Collins Unbound

The structure of a yearbook, it seems, has changed little in past decades. There is a sports section, and club sections, and there are group photos of the classes, and more often than not the seniors (be they high school or college) will get their own headshot pages. Even the venerable blank autograph page has been around since at least the 1920s. Clearly, there is a system to making yearbooks, and not only that, it’s one that works.

But there is one thing that you might not expect to have always been a part of that formula, and perhaps appropriately one that you likely spend the least time looking at: in the back of the book, there is always and inevitably the list of advertisements.

There is something very modern about the idea of advertisements slowly creeping their way into every unfilled space in our lives, which is perhaps why I had always assumed that their presence in a yearbook, ostensibly a fairly non-commercial affair, was a recent invention. As it turns out, this was a very false assumption. Every copy of the Puget Sound Tamanawas that we have here in the Archives & Special Collections, going all the way back to 1913, has a full list of ads in the back.

So, while that’s one perfectly good reason to believe in the downfall of modern society thwarted, what this means for us is that we now have a fantastic insight into what kind of advertising businesses thought would attract college students in the decades through history.

You can find all of them here in the Archives & Special Collections.

By Zebediah Howell

“In a country where everyone else is blind, the man who can see is king. And in a lumber country where only one mill can saw straight boards, the major city is born.”

William C. Speidel, Jr. tells a satirical history of Seattle in You STILL Can’t Eat Mt. Rainier, a novel illustrated by Bob Cram and published in 1961. He writes as a local of the city, knowledgeable of the landscape and cultures. This book begins with anecdotes about the city’s founding fathers, native neighbors, “famous fights,” and big corporations. Part II describes the city’s must-see spots and entertainment value, and Part III lists “mouth-watering” eateries throughout the “Queen City” of the Pacific Northwest. Printed on bright yellow paper and bound in between vintage city maps, Speidel’s comic guide book is worth a glance just for its quirky cartoon illustrations.

“An interpretation of the facts that may or may not be approved by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce…

Name: “Queen City” of the Pacific Northwest

Measurements: (In quarter miles). Bust 30, (West Point-Laurelhurst)… Waist 10 (Yesler Way)… Hips 28 (Alki-Seward Park)… Height 64 (north-south city limits).

Age: 110 years… or 108 years… or 92 years. (Pioneer founders landed in 1851… platted in 1853… incorporated in 1865… disincorporated in 1867… reincorporated in 1869).”

By Maya Steinborn

This summer the Archives & Special Collections will host a summer research fellow.  The 2014 project will focus on increasing awareness of our unique resources at Puget Sound through Wikipedia.

Through Wikipedia’s GLAM-Wiki project (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) the Wikipedian in Residence will increase access to the Archives & Special Collections holdings and services while strengthening the relationship between the Archives & Special Collections and the Wikipedia community.  Adhering to archival and Wikipedia best practices, the Wikipedian in Residence will: promote new or existing Wiki projects related to the University’s holdings; work with staff to digitize, compile, and organize resources that can be shared with the Wikipedia community; and advise staff on Wikipedia best practices.

For more information, contact Katie Henningsen, Archivist and Digital Collections Coordinator or drop in during our Open House on February 12^th, from 4:00-5:30 p.m.