DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?
When I heard on the news that USC and UCLA were being added to the Big Ten, I thought: “How can they do that?”
The Big Ten should have 10 schools. I remember when the Big Ten had 10 schools.
That led me to thinking about other changes I’ve witnessed through my tenure at Purdue.
My adventures began as a freshman in 1966 and continued on through graduate school and then in Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence, where I worked as a consultant for 35 years.
Here are some of my favorite memories—see if you can identify with any of them.
Do you remember when everybody had Saturday classes?
Do you remember being called Miss or Mr. in some of your classes?
Did you ever cut class and then run into your professor in the Sweet Shop?
If you were a teaching assistant, do you remember trying to get in good with the scheduling deputy so you wouldn’t have to teach a 7:30 a.m. class? (I made brownies.)
Do you remember the Victory Variety shows in the Hall of Music on Saturday nights?
Do you remember the ice-skating rink at the Rec Center?
Do you remember when everybody had Saturday classes?
Do you remember being called Miss or Mr. in some of your classes?
Did you ever cut class and then run into your professor in the Sweet Shop?
If you were a teaching assistant, do you remember trying to get in good with the scheduling deputy so you wouldn’t have to teach a 7:30 a.m. class? (I made brownies.)
Do you remember the Victory Variety shows in the Hall of Music on Saturday nights?
Do you remember the ice-skating rink at the Rec Center?
Do you remember Block P?
At football games, freshmen sat in the end zone and were given large pieces of colored cardboard, which we held up at various times upon instruction. I’m assuming the pieces formed pictures or words. We never knew what—but I’m guessing they made sense to everybody else in the stands.
Do you remember when there were no final exams (they were eliminated during WWII)? I don’t remember that, but I do remember I was “lucky enough” to be here when they were reinstated in the mid-
1960s.
I remember at my first final, the guy sitting next to me took one look at the test, then threw up all over the floor.
I also remember the time I went to a final exam and met my professor exiting the building. Why wasn’t he staying for the final? He told me it had been on the previous day.
Do you remember the 1967 Rose Bowl?
Whether you went to the game or watched it from home, it was thrilling. I remember traveling on the “student” plane. When the pilot announced that we were flying over the Grand Canyon, everyone got up and ran to the left side of the plane to see. I thought we were going to tip over.
Then there was the excitement of cheering for the Smothers Brothers, who were in the Rose Parade. They’d just been to Purdue to do a show that fall, so we screamed, waved, and jumped up and down in our seats as their float passed by.
And, of course, the game itself was exciting with Purdue beating USC by one point, 14–13.
Do you remember what it cost to go to that game? In looking through my old Purdue memorabilia, I found a sheet called “Purdue University Student and Faculty Rose Bowl Tours Information.” The tour featured round-trip airfare, a hotel for five nights, a reserved grandstand seat at the Rose Parade, lunch on game day, bus transportation (including tips), and breakfast each day at the hotel.
The cost was a whopping $209. That was for a propeller flight. The faculty went by jet, which was $20 more.
Did you know that Purdue once had a requirement that students had to know how to swim in order to graduate?
When I came to Purdue, I couldn’t swim, so they put me in a swimming class with other height-challenged, near-sighted girls. They gave us one-size-fits-all swimming suits that were way too big. When we got into the pool, the suits filled with water, and we sank to the bottom.
At our first class, the instructors wanted us to simply walk from one end of the pool to the other. Without our glasses, we couldn’t see, so we were all over the place.
I remember hearing the instructors calling to us over and over trying to let us know where the end of the pool was, but the room had high ceilings—and it echoed—so we had no idea which direction to go. Finally, they got in and led some of us out.
None of us ever did learn to swim. At the end of the course, the instructors recommended that the swimming requirement be dropped. (It was.)
I remember many wonderful theatre experiences.
I had the good fortune to see James Earl Jones in a production of Of Mice and Men in the Experimental Theatre in 1967.
Another vivid theatre memory, also in 1967, was opening night of the play The Skin of Our Teeth in Loeb Playhouse. The stage was raked (built at an extreme angle). On her first entrance, the actress playing the part of the daughter ran onstage, jumped up onto the raked stage, and fell flat on her face.
