Woodward High School - Treasures Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 18 text:

, 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

Page 17 text:

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

Page 19 text:

So it devolved upon a few go'getters of the Aimual Staff to do the job, and many and devious were the methods they used. Typical of these was the solicitation of an Optician, well known in those days, but no longer in business; The boy who called on him happened to be one of the few fortunate members of the clasgiif not the only oneewho had a seemingly unlimited expense allowance supplied by a. doting and wealthy mother. I remember distinctly that he dined on angel cake regularly at the noon recess, while most of us bought a penny Wiener sandwich at the gate This chap was determined to get some advertising space from the tight'hsted optie dam, and he did, but nearly bought out the store in the process. Before the contract was signed, he had purchased enough kodak supplies to last all summen But, try as hard as we could, it was soon obvious that the receipts would not be sufficient to pay for the book. Something had to be done So it was decided to give the Annual 3 beneiit in the form of a minstrel show. This was probably the hrst instance on record of financing a school publication through a theatrical LU performance, but the class of 503 was rich in originality and initiative, though short in cash. The call for histrionic talent brought out so many volunteers that, like most amateur shows, we soon had too long a program But no one who wished to take part could be slighted, and the audience had to suffer accordingly. After several weeks of rehearsal, the show was given and had to be repeated two or three times to accommodate the crowds. Every performance was played to a full house in the old Woodward auditorium, as the students found it much easier to sell tickets to a show than space in an annual. The receipts reached so high a figure that we not only made up the threatened deficit on the Annual, but had enough money left to buy an oEice clock for Major Van Dyke, the school principal. We did not admit it at the time, but the clock was, in effect, a peace oifering t0 the Major who was not so keen about the show, but suffered it to proceed because of the sheer financial necessities of the case. So the first Woodward Annual came into being while its sponsors heaved a sigh of relief, as every Annual StaE has done since and as every one will do in the future. Page Thirteen