1MWIOPrtrtg41ttU[ EXTRA
Monday, February 7, 1949
Page Three
Campus Descends from J-Hop Clouds
J-Hop Kept
Despite 72
Year istory
Dance Started
By Two Fiddles
By P-IL DAWSON
J-Hop, 'the country's greatest
formal," has traveled a rough road
from its humble beginnings in
1877'n Hank's Emporium on Main
Street.
Two violins and a piano made
enough music for the 20 couples
at that first edition of the now
traditional shindig.
BY 1891 THE DANCE had so-
quired two orchestras and movedh
into the ice rink. where some 300
persons danced waltzes, polkas,
galops and shottisches until they
wee hours.
The decorations were tasteful n
- potted plants in different
parts of the ink added greatly ?
to its appearance-and dancers
had the use of "Gibson's Art
Parlors" as reception rooms.
But men were advised not to
wear silk hats because of insuffi- !
cient storage space. Daiy-AeLmanian
- J-Hop Chairman Joyce Atchison and Escort Bob Schultheiss -
THE J-HOP progressed onward
and upward, sometimes run by the
fraternities and sometimes by the
junfir class, until 1896 when tem-o
persflared in heated controversy j
about the gala event.
In that year the Board of Re-
gents ruled that the nine major By LILI DASHE
fraternities should share man- Executive huddle in the Patrons' Booth: President Ruthven and
agement of the dance with the .
independents and the remaining Gov. Williams-NOT discussing how to pry a nickel out of legislative
fraternities, tightwads-instead debating the relative merits of Scotch plaid and
The nine were disgusted. They polka-dot how ties.
made plans to hold their own ball s a i-
gi Toledowentahead withe others dofficial Dr. Margaret Bell roaming around the dancefloor making
version in Waterman Gym. mental notes on coeds eligible for this year's grand "posture
The upshot of the controversy award."
was that the junior class took C 5 e
over, exceptein 1899 when The Dean Alice Lloyd waltzing to the strains o the Blue. Danube
Daly reported: with Humphrey; the Beta Bulldog.
"It is far worse that our present *
J-Hop Committee, under the lead-
ership of a sophomore, has suc- Ed Shaffer, leading legal liberal, representing the proletariat
ceeded so poorly in maintaining at this capitalistic function-looking smart in his top hat, white
the high standards set by its pre- tie and sweatshirt.'
decessors. .. 5 * 5
"Due to the inability of the dec- J-Hop Committee "has beens" led by last. year's chairman Bobby
orator to fulfill his contract,
strangers were kept busy wonder- Ream, admitting privately to each other that "these favors looked
ing which of the color combina- like something out of Woolworth's, the drinking water is warm. and
tions represented the colors of the damned old decorations probably aren't even fireproof."
Michigan . . . Refreshments were* * "
a wafer and a glass of water . . Dean Bromage running about with her stop watch well
The lighting was poor . . . Pro- oiled and advancing all the clocks twenty minutes.
raims looked like a cross between *
cardboard and leather."
Humphrey, the Beta bulldog, frantically signaling for a cut-in
THOSE WERE the days when from a brother.
spectators were admitted to the *
galleries for a small fee. . One of the university's efficiency experts painting "No Exit" signs
spotlight explode and set fire on all the exits. He was the one that put "Stairway" signs on the
See ZANY, Page 5 elavator shafts in the new Administration building.
FOR MORAL SUPPORT:
Tired, Happy Revelers
Relax after Gay Weekend
By HAROLD JACKSON
Ann Arbor has returned from Olympus.
The mstic aura of J-Hop color and enchantment which lifted the
campus to a plavground of gcds for three memorable days faded with
yesterday's twilight.
Gone are the amber streets and ivory towers: gone the film of
dreanos, the web of spherelike melody; gone the crimson fantasy and
sulky shadows of a week-end nev-r to be forgotten.
OVER SIX THOUSAND REVELLERS turned out to make the
1949 Hop one of the largest in campus history. Three thousand
couples alone packed the I-M Building to dance to the famous trum-
pet of Charlie Spivak and the superb piano of Elliott Lawrence. Count-
less more celebrated at smallfr parties which stretched all the way
to Detroit and Jackson.
The pleasure seekers began gathering Friday afternoon. many
boasting celds, sore muscles and hangovers from the Winter Car-
nival. Dinner was the first order of business and filet mignons
Iand fish disappeared a la Emily
Post in prodigious quantities all
over town. tv Fathers
Nezt came vshite tie, tails and
rtu-. satins for the Airst contin-Sh r
of J-Hoppers, and equally
o sy p a t partiesf or the rest. -
THE I-. Building was a "Star-
way to the Stars" from 10 till 2. Ann Arbor's first legalized "open
Black coats, flashing smiles. baresd
shoulders and gleaming formals season on students" was a biting
pressed past blue walls and silver success, Alderman Finias Clamp
stars into the main ballroom, told the city council last night.
