Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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LL-, The Class showed only one domi- nant are udice ol consecuence and that - 3 was against Communism C32'Z,D. All its other hiases merely arose from the local environment: Liberal Union -l-I-'Zh Bos- tonians lI'Z, Yale men WZ, The question, On :L desert island would you least prefer llouse food, :L ltad- cliffe girl, or l 'i1,'1f Ifmrls of lVl t1tILfj?H. showed that JLUZ, ol' the Class had strongest :Lntipathy for lfim' Kinrls of lVl'flfll,fj, al- though liittltillliliit girls C25',IQ,J appeared to he more palatalmle than llouse l'ood t3l'X,l. Sixty per cent ol' the Class were smokers, 3!J'Qf, preferiug cigarettes, HSM, pipes, and 5'K, cigars. lt is interesting to note that while INSQQ, of the Dean's-list men smoked nothing at all, only 25'j4,, ol' the men in the other Groups abstained. ln How much outside reading do you do? I fl .4 8 ll II r li fl, r regard to liquor, 32fZ, ol' the Class were teetotalers, I VZ, drank only heer, and 57'Z, preferred the stronger varieties. Ol' those who did indulge, although 23'Z, took no more than a discreet monthly dose, QW partook every day or so, and 58'Z, when- ever they could get it. Methods and modes ol' recreation proved an interesting topic. Women were far and away the favorite type of entertain- ment, 47'Z, ol' the Class naming them as their first choice, 2I'Z, as their second. One well-intentioned man, however, wrote, I regard women with more respect than to consider them as 'entertainment'l The movies came next, tlfifz, fi,-gt, qglmigq, 2QfZ, secondj, followed closely hy reading and musical concerts. One moralist made the crushing comment: The results of this question will undouhtedly he indicative ol' the depravity ol' the human race. Other favorite pastimes included square dancing, shooting craps, throwing the hull, and Henjoying my own spar- kling company. The Freshmen went to the movies on the average ahout once every two weeks, though l9'Z, went at least once a week, and l VZ, never went at all. The C'lass on the whole had little interest in the legitimate theater, for only MVK, went once a month or more, and 25'X, never went at all. These figures are not strictly ac- curate as many men ex- pressed their uncertainty as to the legitimacy ol' the Old Iloward. The appeal of the concert and opera was even more limited, only I-I-fl, attending more than once a month, 42'Z, not at all. One traditional Har-

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lfreslmmn Red Book 15 Lil' Abner Cll2,j, and Dick Tracy C82,l came next. 172, disavowcd any interest at all in such trite, trivial trash, and several ladies of the stage were named through a misintcrprctation of the term comic strip. There was a wide range of opinion on the choice of Man and Woman of 194-4. F. D. R.. was the favorite male, receiving 232, of the votes, against Stalinis l l2, and Eisenhower's 92,. From among the wo- men, Mrs. Roosevelt was selected by 262, of the Class, nosing out Claire Booth Luce C252,Q and .Ioan Berry 12029. Sundry other nominations went to Lillian Smith, Gravel Gertie, and .lohnis Other Wife, and one observing man suggested Faye limer- son. Frank Sinatra had the distinction of receiving three nominations as Man of the Year and three as Woman of the Year. While only 412, of the Class had phonographs in their rooms, 702, owned radios. Classical music Q3l2,l, popular music Q222,D, and comedy Ql72,D were the favorite types of programs. '48 men showed only a mild antipathy for mysteries and quiz programs, but 752, of them vehemently denounced soap operas. Cars and private telephones were practically non-existent, there being seven men with the former, and five with the latter., The Class as a whole was not mani- festly religious. 272, never attended church at all during their Freshman year, 292, went only once or twice. Moreover, most of the 152, who attended every week regularly went home for the weekends. With the transition from school to college, many of the men seemed to have dropped their athletic interests. Whereas 672, went out for a team in secondary school, only 302, tried for a Harvard squad. There was a wide variety of opinion as to the value of the College's athletic program. 542, thought it had been an excellent idea for everyone, 192, considered it beneficial but unnecessary, and a bitter 2-L2, labeled it an utterly worthless waste of time. One man called it a farce, completely inclfee- tive and taken much too seriously. - The Class, however, was not unmindful of its physique, for 572, thought that compul- sory athletics should be continued after the war. ' The question regarding the advisa- bility of cheating on exams brought inter- esting results. 332, considered it immoral, 582, thought it unwise, and 92, felt that it was all right if you didn't get caught. Correlation with group rank shows that What is your favorite magazine? cheating seemed most permissible to Groups 1811 fl.72,j and Groups VI 85 VII Cl52,D. Moral rigor seems to increase we pass from both extremes of the rank list toward the middle, with Group IV having the highest proportion C492,D of Puritans and and lowest proportion C22,j of opportun- ists. Quite a number of men thought cheating showed weak character and poor upbringing, while one gave it a forthright highly commendable. One Dean's-list man sought a moral compromise: Cheat- ing should not be done, but should be kept in mind as a last resort.

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Freshvnan Red Book 17 vard institution--the pin- ball machine-seems to have fallen out of favor. Unlike pre-war Classes, the majori- ty of whose members con- sidered themselves sharpics at the game, only 972, of the Class of '48 were self-es- teemed experts, 7305 dis- claiming any talent at all. A great many conside1'ed it a foul and foolish waste ol' time, money and energy, and one man wrote, The machine is indicative of the media through which capi- talism disperses its wealth. The subject of girls, love, and so forth brought seine unusual replies. The Class's model girl is from Wellesley College, has plenty of person- ality, beauty, and figure, and usually allows up to Hfteen dollars to be spent on her dur- ing an evening. '48 men were overwhelm- ingly in favor of dating college girls, 74'Z, preferring them to high school girls CSVZDD, working girls CSKZQ, or debutantes 15749. The remaining MZ, expressed various rather uncommon choices. One man wrote, If they're friendly does it matter? and an- other said, Any girl that goes out with me is a working girl. No girls' college was an outstanding favorite, though Wellesley, preferred by 29fZ, of the Class, was given the largest support. icfz, selected Radcliife, an amaz- ing gain due to the war over 1942 when the Annex ranked next to Kentucky State Normal. Next came Smith QWKQ, Pine Manor Q-l.1'Z,j,-Simmons Q3.5'Z,j, Vassar Q2.9fZJ, and Yale C2.5f72,D. One man was satisfied with any good, passionate south- ern school. 15fZ, selected various small colleges apparently attended by their one- and-only, and 182, expressed no preference at all. One of the latter protested, I go out with a girl, not a particular institution. To the Class as a whole, personality How could Harvard education be improved? was the most important requisite for a girl, although a number of men quixotically -checked personality, face, and figure. Personality SXSW, Face IWZ, Chassis 15'Z, Moral Liberalism l2'Z, Brains SW, Family 5'Z, Availability WZ, Un the average '48 men went out with girls once a month, though l0'Z, never had a date at all. 42'Z, of the Class usually went dancing, 22W to the movies, l5'Z, necking, and WZ, to a night club. Necking, it seems, was the usual climax of a trip to the movies, since a su1'prising number of men checked both of these items. The Class averaged a 853 loss on an average date, although some went as high as 3510. One man stated, The girls I date must take me for what I am, and I'm a spend- thrift. He had had only one date during his Freshman year. On a heavy date the average outlay was about 5Hil2, though 27'Z9 spent 3515, and HW, over 3lli20. While 1292, never wrote to girls at all, 35'K, wrote frequently, and 23'Z, replied whenever she wrote. 60fZ, of the Class tended to date the same girl, 4L0fZ, pre- ferred to play the field. In correlating