Calvin and Hobbes doing a beer bong on a bus was from the January 1989 Bus Party shirts. This design was picked up by the The Alt Drunken Bastards "Official" Homepage. The logo was part of the criteria used when their web page was chosen the "Worst Of The Web.".  Check out the judge's comments about the way The Mathu Party Page ruined Calvin and Hobbes!

Karl introduced the concept of the Bus Party™ to my roommate, Matt Soik, in 1982.   Matt was looking for a good way to celebrate the birthdays of myself and our other roommate, Greg Swan.  Matt rented a Milwaukee County Transit System bus, invited 50 of our friends, threw a half barrel of beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon -- the best) on the bus, and the modern Bus Party™ was born!

Since it was supposed to be a surprise party for Greg and me, the theme was Top Secret Spy Party. I don't remember much about the bars we hit, other than Milwaukee's Safe House was one of the stops. The party lasted about three hours and ended up at a bar where the band of some friends of our were playing in a band that night.

Come next spring we were looking for a party throw for mid-terms -- and the Magic Bus Party™ was thrown. We also started using Bus Party™ Wapatui instead of beer (the ride was just too rough and the barrel got too foamy) and introduced a boom box for background tunes. This started the tradition of twice a year parties that continued until Matt and I ran out of classes to take at Marquette and had to leave school. When we left Marquette, we thought that was the end of the bus parties. It was... for a while.

After a few years hiatus, the party was resurrected in January 1987. Matt and I, and later just myself diligently kept to a schedule of one Bus Party™ per year, give or take a little.

The fame of the party spread, and a large entourage from Chicago started attending the events on a regular basis. Blocks of hotel rooms were booked; we started using articulated 90-passenger busses; music was provided by a 70-watt battery powered amplifier; and commemorative tee shirts were printed. The parties are often held on the last weekend in October, since it was near my birthday and daylight savings time gave us an extra hour of bar time that weekend.