A first-time Auburn visitor may be confused if they drive through downtown Auburn and see the trees on Toomer’s Corner completely covered in toilet paper. However, any Auburn student or alum met with the same sight would know a victory has been won.
Toomer’s Corner is in the heart of Auburn, where Auburn University’s campus and the City of Auburn intersect. The longstanding tradition of rolling the oak trees with toilet paper after an Auburn win supposedly began with employees of Toomer’s Drugs throwing ticker tape from telegraphs onto the power lines when they received news that Auburn had won a game.
However it began, the tradition continues today. Auburn fans flock to Toomer’s after every football and basketball win, flooding the trees with toilet paper. When they’re done, it almost looks as if it has snowed, and everyone that passes by, even days after, is reminded of the Auburn victory.
Susan Nunnelly (fondly known to students as "The Nun”) worked as the faculty advisor to the Auburn Cheerleaders for the better part of a decade. Her favorite memory is running to Toomer’s with the cheerleaders after Auburn’s victory over Alabama in 1989, the first time in history when the Iron Bowl was played in Jordan-Hare, surrounded by ecstatic Auburn fans of all ages.
The original oak trees on Toomer’s, planted sometime between 1937 and 1939, were unfortunately poisoned with herbicide by an Alabama fan after Auburn’s win in the 2010 Iron Bowl. The oaks ultimately had to be removed in April 2013, but new trees have been planted since then and are now flourishing under the protection of Auburn officials.
Thankfully, there is more to Toomer’s than just the oak trees, and the Auburn Family continues to roll Toomer’s when there’s been an Auburn victory. The toilet paper doesn’t last forever, but the memory of celebrating together is never forgotten.
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Hayden Hairston, a sophomore in communications with an English minor, is a Culture Writer at the Auburn Plainsman.
