The Axe Theft of 1930

Custodian:	California
Location:	American Trust Company, Berkeley
Duration:	3 years

After thirty-one years and a half dozen or more tries, Stanford stole the Axe from out of the hands of it's Berkeley custodian. Known today as "The Immortal Twenty-One," the Stanford students executed one of the most famous thefts of all time. By posing as newspaper photographers, the Cardinal students distracted the throngs of Berkeley students protecting the Axe just long enough to wrestle it away from it's official custodian and his armed guard. With the bright flash of camera powder and a tear bomb, the Cardinal took off with the Axe and drove into the history books.

Here are the details and accounts of the 1930 theft:

• The Stanford Daily

  • 2 April 1930
    • UC Guards Stanford's Axe

  • 4 April 1930
    • AXE REGAINED!

  • 7 April 1930 -- Special Axe Edition
    • 'TWENTY-ONE' GIVE FIRST AUTHENTIC STORY FOR DAILY
    • CAPTORS WANT AXE RETAINED
    • UC SENTIMENT FAVORS STOLEN TROPHY RETURN
    • STUDENTS WILL DECIDE ON AXE SAYS U.C. HEAD
    • MAY TAKE 100 YEARS BUT AXE WILL BE RECOVERED---SIBLEY, U.C.
    • AXE "THIEF" FINDS CARD, HOLDER TORN
    • "AXE DAILIES" ON SALE AT OFFICE
    • 1930 QUADS TO BE SOLD TODAY
    • PRESS SLOW IN OLDEN DAYS OF '99; AXE STORY ONE WEEK LATER
    • POOR OLD CAL Editorial
    • Give 'em The Axe? Editorial
    • Axe Theft Anecdotes

  • 8 April 1930
    • TELEGRAMS SHOW JOY OF ALUMNI; President Hoover Sent News of Capture
    • TROPHIES STILL UNRETURNED BY U.C. PILFERERS
    • HANDS ACROSS THE BAY Editorial
    • Campus Celebrations: Dances, Smoker
    • Campus Opinion
    • Cabbages and Things Humor

  • 9 April 1930
    • EX COMMITTEE VOTES AWARDS TO HEROIC "21"
    • U.C. AXE CAPTOR COMPLIMENTS "21"
    • USE A GRAIN OF SALT Editorial
    • Campus Opinion
    • ROLLICKING RHYMES; A CANTICLE OF HATE Humor
    • AXE CAPTURE TO BE BROADCAST TONIGHT

  • 10 April 1930
    • U.C. DOES NOT FAVOR IDEA OF AXE AS TROPHY

  • 11 April 1930
    • BEAR MARAUDERS RETURN ALL BUT 1 OF 7 TROPHIES
    • AXE HANDLE SENT HERE WITH MOTTO
    • AXE THEME SONG OPPORTUNITY FOR CAMPUS WRITERS

• The Stanford Axe, published 1930
  • California Loses the Axe
  • Stanford Regains the Axe, Part I
  • Stanford Regains the Axe, Part II