Northern Lights

THE FIREWORKS ARE A NEW twist to the nation's oldest winter carnival, which has evolved since 1910—when DOC founder Fred Harris 'll organized sporting events on the golf course. But the fireworks were a flash in the carnival pan; they haven't been seen since this photo was taken three seasons ago. Yet, Winter Carnival is evidence that the more things change in Hanover, the more they stay the same.

In the old days: Students turned foul weather to their advantage and began adorning the campus with snow sculptures, the first appearing in 1928.

Nowadays: Students perform their sub-zero artwork with more zeal than ever. The Guinness Book of World Records was on hand in 1987 to verify that the sculpture on the Green was the "world's largest snowman."

In the old days: In 1950, Holiday Magazine proclaimed that the carnival "has done more to popularize chilled outdoor life than long underwear."

Nowadays: Playboy declares Winter Carnival one of the best college party weekends.

In the old days: According to Filene's Clothes magazine, "A woman may go to the Harvard-Yale game, and also to the boat races at New London, but unless she has a bid to the Dartmouth Winter Carnival she cannot claim to have hit all the high spots of New England college life."

Nowadays: Despite coeducation, Winter Carnival is still a popular time to invite the HTH (hometown honey).

Some things do change. Male students no longer congregate at the White River Junction rail station to wait for their dates, nor is an official Queen of the Carnival crowned. But the campus is still awash with visitors who know a good thing when they see it.

The carnival fireworks came and went, but little else has changed about Dartmouth's coldest party.