Phillips Exeter Academy - PEAN Yearbook (Exeter, NH)

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Gorham Hall - One of two dormi- tories of the l880's. Now the Squam- scott Hotel. 1880 - The first PIZAN. The third Academy Building was only eight years old. Only two years earlier, 1878, the ambitious ideas and hopes of three students had materialized into the founding of the Exoffizm. In that same year Exeter and Andover began their rivalry in football and baseball. lixeter was then a small school, the era of extensive growth and improvement was still fifteen years in the future. There were but 204 students, and only 43 of them seniors. The first Perm was shrouded in secrecy and anonymity. For some time there had been a demand for something more than a faculty catalogue. In 1880 three students decided to meet the demand. In the salutatory of this first edition they wrote, It is the lack of such a medium which has suggested, or as some insidious minds prefer, instigated the Perm. Perhaps it is signincant to note that to some lixonians today the Perm is more of an instigation than anything else. Outwardly the first Penn was a small sixty-four page paper- bound volume. lnternally it was something different. It was not, however, as the editors modestly asserted, merely an attempt, and nothing more. Since then the Perm has changed in innu- merable ways, but the editors' aims have always remained the same-to provide A faithful reflector of the literary, athletic, and social relations of her students. During the last seventy- five years the connotations and relative importance of the three words 'literary, athletic, and social' have changed and developed as lixeter has changed and developed. The aims have not always been realized, but at least they have not changed. There were no articles in the Hrst Perm, except for the salutatory, and no photographs. The art work and layout were only adequate, there were only statistics. Certainly it was a superficial reflection of lixeter, and yet it was a beginning. It is as the beginning of something that we must consider the first Pcan. Even in 1880 there were already many extra-curricu- lar activities. The most emphasis, except for athletics and de- bating, was on the various eating clubs, to be specific there was A. ll. Towles, Gorham, Titcomb's and Abbot Hall. The success of the first was not as complete as might warrant a second attempt, yet a number have been found with the requisite 'gall' for so doing. So began the salutatory in the 1881 Penn. Although sarcastic and exaggerated, this state- ment clearly illustrated one important characteristic of all Perm boards. Perm editors have always been accused of ridiculous temerity, spending their year putting out an annual which the rest of the class may examine, criticize, and then store away in an old bookcase where it will gather only dust. This edition was certainly not one of the more inspired Pefzmt There were, on the other hand, a few changes in material.

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The PI..-X. Walking Club, which had barely managed to appear in the inaugural Perm, succumbed to conspicuous desires of the leisure class, and folded. In keeping with the fashions of the day it was soon replaced by the Bicycle Club. lifverything in the second Perm cannot be condemned, there were two innovations which were good. On the cover was printed the Greek word TTAIAN. In contrast to this rather idealistic revival of humanism was the placement of the adver- tising section in the front of the book. This was not the culmination of an artistic desire, but an attempt to increase the advertising appeal. It must never be overlooked that, as the Perm developed, part of the tradition-more than the editors would like to recognize-concerned finance, relatively indepen- dent finance. After having been suppressed for two consecutive years by the faculty, the F6071 reappeared in 1884. Uniortunately the two-year faculty censorship had done little for the Perm. Little can be said for the '84 annual except-well, it managed to escape faculty suppression. The 1885 P5071 was an improvement. But there still seemed a lack of real enthusiasm and ambition. This lack was further emphasized by the appearance of the fifth volume in 1886, an annual which was very much like the '85 one. Friction and resentment between faculty and students were customary then. The Perm of '86 greets you-all but the faculty. lt is question- able whether such a remark is in good taste and should appear in the salutatory of any yearbook. But on the other hand such a comment was a true reflection of the school. lfxcept for this sentence and a rather amusing dedication- lt now becomes necessary to dedicate this volume, and we do dedicate it to VVe, Us, 84 Co., in due appreciation of our multiplied talents and sterling qualitiesf'-the '86 Penn was just another issue. P61111 editors have always been accused of vanity, gross exaggeration of their importance and their abilities. Whether this is fair criticism is irrelevant, what is important is the fact that P01111 editors have always been considered a rather peculiar breed of Iixonians. lt is perhaps interesting to mite that the editors them- selves do not usually dislike this classification. The dedication of the '87 Perm, To Our Best Girls, was also quite significant, although no one can say for sure of what. The first photograph crcr to appear in thc PIQAN - 'I hc E.ro11i11u board of 1887. 1884 - The first known formal picture of the PICAN board.