The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Toomer’s Corner: Unrolling the lore
With confident quip and unlikely win over Alabama, tradition is born.
Trey Johnston jokes that he might not be alive today if not for the oak trees at Toomer’s Corner.
Yet 64 years later, he stands behind the counter at Johnston & Malone bookstore and shares his story.
His parents, George and Dory Ann, met at Auburn. Dory Ann was Miss Auburn 1949, and George opened the J&M location on South College Street.
In 1952, Dory Ann became pregnant. One day she left the store and walked down Magnolia Avenue for a checkup at her doctor’s office. On her trek back, the summer heat overwhelmed her.
“As she’s walking back to the store with good news she faints under the famous Toomer’s Oak Trees and she’s revived by the famous Toomer’s lemonade,” Johnston says with a grin. “Now, that’s always been funny. Of course, I don’t know how much truth there is to that, but that’s what I’ve always been told. I’ve always thought that was neat.”
The tale helps explain the significance of the corner, named for businessman and State Senator Sheldon “Shel” Toomer who founded Toomer’s Drugs in 1896.
Toilet paper explains the rest. Oh, and the Bible.
Some can’t understand the tradition of unrolling toilet paper into the oak trees at Toomer’s Corner to celebrate triumphs. Those who do know it’s about far more.
“It’s kind of like the Bible,” says David Housel, Auburn’s athletic director from 19942005 and the university’s unofficial historian. “The Bible is man’s attempt to explain the unexplainable, to describe the indescribable. And unless you’ve seen this, you can’t comprehend it — this being Toomer’s Corner. Even if you’ve seen it, you can’t understand it. You have to be an Auburn person to understand it.”
This season, rolling will move from the new Auburn Oaks to seven adjacent trees at the corner of College Street and Magnolia Avenue. As the tradition enters a new era, SEC Country unrolls the history of Toomer’s Corner in the words of the people who were there.
Dec. 2, 1972: Things get rolling
Terry Henley refuses to take all the credit — or blame.
Fans gathered in downtown Auburn to celebrate Tigers road victories long before he was a member of the football team. Still, the Toomer’s Corner tradition wouldn’t be what it is today without the lesson he learned as a running back in 1972.
Two weeks before Auburn was set to travel to Birmingham to play 10-0 Alabama in the Iron Bowl, Henley appeared on a local radio show in November. The Oxford, Ala., native, as bold as ever, declared Auburn was going to “beat the No. 2” out of No. 2-ranked Alabama. As one would expect, it caught on quickly.
“When you’re young you should be careful in what you say because some of it can come back to live with you for eternity,” Henley said. “I was not a quiet, shy guy. I talked during the games and the media were my friends, I loved the media. I would tell them all things before the game and after the game.”
Henley’s radio comment might have been forgotten if Paul “Bear” Bryant’s team held onto its 16-3 fourth-quarter lead. Instead, Auburn’s Bill Newton blocked two consecutive punts. Teammate David Langner returned both for touchdowns, lifting the Tigers to a historic 17-16 win.
“The next thing I know we’re in the dressing room and somebody starts telling me, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but they’re out rolling the whole town in toilet tissue because we beat the No. 2 out of them,’” Henley said.
When Shug Jordan’s Tigers arrived home, they saw the remarkable mess they’d inspired. Toilet paper covered the oak trees at Toomer’s Corner, and a two-ply tradition was born.
Henley still gets autograph requests in the mail every month from all over the country. Humbled, he obliges and scribbles his signature on pictures and posters. All these years later he’s flattered and can’t get over how it all escalated.
“I never did get any calls from the mayor,” he recalls, “but I’m sure he wished I’d probably kept my mouth shut.”
‘Unless you’ve seen this, you can’t comprehend it — this being Toomer’s Corner.’ David Housel Auburn athletic director from 1994-2005 and the university’s unofficial historian