The Leisure Class

Not all students use their free time wisely

1773

Joseph Vaill, class of 1778, earning room and board by working in a saw mill near campus, isn't concerned about Hanover's lack of social options. During the spring he saws 60,000 feet of pine. He writes, "I had scarcely a moment's leisure from one day, week, and month to another."

1822

Any student found with cards or dice in his room is fined five dollars.

1845

Thirty-one Dartmouth students attend dancing class at Hanover's Peabody Boarding School. They are fined two dollars each.

1867

The College's first gym has six bowling alleys on the ground floor.

1897

Douglas Vanderhoof '01 recalls cane rush. "My feet were so stepped on that the eyelets of the bicycle shoes I wore had to be pried up with a knife before I could unlace them."

1919

Outing Club membership nearly doubles to 767. The club president reports there are "often more workers than work to be done."

1941

A student (with time on his hands) notices that the flag flying over the Green has only 45 stars. The flag was made obsolete when Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

1950

Hit magazine writes, "Student Russell D. Chase Jr. is attempting to revive the raccoon coat fad at Dartmouth College. Chase's raccoon is a hand-me-down worn by his father of the classof 1915.A super-deluxe model of a bygone era, the coat has seven flask pockets."

1977

The record for the giant slalom down the steps of Mass Hall is 16.1 seconds.

1987

Tubestock, a floating summer party started as a private affair by an alum with a home on the Connecticut, becomes the most popular annual student event of the summer.

1993

Thirty tons of sand are trucked to the Green so students can build sand castles during Summer Carnival,

Students demonstrate acan-do attitude to fun.