Lowell Technological Institute - Pickout Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

Page 31 text:

THE PICKOUT 19 25 money to work with and conceived the idea of writing each of the trustees for a donation to help start our work. They all responded with generous contributions and assured our success at the start. We never quite got over the display of nerve we had in suggesting to Mr. Aver that we would like permission to dedicate the book to him and at the same time suggested that he give us a donation. However, our display of nerve was successful in both respects. Our campaign for advertising was launched and was very remunerative, so we were able to let a contract to the printer. The next step was to get material to put into our publication. This was no easy task as our inexperience caused us to flounder around a bit. We made one bad mistake in our zeal to have our volume as bulky as possible, by selecting a paper too heavy for our binding and I notice my original copy is barely hanging together. Si Haskell was appointed staff artist and with his able pen we were able to get some illustrations together, depicting our thoughts and ideas, to adorn the various articles. At the last moment before going to press, we found ourselves short some illustrations for captions of various articles and so everyone pitched in and tried out his artistic talents, not excluding the editor, himself. In fact, it was with some pride that he looked upon his artistic attempt at the illustration heading the article on the doings of the athletic association. It was merely a picture of an open safe marked empty but was so true of the finances of the T. A. A. in those years. As you who have been on the staff in later years realize, it was necessary for us all to fill in many a blank page, so we turned our hands to poetry and prose. Some of it was possibly far-fetched, but it served its purpose and helped us put the book across. You can well imagine our excitement when the printer showed us the first completed copy. It was a crude publication we will now admit, but our dream was launched and out on the water of the future, and it is with a feeling of pride and satisfaction that we see the work we started, kept on. The subsequent volumes have been far superior to our product, showing that practice makes perfect, and I cannot help but express my gratitude to the men who have carried on the work so ably, and I sincerely hope the generations to come will keep up their interest and continue the Pickout for ever and anon. H. A. Currier, Editor 1006. 25