One year after the Class of ’96 had instituted class hats in 1899, the Class of ’99 donned somewhat similar lids for their 1st Reunion in 1900.

At least 16 classmates shown in the photo above are holding what looks to be a soft hat with a domed crown and a white brim. The crown is constructed of triangular segments in two alternating colors, possibly orange & white—much the same pattern as the three-color hats that ‘96 had pioneered a year earlier.

A closer look at ‘99’s 1st Reunion photo reveals its most historic feature—probably the earliest image of the Sacred Bird, the thematic mascot that the class would trundle annually in the P-rade for at least four decades. The roughly two-foot-tall portable effigy depicted here is evidently the first such specimen. Over the next ten years, the class would go on to acquire several much bigger “reincarnations”—the largest sta ding almost nine feet tall.

They would also dress up in a florid succession of priestly robes, elaborating a facetious religious cult as “Custodians of the Sacred Bird”. The “Oriental costume” worn in 1902 at their 3rd Reunion (PAW v.II, no.36, 6-14-1902 p.628-29) was followed in 1904 at their 5th by “long flowing white robes, as of a priest ministering at the shrine of the sacred emblem.” (PAW v.IV, no 36, 6-18-1904, p.599).

The Sacred Bird theme seems to have been an instant hit. As early as February 1901 the Alumni Weekly enthused that “This class is the custodian of the Sacred Bird, whose triumphant pee-rade followed by ’99 is a feature of modern reunions.“ (PAW v.I, no. 27, 2-2-1901, p.466).