The special ordinance requiring
Celestial blue and white was
the main color theme, augmen- a merchant "plannming to rob stu-
ted by soft greens, warm reds dents any more than usual to first
and pale yellows in the lighted buy a special hunting license" put
columns lining the dance floor. the city in the black this week-end
Glittering blue letters marked for the first time since 1890.
each white fronted booth and * * *
glistening metallic cloth draped IT TOOK the city fathers al-
the bandstands. most three-quarters of a century
to figure out a way to cash in on
A canopy of stars formed an the J-Hop gravy.
overhead path to the brilliant sky-
like effect set against the North "It hurt us to hear the mer-
Wail where Mars. Saturn, and chants' cash register concerto
Venus leaped between light and drowning out the 'music in the
darkness through the magic of I-M Building and not hear even
blinking lights, a lonely echo in the city vault,"
* ' Alderman Stanley Snare com-
THlE FRIDAY WHIRL stopped pained.
only after the last breakfast donutNat l er.
S - - Naturally every merchant had
to buy a license or miss his share
On the Air of the J-Hop loot-thereby jeop-
The 1919 J-Hop nit the air- ardizing his spring trip to Ber-
waves for a broadcast of music , -
from 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
both Friday and Saturday over LEADING license buyers were:
Station WHRV. The programs Restaurants "for permission to
were handled by John Carroll, sell tooth picks 3 for a dime."
special events director of the Taxicab companies planning
station and former announcer to take students for a better
for the University Marching ride than usual-charging "
Band. cents per mile per revolution of
each wheel, and four cents extra
had been dunked and wild shouts if the cab has a spare tire."
of glee faded into lazy 4 a.m.
silences. Ice companies "for blackmailing
students under threat of telling
Saturday saw a city of pan. the University who bought ice
risers and slow starters but af- cubes."
ternoon gatherings followed by Bookstores "in order to mark
more banquets soon had the up used books to three tins their
second spin well underway. original cost instead of two and
While the second group attend- sell them to J-Hoppers as valen-
ed the I-M Building, the rest tines.
roamed the town from party to Clothing stores, seeking to "sell
party, serene and wearying but en- left over 'Bundles for Britain' at
joying to the utmost carefree and Fifth Avenue prices."
"car free" independence.
REVERIES BEFORE friendly Dime Drive Short
fires, quiet breakfasts, wanderings As this special edition of The
in the early morning air amid lazy Daily goes to press, the, Ann
snowflakes and a fragmentary Arbor March of Dimes drive is
moon-all bridged the gap from lagging far behind its quota,
dance to dawn, according to Mrs. J. E. Stowe,
At 4 a -m. club wielding house local chairman.
mothers cleared their porches of Although today theoretically
vagrants and exhaustion over- ends the campaign, only $4,000
took the city. Sunday church has been collected towards the
services were well attended-by city's quota of $13,000.
those over 30 "We at present haven't
enough money to pay for the
The weekend stretched into new respirator we ordered,"
Sunday dinner for some, afternoon she said.
movies for more, but by sundown Contributions are still being
even the hardiest of the revellers accepted. Mrs. Stowe's phone
was ready to quit, and the 1949 number is 2-0622.
J-Hop' slid easily into history.' _ _ _ _. _
Strapless Insurance Secures Dancers
The 1949 J-Hop made world- What's more, Lloyd's sent an SQUINT CARRIED a
wide social history-it was the adjuster all the way to Ann full of tape, elastic, wir
first dance to ever offer "strapless Arber to assure immediate set- and cheving gum which
insurance" to all its customers. tlement of claims. E. Willoughby surewind gkmcwhich
Through a special deal engi- Squint, a descendant of the sure would take care of al
neered by publicity chairman original Lloyd, flew here from gencies. "One case wass
Donna DeHarde, the famed Lloyds London, arriving at noon, Fri- however, I had to give upr
of London completely covered the day. penders," he reported, addi
Ann Arbor social front. Squint, in cooperation with the "some of those dresses we
* *: *Ann Arbor Police Department, es- initely not good risks to
THE MERE PURCHASE of a tablished an emergency strapless with."
J-Hop ticket entitled each gentle- road service for all coeds attend- After going without sleep
man's date to ironclad insurance ing the Hop. If a policyholier felt hours, Squint indicated I
against "all mechanical or struc- things slipping, she called police. not sorry to see J-Hop e
tural failures by strapless for- The call was relayed by radio to a was a most harrowing ordi
imas which might lead to the em- prowl car in which Squint was pa- confessed, confiding that "n
barrassment of the female in trolling the city and he rushed to in the past has alwayc
uetion" her assistance .battleships."
satchel
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