HOW CRIMSON BECAME THE COLLEGE COLOR.

The approach of the boat races calls to mind the interesting fact, not generally known among Harvard men of this generation, that the adoption of Crimson as the University color was the chance result of a regatta some sixty years ago.

Prior to 1858 the notion of a distinctive color for each university had not been thought of in American institutions. In the spring of that year, however, a regatta was to be held on the harbor and six enterprising University students, among them President Eliot, then an instructor in the University, secured a "shell" of rather ponderous bulk and steered by the bow oar with the aid of a foot attachment. On the day of the regatta the Harvard oarsmen discovered that fourteen crews were entered in the race and after a consultation they decided that some sort of insignia must be worn for the purpose of distinguishing the Harvard boat from the thirteen others. The upshot was that President Eliot and a fellow oarsmen were dispatched post-haste to Boston to supply the deficiency. The idea of brightly colored handkerchiefs occurring to them, the two entered a dry goods store and from a varied assortment of colored scarfs many selected Crimson as having the best visibility from a distance. Consequently Crimson Handkerchiefs were worn that day on the heads of the Harvard oarsmen and the hue came to be accepted almost at once as the University color.

Owing to the difficulty of obtaining the proper Chinese dye, the shade gradually degenerated to magenta. For some years the college paper was called the "Magenta." Finally, however, the authorities revived the original shade and made it the official University color. The name of the paper was then changed to the "CRIMSON."

Yale followed suit soon afterwards by adopting "true blue" and the idea spread rapidly. Thus, almost by accident, the University came into possession of its crimson standard and at the same time set a fashion that was to attain wide popularity among schools and colleges through the land.