Before social media, before smartphones, and long before “college life” became a hashtag, fraternities shaped campus culture with their own mix of tradition, camaraderie, and pageantry. Historically, fraternities carried an air of formality — hand-stitched crests, polished chapter houses, secret rituals, and loyalty that lasted long past graduation. These pictures show the earlier days of Greek life in college.
1. Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity at Nebraska Wesleyan University (1975)
Today’s frat bros would CHOKE if they had pledges show up with glasses and sweater vests, but in 1970s Nebraska, these cats were cool.
2. Posing in the Middle of Mischief (1942)
The Bab-O might indicate that these fraternity brothers are about to get to work cleaning their frat house, but the fella standing on the left makes us think they were up to no good instead.
3. Sorority-Fraternity Mixer (1993)
Sorority sisters and fraternity brothers have always been like peanut butter and jelly, partying together in epic fashion since the dawn of … well, collegiate Greek life.
4. Party at Washington & Lee University in Virginia (1955)
Admit it: This looks ten times classier than the college kids mingling at today’s frat parties. Maybe it’s the sport coat and tie.
5. What Did the Dog Have to do for Initiation? (1917)
The dog really takes this ensemble to new heights. It’s almost distracting enough to make us glaze over those blaring middle parts.
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6. Riding a Goat for Initiation (1890)
Okay, but is the goat a jester?
7. The Most Old-West Looking Fraternity Imaginable
There’s … so much to unpack here. The mustaches, the shotguns … it’s as though Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock were in a sorority and fraternity back in the wild west.
8. Kids Enjoying a Toboggan Run Set Up at the Phi Sigma Kappa House at USC (1976)
USC fraternity brothers crushed up ice to create their own snow for this toboggan event, and we have to say, we appreciate that level of dedication.
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9. Delta Upsilon Fraternity Brothers at Berkeley (1900)
What in the “rough house” is going on here?
10. Middle Tennessee University Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity (1969)
It’s like “Animal House” with plaid, and this is exactly what we picture when we think of fraternities in the ’60s.
11. USC Sorority/Fraternity Charity Car Wash (1959)
No skimpy swimsuits or soapy abs were needed; sorority and fraternity car washes in the late ’50s were a bit more wholesome.
12. UCLA’s Beta Theta Pi Pledge Paddles (1979)
Pledge paddles are a thing of the past, now considered too violent and inappropriate for use in fraternities, but in the ’70s, they were ubiquitous.
13. Pledges Doing All the Housework at University of the South (1940)
The beauty of pledges in 1940s fraternities was that you could make them do all the grunt work, dangling the opportunity to become a brother in front of their face like a slab of steak in front of a dog.
14. Pierce College’s Chi Chi Chi Fraternity’s New Year’s Eve Party (1970)
The wood paneling and streamers really set the mood and make this frat party scream “1970s.”
15. Day in the Life of a Frat House (1980s)
The background shenanigans are top tier.
