Looking Back at '13

This year marks the 75th Reunion for the handful of surviving members of the class of 1913, although few if any are expected to make it to Hanover. But in contemplating their anniversary we call your attention to a small leather account book kept by a member of that pre-World War I class. A few excerpts may provide a little perspective for younger alumni.

On virtually a daily basis for four years every purchase was recorded, right down to "peanuts, five cents." Many of the prices are an education in themselves. On September 21, 1909, the first tuition payment was made—for $62.50. Of course, that was only for half a year—another $62.50 was paid in February. "Room rent" in Crosby Hall was $37.75 for the term. Fixing up the room didn't take too much: 15 cents for a towel rack, 60 cents for curtain rods, 90 cents for a 1913 banner, and a quarter for a poster—subject unspecified. Five books—three English, two Latin—added up to $2.25. On November 25 a "Thanksgiving feed" cost 45 cents. That was over and above "food for the month," which was entered regularly at around $16.

Getting to New York on the B&M for Christmas cost $5.50. Going to see a "moving picture" was 25 cents, as was a haircut. A "Princeton trip" on October 29, 1910, was only $4.72, which sounds like a group rate. (Unfortunately Princeton won 6-0.) By sophomore year a Thanksgiving feed was a lot dearer—$4 for a "Sigma Chi banquet."

Incidentally, careful study turned up an inordinate number of "shoelaces and collars" entries. One skeptic suggests this may have been code for beer.