A whiffenpoof was a tool for training Boy Scouts in tracking skills. The whiffenpoof itself was a small log, about the size of a stick of firewood, with nails driven into it on all sides, so that it bristled with nails. This was dragged through the forest on a short leash, by the older Scouts who were training the younger. It might thus create a track that the tenderfoot must learn to trace out. Or it might, alternately, be dragged across a trail in order to confuse the trackers. The fewer nails that were driven into it, the more difficult and subtle was the effect.
Thus it is that the word whiffenpoof can also refer to an imaginary or indefinite animal; e.g. "the great-horned whiffenpoof". It originates from actor Joseph Cawthorn's ad-lib in a 1908 performance of the operetta Little Nemo. He was told to stall for time while something was corrected backstage. In the scene, his character described imaginary prey he had hunted, so he created the "water-dwelling, food-gobbling" whiffenpoof on the spot.[1] Yale students in the audience appropriated it for the name of their singing society.
^Bordman, Gerald Martin (1987). The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN 9780195169867.
recording of the 2006 Whiffenpoofs singing Yale's unofficial alma mater Problems playing this file? See media help. The Yale Whiffenpoofs is a collegiate a...
A whiffenpoof was a tool for training Boy Scouts in tracking skills. The whiffenpoof itself was a small log, about the size of a stick of firewood, with...
Wisconsin. Livingston attended Yale University, where he sang with The Whiffenpoofs and graduated in 1989, together with Anderson Cooper. Livingston first...
the doctor: "Just keep those whiffenpoofs away. Will you?". The strip for September 26 starts with a hunt for whiffenpoofs but instead the hunters find...
features at least 18 a cappella groups, the most famous of which is The Whiffenpoofs, which from its founding in 1909 until 2018 was made up solely of senior...
citation(s) needed] The longest continuously singing group is probably The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University, which was formed in 1909 and once included Cole Porter...
This song borrows heavily from "The Whiffenpoof Song", the traditional signature song of the Yale Whiffenpoofs. The lyrics of "The Elements" are a recitation...
captain; a Chairman of the Yale Daily News; a conspicuous radical; a Whiffenpoof; a swimming captain; a notorious drunk with a 94 average; a film-maker;...
began to score his own hits, "Sweetie Pie" (US No. 111, 1959) and "The Whiffenpoof Song" (No. 96, 1960). As a solo singer, Crewe recorded a pair of albums...
Whiffenpoof Alumni Song". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2013. "Darren performs with the Yale Whiffenpoofs at...
Where No One Stands Alone Mosie Lister 1966 How Great Thou Art The Whiffenpoof Song Guy Sculls, Meade Minnigerode, George S. Pomeroy 1968 Double Features:...
Bush was a cheerleader, played varsity golf and baseball, sang in the Whiffenpoofs, and was president of the Yale Glee Club. After graduation, Bush served...
campus humor magazine The Yale Record. He was an early member of the Whiffenpoofs a cappella singing group and participated in several other music clubs;...
1993 from Yale, where he was a member of The Spizzwinks and the Yale Whiffenpoofs. In the 1990s, Coulton was in a short-lived band, named SuperGroup, with...
out the first pitch before the game. Also before Game One, the Yale Whiffenpoofs sang the national anthem, a blend of "The Star-Spangled Banner" with...
Kappa Epsilon, the Scroll & Key Society and of The Spizzwinks(?) and The Whiffenpoofs, America's oldest collegiate a cappella singing group. During World War...
Beautiful') or near impossible (as in 'The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi' and 'The Whiffenpoof Song')." Scott Yanow wrote in his review for AllMusic: "even when simply...
became associated with one collegiate a cappella group in particular, The Whiffenpoofs of Yale. Their historian states that the song was known "as far back...
him. The name "Gramps" was changed to "Pappy" in a variation on "The Whiffenpoof Song" whose new lyrics had been written by Paul "Moon" Mullen, one of...
seems to "dislike" some of the selections (e.g., Bing Crosby's "The Whiffenpoof Song" and the Eagles' "Witchy Woman"). Daniel noted that Dylan appears...
2012 album Piano Lullabies Andrew Horowitz 2012 album Sketches 3d Yale Whiffenpoofs 2013 released as "Rainbow Connection (Glee Cast Version) – Single" and...
groups. The longest continuously operating group is thought to be The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University, which was formed in 1909 to create a musical group...
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