Woodward High School - Treasures Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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THE FIRST WOODWARD ANNUAL HERE comes a time in the lives of young people when they are filled with a desire to put into some definite form an expression of certain phases of their experience. So it was with the Class Of 1903, who, like faithful knights of old, their hearts filled with glorious visions of their chosen service, undertook the production of the iirst Woodward Annual, Their labor bore rich fruit, for the pioneer Animal of 1903 was followed, year after year, by the animal of each succeeding class The adventurous spirits of 1903 can feel justly proud of the service which they rendered their Alma Mater in being the hrst class to launch their Kiremembmncet upon the sea of time. In recognition of this service, the Class of 1929 has dedicated its Annual t0 the Class of 1903, and in view of this dedication, the editor of the present Annual re! quested the editor of the Annual of 1903, Mr. Marion L. Pe-mice, J12, to give some account of the work of compiling the first Annual. The request was graciously granted. Mr. PerniceE account follows: Page Efevcu

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x x . 1 MR. MARION L. PERNLCE, JR,, was the editor of the hrst annual produced at Woodward High School, and the president of the class of 1903 which published it. HE is at the present time president of The Procter 55 Collier 00., an advertising agency, whose beautiful plant7 situated on McMillan Street near Reading Road, is one of Cincinnati's finest industrial buildings. Mr. Pcrniceris also a. trustee 0n the Wood! ward Alumna! Endowment Board. Page Ten

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, THE FIRST WOODWARD ANNUAL A few fond recollections by M. L. Pemice, I'm, President of the Class of '03, and Editor of the '03 Annual. THE spirit expressed in the words, If the other fellow can do it, we can do it? as responsible for the hrst Woodward Annual. In the dim and distant long ago of 1903, annuals were the product of universities and colleges Their publication seemed to be too ambitious an undertaking, financially at least, for a high school class. But the graduating class of one of the other schools had brought out an annual the previous year, and not to be outdone, the Woodward Class of '03 decided that it could do likewise and do the thing better. It was a comparatively simple matter to organize the editorial, artistic, and typo; graphical production of the book, The Oracle had been in existence several years, so there was ample experience from which to draw in the preparation of the new volume. Furthermore, the content of annuals was pretty well defmed. So it was largely a matter of selecting for the writing and iflustrating 0f the book a group of workers who could be relied upon to have their respective parts ready on time. But the raising of the money to print the book was quite another matter. Gradur ating classes were much smaller in those days than at present. The number of copies that could be sold was limited. The small edition made the cost of production per copy prohibitive. A reasonable price that the average student could be expected to pay for the book was only a fraction of the manufacturing cost. Of course, advertising was counted on to make up the difference. But, believe it or not, it was more difhcult to sell space then than newt Students who have been soliciting advertisements the past year may not accept this statement, but it is true that most merchants and manufacturers a quarter century ago did not think of ad, vertising as an essential part of business. The purchase of space, especially in a school paper or annual, was considered a donation, and was put on a friendly basis. Our solicitation of advertising was planned accordingly. Each student was asked to bring in one contract and was offered an Annual free of charge in return. But, alas, we had to give away very few books! Page Twelve