Willy, the legendary mascot of Ukiah High, hasn’t always looked like the one we all know and love today. Looking back at previous variations of the Wildcat, he has come a long way. We looked at photos of Willy in the Ukiah High yearbooks from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, and they all show a striking difference when compared to now.
In the ’60s and ’70s, Willy had an almost frightening appearance. The mask was the main reason for the creepy look, with it being a solid-state mask, maybe paper mache, that was painted to look like a Wildcat, but it looks more like something you would see in a haunted house. The painted eyes are large with the black pupils being tall and narrow, leaving it with a strange wide-eyed staring look. The bodysuit component of the costume looks like it was made out of cloth-like material with dots all over in order to resemble a Wildcat.
In the ’80s the mascot looks somewhat the same compared to the one in the ’60s and ’70s. The difference from the earlier years is the bodysuit. While the ones from the previous decades had the dotted pattern on them, in the ‘80s, it didn’t. Instead, it was a solid brown but looked more like some sort of heavy blanket that was wrapped around Willy.
Besides the difference in the bodysuit, Willy looks identical to the years before, with him having the same strange mask on.
After UHS News has reviewed the previous generations of Willy, we’re thankful for the modern Willy.
