The two best ways to get together with friends: food and sports, have combined to create the tailgate. Football, barbecues, smoking, alcohol and beautiful people. Who can seriously say no to this kind of event? Modern tailgates, however, are very different from the early days. The history of the tailgate may surprise you.
The first tailgate, if you can call it that, was not held to cheer on a team, but rather an army. Citizens arrived before the battle began during the Civil War, if not during it, to feed their brave soldiers. It was the first time people gathered to eat and cheer, although it was a far cry from a sports team. It was a far cry from the tailgates we know, but it was the first event to bring together food and solidarity for a “team.”
In 1869 in the United States, the first college football game of the season featured the first true pre-game tailgate. The turning point of this event, which still makes us proud to wear our colors today, is that for the first time, fans wore colored scarves of their team. They wore them around their necks and on their heads to make sure they stood out from the other fans.
Tailgates are now part of American folklore. There's no football game without a tailgate! Don't forget the essentials for a perfect pregame: a grill, good meats, beer, chairs, music, and sometimes a tent, because true fans brave the elements when their team plays in the rain or snow!