Photographs from Princeton past and what our readers have to say about them.

From the 7/4/01 PAW.

Howard Sussman ’58: "I am quite sure that the undergraduate shown in the Palmer Stadium press box on page 41 of the Reunions issue this year is James McGlathery ’58 (my classmate)."

From the 6/6/01 PAW.

Alfred J. Lata ’54: "The 'precise location of the exotic locale' is the roof of the first floor of West College, over what was then the U-Store. It would appear that three of the sunbathers might be (from the right) Robbie MacFarlane ’54, Bob Salkeld ’54, and Bill Austin ’54. As a resident of 21 NorthWest junior year (windows showing in the picture) and 31 NorthWest senior year (with roommate Bill Austin), this roof was a familiar view. [Picture therefore anytime from Sept. 1952 to June 1954 (Spring 1953 or Spring 1954 ?). I can't narrow it down anymore than that.]"

Howard C. Cohen ’65: "The picture resembles the roof of Southwest College looking toward Blair Arch."

S. Valentine ’47: "The photo was taken from Southwest overlooking the roof of the U-Store."

Montague Blundon ’42: "I feel sure this is the back side of West College where I lived freshman year. This would face Alexander Hall and Edwards Hall. The University Store occupied the first floor and the roof you see was over the store. This was years ago, but I feel quite confident of the location having viewed it many times those many years ago."

Mortimer Chute, Jr. ’56: "My guess is the roof over the old swimming pool in Dillon Gym. But I'm positive the young chap, third from the right with head turned toward the camera is my classmate Bosley Crowther ’56."

Dick Arndt ’49: "Roof of old U-Store in West Hall. Perhaps taken from my window in 35 South West. I would have said it was late 1940s, around 1947."

George D. Davis ’47: "The picture shows the 2nd floor roof over the U-Store which was then on the ground floor of West College. The sloped screen structures protected the skylights over the store. The screens were somewhat indented, due to the fact that sometimes dormitory residents sunbathed by lying on the angled screens. In at least one occasion this was brought to the attention of the proctors by the U-Store clerks, who were intrigued with some interesting silhouettes."

John C. Miller ’57: "The picture is a roof/deck on the back of Jadwin Gym. At the top left corder of the picture is the window into the old wrestling practice room, I believe. This deck was not far above ground level and was easy to get to. Lying in Pyne Hall in my freshman year, it was nearby and a good place to pretend you were studying."

Frank Schmidt ’65: "This is the roof over the registrar's office in West College. Access was gained through a window on the second floor and the photographer apparently snapped the picture from a third floor window in the South West College wing. At the time I roomed in North West College (1961-62), only the third and fourth floor were used for dorm rooms, the first two floors being occupied by administratvie and faculty offices. I velieve the U-Stpre was housed in the basement in the 1950s."

 

From the 5/16/01 PAW.

From the 4/18/01 PAW

From the 4/4/01 PAW

From the 3/21/01 PAW

Lewis C. Kleinhans 3rd '53 k'25: "I refer you to PAW's From the Archives, the Mar. 21 issue, where you will find a picture of 15 well-dressed (note the fur coats) Tigers on the boardwalk of Atlantic City. Malcolm Warnock ’25 writes, 'I never expected to see my picture in the Alumni Weekly, but there I was on page 27. I remember that picture being posed and taken of a group of us who visited Atlantic City on Easter weekend in 1923 or thereabouts. I am third from the left.' Unfortunately, Malcolm couldn't recognize any others in the photo, and neither can I. Maybe some of you who read this column can. If so, let me know."

 

From the 3/7/01 PAW

Alice Eno w’32: "After looking carefully at the two baseball backs, I believe #9 is my husband Amos Eno ’32. I havve studied my bseball snapshots but not one shows his number 9, so I am without proof, just a good hunch. Sine I'm using my hunch instincts, the right hand player looks like "Shorty" Bowman, pitcher."

