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ON THE SHELF

25th Anniversary Guide

This slim volume came into our hands totally by accident. Its circulation, from what one can judge, is limited to members of the Class of 1917, strong in numbers, body and spirit, who have returned now to the Yard in a flurry of badges and class ties. This little booklet, meant only to serve and direct them through the harrowing experience of a reunion, should not be allowed to remain unhonored and unsung in the crowded pockets of the wives and children of the class or in the clutter of an editor's desk. That was where we found it, though the child made a certain amount of trouble it, though the child made a certain amount of trouble until we beat him a trifle with a Class Marshal's baton, rifled his pockets and hid him behind a sign marked "Michael Peebly Chowder and Marching Club, Sections MM-J6 Inclusive." Along with a time whistle, an Eliot Houce saucer, an Ibis, three Dunster spoons, a Shakespeare Folio and a sign from the Fogg reading "Please refrain from breathing on the walls," there was one copy, slightly mutilated, of the 25th Anniversary Guide. Grasping it tightly in our grubby little fist, we fled in terror.

It is a prettily done up little thing, printed by The Star Co., of Boston, who have rather charmingly combined a 22-point Weltschmerz Italic on the even pages with a Bodoni Double-face on the odd pages. This is a typographical innovation that may meet with a certain amount of opinionated disapproval at first as it necessitates going through the book twice. We recommend as a solution reading it through an ordinary stereoscope, which can be purchased at your local novelty store if you don't happen to have one lying about the house. This will make the copy thoroughly legible and is also a reliable cure for astigmatism.

One the whole, the information outlined in the guide is complete but indefinite. Just for a starter take the section on VALUABLES. "The Committee cannot be responsible for valuables. Anything of this nature should be placed in the custody of one of the banks in Harvard Square." Now granted that it's a very difficult thing to say just what is valuable and what isn't, and an even more difficult thing to tell the banks in the Square apart, we do feel that the authors (for surely this is not the work of one hand alone) could have been more definite. No one has found out at the moment what the attitude of the banks will be, but it will be a sturdy clerk who can stand up under the droves of old grads who, if they follow instructions, will place in his hands their watches, Phi Bete keys, straw hats, Ming vases and souvenir footballs. Mark our words, some innocent grad will be a final straw on the back of some poor teller and will say, "I'm Harold Sturver '17. I have here a valuable..." only to have the wicket slammed in his face. This sort of thing inevitably causes confusion.

The booklet goes on in the same vein, detailed but a teen-weensy bit vague about everything. Children, we are given to understand, (except VALUABLE children or the one we had to attack to get this review in the beginning) are to be placed in the custody of Mrs. Vogel in the Union where there will doubtless be games and all sorts of goodies and tuck. What these games will be or what work the devil will find to occupy their busy little minds is justly no concern of either the authors or their numerous readers. The children, poor little dears, are stuck for the duration in the Union.

Our heart overflowing with sympathy, we returned to the Sever quadrangle in search of the little nipper who had once owned our copy of the Anniversary Guide. He was gone; perchance (unfortunate one!) to the Union, or even...who knows...to some happy hunting ground where life is one long reunion, the valuables are all hidden away and no one knows anybody else's name.

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