PogeTwo THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Mondv Fb,. 90 194I
. c~iuv euruary 7 7t
6
Great J-Hop Tradition Spans 76 Years
Michigan's Big
Formal Boasts
Turhulent Past
Dance Endangered.
By Class Warfare
Last week-end's J-Hop added
another thrilling chapter to the >'
"country's greatest formal" whose
turbulent history includes a near
tragedy, brilliant successes and a
double dance held in different
cities.
Beginning with the problem of
which class was to have the priv-
ilege of holding a "distinctive col-
lege affair " each year had
brought more excitement to the
Hop. Fiery discussion raged on
campus until in 1872 the juniors INTERMISSION AT 1946 J-HOP-Brief time-out by Tommy
won the honor with their '" Junior DoNT e J-oppATs94" Jh oP-ookeatiTeDaily'Tommyo
Hop," presented at "Hank's Em- Dorsey gave J-Hoppers a chance to look at 'The Daily's J-Hop
porium." Extra, formerly distributed at the dance.
'Society Hop'
The name was changed to "So- creasingly beautiful and elaborate 'the days of long 'strings of light
ciety Hop" when nine secret so- decorations. Back at the turn of bulbs to the present revolving
cieties undertook all responsibil- the century, professional decora- spotlights. It used to be the cus-
ity. When, however, two newly tors used untold miles of blue and tom to turn off most of the lights
formed fraternities were denied yellow bunting and tried to con- and follow couples around the
participation, the Regents refused ceal the gym rafters with ropes floor with a calcium spotlight. One
to let Waterman Gym- be used of smilax, floral bells and huge night a calcium light exploded.
unless everyone were included., balls that burst to shower flow- The two men who extinguished
The nine fraternities held the J ers on the dancers. . the blazing bunting were "ap-
Hop in Toledo. The two new ones In the 1920's, each dance was plauded to the echo."
and the independents held the J- planned around a theme, with Of equal importance with the
Hop in the Gym, such results as in an eskimo vil- decorations, at early J-Hops, were
After that the juniors worked lage with icebergs and igloos for the refreshments. Suppers were
together-to make each sop the booths; springtime Japan, com- served until the impossibility of
"best ever. Only once was there plete with cherry blossoms and keeping the food hot became too
a notable failure; the decorator lanterns; a Dutch town with apparent. Punch and cakes be-
did not show up and the refresh- windmills, and a medieval setting came stand-bys, and one commit-
mens consisted of a wafer and a with suits of armour guarding the tee announced proudly that as a
glass of water."Thi'was attribut- booths. etr trcinterlmn
ed, however, to the fact that for ' featuve attraction their lemon-
some unknown reason the chair- Modern Hues ade would be kept cold with froz-
man of the committee was a soph- Most recent dances have been en lemonade, eliminating the di-
omore. "ultra - modernistic" with such luted beverage which had been
Juniors Better color schemes as burgundy and the fate of other J-Hoppers.
Junior chairmen were much gold or wine and green. Big Bands
more successful. Year after year Careful attention has always Following a policy of securing
J-Hoppers have danced under in- been paid to lighting effects, from what is generally thought to be
the best band of the year, J-Hop Committee banned them. There-
committees have presented Tom- upon, "fifty toqued (better known
my Dorsey (with Sinatra), Benny as drunk) individuals" stormed
Goodman, Kay Kayser, Count the dance with bricks. "Cowards
Basie, Fred Waring, Gene Krupa, were plentiful" among the rioting
Jimmy Dorsey and Paul White- mob, and their advance was halt-
man. But at the beginning, the ed by one lone janitor, wielding
same band played for many years, a pair of Indian clubs.
mainly because the leader wrote Wars Cancel Slop
special songs for the Hop-like
"I'd Rather Just Waltz With You, War conditions in 1918, 1921,
You, You." He also provided fa- and from 1943-45 caused Univer-
vors, releasing a swarm of toy sity officials to call off the Hop.
airships while playing his "Yankee The tradition was revived in 1946
Toys" for instance. with what nearly turned out to
Passing out appropriate favors be a charity dance. Student ob-
during a number has, as a matter jections to a $10 ticket price for a
of fact, been a common procedure. one-night dance caused the com-
One year dancers were given little mittee to lower the price to $7.50,
drums so that they could join in - and over 2,000 students danced to
during a drum novelty. . the music of Tommy Dorsey, the
durig sa drum oveltSentimentalists and Ziggy Elman
Ducat sat Premium and his trumpet in the atmo-
Even though the Hop moved sphere of a vivid spring garden.
from Hank's Emporium to Water- Last year's Hop was marked by
man Gym, flowed over into Bar- post-war lavishness. The band
bour Gymnasium, and finally end- spotlight was shared by Ziggy
ed up in the Sports Building, there Elman, who formed his own band
have always been too few tickets. when Dorsey's broke up, and the
In 1917, the Committee, moved late Jimmy Lunceford. The dance
by the protestations of the crowds was a two-night affair complete
which waited in vain for tickets with Parisian theme and post-
from 4:30 a.m., on for several dance breakfasts, attended by
days, offered to give a miniature 6,000 students.
Hop in the Union on the same Up until this year The Daily has
night, similar to the main dance always distributed a J-Hop Extra
in every detail. The students re- at the dance. This year The Daily
fused, apparently wanting all or editors, in cooperation with the
nothing. J-Hop Committee, decided to
For a nominal fee, spectators forego this distribution and sell
were admitted to the galleries for the Extra, with dance pictures, to
many. years, until in 1913 the aid the March of Dimes.
i
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RTN UNDER THE MICROSCiO CO
516 East Liberty
Phone 23-23-1,
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