From the 2/21/01 PAW

From the 2/7/01 PAW

From the 1/24/01 PAW

I was pleasantly surprised to see the photo of the student from the 1970s performing a barbell curl (From the Archives, January 24). I don’t know who he is, but I’m happy to learn that nowadays there are “upgraded facilities” in the Dillon Gym exercise room.
When I attended Princeton, weight training was virtually unknown, a maligned undertaking, and its practitioners derided — at least, I was.I had my own set of weights in my room at Lockhart Hall. I wanted to practice the Olympic lift known as the snatch (pulling the weight from the floor to straight-arm overhead in one fast movement). I didn’t dare try that lift in my room, fearing that I could lose the weight behind me, sending it crashing to the floor.I took the barbell into the quad outside Lockhart and tried to practice the lift. What I got for my efforts was a lot of hoots and catcalls from students peering from their dorm windows.John A. Peters ’47

Terence E. Ryan ’77: "I believe the student pictured is Byron K. "Chip" Adams ’76. While I haven't seen Chip in a while, he doesn't appear to have changed vye

From the 12/20/00 PAW

From the 12/6/00 PAW

That contraption being rowed down Nassau Street is known as an Irish Mail (From the Archives, December 6). My dad had one, I had one, and now my grandchildren are straining to use mine up in the mountains of North Carolina. They were also known by other trademark names. Mine was a “something” velocipede -- the logo has long since worn off.You steer it with your feet, and basically row it. It has a rod push/pulling a wheel (much like a steam locomotive driver). The power is then usually transferred to a rack-and-pinion gearing to the rear axle.A healthy six-year-old can attain 10 m.p.h. or better on level ground, and a teenager, with some redesigned gearing, can almost outrun a dog.It is a great body builder and exercise machine, and a lot more fun than jogging. They are still manufactured.Wallace DuPre ’51
Columbus, N.C.

Editor’s note: We also heard from Gordon Daiger ’53, Roberta Lawrence s’38, Joseph Crossley ’45, Frank Gibson (Yale 1949), Al McCree ’44, Philip Murphy ’44, H. Dwight Neill ’54, Stuyvesant Pell ’53, Richard F. Furman ’38, Nicholas Wetzel ’42, Louise Ritenour h’30, Rocky King ’45, Bruce Handler ’58, James F. Lotspeich ’44, and Jack Raymond ’46. Several of our respondents told us they had had an Irish Mail as a child and loved it, attesting to the fun and fitness it provided

From the 11/22/00 PAW

From the 11/8/00 PAW

The November 8 issue of PAW succeeded in making me feel like an old man. Although I always enjoy the From the Archives photographs, I never expected at age 31 to be able to offer any useful information. The Wall of Fame in question is, without a doubt, located in 43 Blair Hall, which was home to Spencer J. Reynolds, Jr. ’92, Peter J. Offringa ’91, Jason A. Ritter ’91, and me during the 1987-88 semester. Spencer’s artistically carved name can be seen in the middle of the mantel, while my amateur work is hidden by the American flag. I can’t offer any information about subsequent residents, but I apologize to them for the damage left behind. David Pertsemlidis ’91
New York, N.Y.

It was with a shock of recognition and pleasure that I turned to the From the Archives of the November 8 issue.The place pictured was 43 Blair, two entries west of the Arch. My roommate, John F. A. Taylor '36 *40 and I lived there our senior year and the names that figure so prominently in the fireplace panel are ours. John's name is incised deeply and firmly; mine less so and it lacks the "s" on the end because I never finished it. Lest you feel this was a wanton act of vandalism it should be noted that John, particularly, was a scholar and a gentleman. His senior thesis was a tightly reasoned exploration of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant; he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and certainly magna and probably summa cum laude; and he went on to get a Ph.D. from the Graduate School and become a highly respected and revered professor at Michigan State. He married my cousin, whom he met only the day we graduated when my uncle, Robinson V. Frost 1898, came over with his family to help celebrate the occasion. While John was enrolled in the Graduate School the impecunious newlyweds endured the hot, steamy Princeton summers house-sitting Einstein's house on Mercer Street, which enabled Einstein to enjoy the cool breezes of Cape Cod.Students lived well in those days; 43 Blair was in fact a small suite with a good-sized living room -- with a fireplace that worked -- and we each had our own bedroom large enough to accommodate a desk, bookcase, and all things necessary for quiet study. We also had janitor service of a sort. He made up the room daily -- but I did put a shoestring under the bed in the fall, and it was still there in the spring. Students live in far less luxury today. The last time I saw the room, there were six or eight people
living in it.I have wondered, since Blair was gutted in the recent renovation, if the panel was discarded? If it was and is still available and no one else wants it, I would love to have it.I realize this is far more than an answer to your simple question, "Where was it?" One does tend to reminisce.Edward D. Winters '36
Gulfport, Fla.

