High School of Commerce - Caduceus Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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(ADUCUS Volume 26, 1951 High School of Commerce Springfield, Massachusetts

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OUR COUNTERSIGNS The Office Group When surnames first were adopted, so history relates, they were carefully chosen to suggest relationship, occupation, position, or perhaps a word indicative of skill or character. Even today many names are regarded as associative. This habit of correlation often has resulted in humorous mis- conceptions. For instance, what pupil browsing in the Commerce library has not been amused by the discovery of a text entitled Lveryday Uses of English, written by a man named Weseen ? Equally as unappropriate are the appellations of some of our faculty. Surely Principal S. O. S., a man well forti- fied by reserves, never would emit a signal of distress! Again, Miss Murphy, supervisor of tardy excuses, doesn’t possess the many eyes of a murphy (potato), although her Office Staff Principal Stanley O. Smith, Assistant Principal Russell L. Williams, Office Staff — Miss Alice F. Danforth, Mrs. Adolphus N. King, Miss Dorothy M. Murphy. on To TheUffica clever detection of forged notes might lead pupils to suspect that phenomenon. Her partner, Mrs. King, far from dis- playing the regal condescension suggested by her name, is modestly unassuming; while Miss Danforth, although im- maculately groomed, cannot be accused of being essential to the manufacture of cleansing fluids, despite the fact that another term for naphtha is Danforth’s oil. Although the name Williams does not suggest a confusing interpretation, his appearance might prove misleading. Surely that firm, stubbornly-held mouth and jutting chin bespeak an implacable referee, rather than our compassion- ate Mr. Williams. Equally as misleading are the names of some of the other members of the Commerce faculty.