That was me. My costar (and French professor) Sidney Pellissier saved the day by helping me up and acting like it was planned.
Do you remember the exit to the old Grant Street Garage that was a tight circular tower from the upper floors to the street?
I have a friend who took his kids there on weekends. They had him drive to the top of the garage and then circle down as fast as he could—over and over and over.
Do you remember being able to park your car in the parking lots between Stewart Center and Heavilon Hall?
And finally, do you remember when you could walk down the hallway of the Union all the way from one end to the other? Now that was really something.
Sally Coffman graduated with a bachelor’s in radio/TV and a master’s in communication. She currently writes a monthly humor column for the Purdue University Retirees Association newsletter. You can share your memories with her at sarajanecoffman2@outlook.com.
Do you remember Block P?
At football games, freshmen sat in the end zone and were given large pieces of colored cardboard, which we held up at various times upon instruction. I’m assuming the pieces formed pictures or words. We never knew what—but I’m guessing they made sense to everybody else in the stands.
Do you remember when there were no final exams (they were eliminated during WWII)? I don’t remember that, but I do remember I was “lucky enough” to be here when they were reinstated in the mid-
1960s.
I remember at my first final, the guy sitting next to me took one look at the test, then threw up all over the floor.
I also remember the time I went to a final exam and met my professor exiting the building. Why wasn’t he staying for the final? He told me it had been on the previous day.
Do you remember the 1967 Rose Bowl?
Whether you went to the game or watched it from home, it was thrilling. I remember traveling on the “student” plane. When the pilot announced that we were flying over the Grand Canyon, everyone got up and ran to the left side of the plane to see. I thought we were going to tip over.
Then there was the excitement of cheering for the Smothers Brothers, who were in the Rose Parade. They’d just been to Purdue to do a show that fall, so we screamed, waved, and jumped up and down in our seats as their float passed by.
And, of course, the game itself was exciting with Purdue beating USC by one point, 14–13.
Do you remember what it cost to go to that game? In looking through my old Purdue memorabilia, I found a sheet called “Purdue University Student and Faculty Rose Bowl Tours Information.” The tour featured round-trip airfare, a hotel for five nights, a reserved grandstand seat at the Rose Parade, lunch on game day, bus transportation (including tips), and breakfast each day at the hotel.
The cost was a whopping $209. That was for a propeller flight. The faculty went by jet, which was $20 more.
Did you know that Purdue once had a requirement that students had to know how to swim in order to graduate?
When I came to Purdue, I couldn’t swim, so they put me in a swimming class with other height-challenged, near-sighted girls. They gave us one-size-fits-all swimming suits that were way too big. When we got into the pool, the suits filled with water, and we sank to the bottom.
At our first class, the instructors wanted us to simply walk from one end of the pool to the other. Without our glasses, we couldn’t see, so we were all over the place.
I remember hearing the instructors calling to us over and over trying to let us know where the end of the pool was, but the room had high ceilings—and it echoed—so we had no idea which direction to go. Finally, they got in and led some of us out.
None of us ever did learn to swim. At the end of the course, the instructors recommended that the swimming requirement be dropped. (It was.)
I remember many wonderful theatre experiences.
I had the good fortune to see James Earl Jones in a production of Of Mice and Men in the Experimental Theatre in 1967.
Another vivid theatre memory, also in 1967, was opening night of the play The Skin of Our Teeth in Loeb Playhouse. The stage was raked (built at an extreme angle). On her first entrance, the actress playing the part of the daughter ran onstage, jumped up onto the raked stage, and fell flat on her face.
That was me. My costar (and French professor) Sidney Pellissier saved the day by helping me up and acting like it was planned.
Do you remember the exit to the old Grant Street Garage that was a tight circular tower from the upper floors to the street?
I have a friend who took his kids there on weekends. They had him drive to the top of the garage and then circle down as fast as he could—over and over and over.
Do you remember being able to park your car in the parking lots between Stewart Center and Heavilon Hall?
And finally, do you remember when you could walk down the hallway of the Union all the way from one end to the other? Now that was really something.
Sally Coffman graduated with a bachelor’s in radio/TV and a master’s in communication. She currently writes a monthly humor column for the Purdue University Retirees Association newsletter. You can share your memories with her at sarajanecoffman2@outlook.com.