David Pertsemlidis ’91 is exactly right in his letter to PAW (February 7). The mantel is indeed that of 43 Blair Hall, which was inhabited by myself, Jim Carlisle, Timothy Gill, and Matthew Morris (1994 Team Tournament Jeopardy Winner!) during the 1995—96 school year. Jim lives in Boston today, while Tim and Matt live together in New York.
The year before, the room had been inhabited by a student who was said to have drunk himself to a 0.43 BAC (he survived). Coincidence? I think not. The mantel may have had something to do with it. We can’t say for sure.I’ll see if I can find a picture from my era of the mantel, which has my initials “JSE” carved into it, and send it to you. John Saul “Jack” Edwards, Jr. ’98
Charlottesville, Va.

As project manager for the Blair Hall renewal project, I can report to Edward D. Winters ’36 that the carved mantel in 43 Blair is still there, albeit as of this writing still covered with Christmas stockings and tinsel from this past holiday season by its four current (male) occupants. Mr. Winters and other alumni may be interested in knowing that our design approach for Blair’s room finishes respects the authenticity of every salvageable chestnut mantel. Of the 63 fireplaces in the building, we were able to restore 50 of these original dark, carved relics. Others had been previously replaced, and a few, along with every other piece of wood trim including bench seats, were replaced due to excessive wear. However, it was the precedent of these mantels that enabled us to retain the original deep finish scheme on all the new replacement trim, doors, and windows. Those carvings do leave a lasting impression. David W. Howell
Office of Physical Planning
Princeton University

From the 10/25/00 PAW

The From the Archives picture of a “gang of 1920s undergrads strolling down Nassau Street” in your October 25, 2000, issue intrigued me. The Nettleton Shoe store, the Arcade Theatre, the “plus 4” knickers, the white buck shoes and the beer jackets all bring back memories of my undergraduate days.I can’t identify any of the five undergraduates walking so confidently along, but two of them appear to be seniors as they are wearing beer jackets. A careful inspection of the logos on the jackets with a magnifying glass reveals they are of the Class of 1931, not of the ’20s.Enclosed is a copy of 1931’s beer jacket logo replete with its symbols along with their interpretation: 1931 are obviously the class numerals; the patched football reflects a losing season senior year, Princeton’s first in 61 years; the H banner refers to a 1931 indoor polo game between Harvard and Princeton, which started the thaw in Princeton-Harvard relations, which had broken completely in 1926; the toppled statue symbolizes The Princeton Student, a 71/2-foot bronze statue of a student-athlete, dubbed The Christian Student, which was pulled off its base and dragged around the campus when a bonfire rally on Cannon Green turned into a riot, and 43 members of the Class of 1931 were suspended; the liquor bottle signifies 1931 as allegedly the heaviest drinking class in Princeton history; the dangling infant recognizes 1931 as both the youngest class to matriculate at Princeton and the class that had the most of its members suspended in Princeton history; and the Phi Beta Kappa key is for the smartest class to have matriculated at P.U.Hugh de N. Wynne ’39
Princeton, N.J.

From the 10/11/00 PAW

Herbert Kaufmann ’55: "The archives photograph in October 11 is of Myron Lee '55, my classmate at Princeton and Yale Medical School. A telephone call confirmed my impression. He told me that freshman year he had a job for a while delivering papers and that picture must have been taken in October 1951; a long time ago. I guess we're getting old."

Lee was also identified by G. S. Glaser '55

From the 9/13/00 PAW