The Legend of Madame Hipple

My wife and I call our home Hipple House after its longest and most famous occupant, Mrs. Augusta Hipple. Mrs. Hipple was famous as the fortune teller who, in 1941, told University of Texas football players to burn red candles to “hex” a heavily favored Texas A&M, a tactic that was so successful it led to the UT Hex Rally tradition.

Photo of Madame Hipple likely taken in the house on 6/7/1967, from the Austin History Center

Using a pointer and a deck of Hoyle playing cards, Madame Hipple told fortunes in a reading room built where my desk now sits. We bought the house from her son Don Hipple after she passed away. At the closing, my wife tried to tactfully ask him about his mom’s gift, and he chuckled and said, “Well, she was a good business woman.”

Becoming Madame Hipple 

According to Don, at the time of his mom’s 1941 prediction, their family of three was feeling the effects of the Great Depression. They were living in a small apartment by East Avenue, and his mother was working as cleaning lady at the University (that was, allegedly, how she met the football players--when they asked her if she knew a fortune teller, she told them, “I’M a fortune teller.”) After UT won the game, she became Madame Hipple and told fortunes full time, growing her business enough to purchase the house at 805 W. 29th Street.

The House of Cards

The house has two front doors, which was a common design element at the time it was built in 1929. The idea was that the second door opens to a front room that can be used as a flexible space--either rented out to a boarder or used as a workspace. The Hipples put in a bay window, and Don’s father, Don Sr., displayed and sold radios and TVs he had repaired.

In the other half of this room, Madame Hipple installed her reading room, which was the size of a large closet with just enough room for her chair, a table to lay out the cards and two chairs for guests. Around the front yard was a white picket fence with the suits of cards cut out and their outlines painted red or black. Around the neighborhood her home was known as “The House of Cards.”

Charles Whitman and Other Famous Visitors

Madame Hipple told fortunes to a wide range of people, and it was considered a rite of passage for UT students, especially young women. As to be expected with college students, popular topics of interest were romance and life after graduation. Our friend Kate’s mom had her fortune told, and we still have the notes from her session.

During the mid 1960s, Madame Hipple was visited by a UT student who she described as full of rage. Shortly thereafter, she saw his photo on the front page of the paper. It turns out he was Charles Whitman, the UT Tower shooter.

I’m still researching Madame Hipple and intend to write in more detail the story of her football predictions (yes there was another famous one), her readings, and her interactions with Charles Whitman and the investigators into his rampage. If anyone has any good Madame Hipple stories or information, please email me at adam at adamstephenstx.com.