Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

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ing, with well timed intervals for quiet and serious think- ing about the future. Initiation into Swarthmore s finest trad.tions was so capably managed that freshmen were heard rejoicing about the glories of college life in the corners of the Managers ' Parlors, up and down Magill Walk, and in the druggie. A couple of the new feminine arrivals carried their rejoic- ing even to the Wharton quad where they settled them- selves for a knitting session and were amazed to find that that was not an old Swarthmore custom. Kind fortune did not subject them to the usual chorus of Fire, and It was Mr. Meier who gently and a little reluctantly re- directed their erring feet in more prosaic paths. Dances were wonderful confusions of names and faces, and an introduction to the Swarthmore hop. Tea at President Aydelotte ' s with an inexhaustible supply of home-made coffee ice cream, and badminton in stocking feet, an in- congruous but e.xtremely delightful combination, indicat- ing the irrepressible spirits of the newly initiated, climaxed three days of newness and fun. The meals with upperclass heroes and heroines who stalwartly or sweetly handed out butter to retiring souls engaged in exhibiting admirable table manners ( Where, oh where, are those verdant freshmen? ) gave the 43 ' ' ers a preliminary glimpse into Swarthmore social life, and a better chance to get acquainted with those senior lumi- naries into whose hands they had been entrusted. Dagny Hoff in her place at the head of one table had to insist that she really wasn ' t a freshman while in another spot the awe-struck new-comers had to be reassured that Chuck Braden was only a senior. High-lighting Freshman Week were the freshman picnic and the veiled rumors of the horrible events to be brought about by the return of the upperclassmen. On that first Saturday afternoon, ' 43 descended upon Crum, recklessly tramping down poison ivy, consuming a huge supply of 10

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hot dogs and onions, gaily applauding the canoe upset for the benefit of ye Halcyon photographer, and irrev- erently halting Foster and Co s efforts to teach It ' s Only an Old Beer Bottle by the 43 version of the Beer Barrel Pol}{a, performed admirably by what turned out to be the nucleus of the frosh football squad. Co-ed baseball capped came to be educated stayed to have fun in Tyrolean caps and dungarees to the lilting strains of Tur ey in the Straw and the Shoo Fly Swing. Kings for the day, ' 43 had made the most of its opportunities and its newly found domain was entirely to its liking. Throughout all had shone that Swarthmore spirit and CLASS OF ' 43 the program and a surprisingly small freshman female broke up the game with a home run into the creek. So as darkness descended the crowd found its way out of the still unfamiliar paths of Crum toward a hay-seed evening in the gym. Barn dancing under Chris Sander- son proved to be an education in itself, so the frosh who Boh Foster with the able assistance of his Book and Key brothers and Mortar Board sisters. The period of adjust- ment was completed the fateful Tuesday when the trunks arrived heralding the upperclassmen ' s return and ending the sovereignty of the freshman class until its year of triumph, 1943. 12