 1922, the University of Chicago commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a bass drum for the school. Its first use was in the 1922 game versus rival Princeton University. When the University of Chicago ended its varsity football program, the drum was stored under the school's bleachers. It later became radioactively contaminated as a result of research for the Manhattan Project conducted at the stadium during the 1940s.[1]

In 1954, Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a long-time benefactor of the Longhorn Band, suggested that the drum be purchased from the University of Chicago and given a new and glorious home in the heart of Texas. Mr. Moton Crockett Jr, former student and Director of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha for $1.00 and transported the drum from Elkhart, Indiana to Austin, Texas using his own truck and trailer. Mr. Crockett refurbished the drum during the spring and summer of 1955, and presented it to incoming Director of the Longhorn Band, Vincent R. DiNino. Mr. Crockett established an endowed scholarship for the care of Bertha.

In 1961, the University of Texas and Purdue University chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi pledged to bring their respective drums to a showdown to decide the title of "World's Largest Drum" at the fraternal national convention in Wichita, Kansas; however, as only the Purdue branch of the Fraternity showed up with the Purdue Big Bass Drum, Big Bertha lost the self-claimed title of "World's Largest Drum".[2] As of 2018, The Guinness Book of World Records lists a Korean drum as the largest.[3]

In March 1980 a Kappa Kappa Psi pledge class hand-scraped years of toxic lead paint from the body of the drum and the drum's trailer returning the finish to a high luster. The 6 pledges' names are inscribed on the inner wall of the drum and can only be seen when the drum heads are removed.

Photo of the inside of the University of Texas Longhorn Band's Big Bertha Drum

The Big Bertha name was chosen to evoke the famous German Big Bertha howitzer. In 2005, the university celebrated the 50th anniversary of Big Bertha.

Big Bertha and the Bertha Crew in front of the Parliament Building in London, England, on January 1, 2015.

In 2015, Big Bertha appeared in the A&E show "Shipping Wars" S:7 E:13 as part of its journey to appear in the London's New Year's Day Parade in London, England.

• The University of Texas Longhorn Band: Big Bertha
• Texas Traditions: Big Bertha