Houses Pick Favorite Maid; Honor System's 270 Years

Fame will come next week to the College's favorite biddy. Eliot House Committee Chairman Forrest W. Hansen '53 announced last night that six House Committees, in conjunction with the CRIMSON, will select the favorite maid of each House. A special panel will then choose Harvard's favorite from them.

The contest honors the maids' 270th anniversary as a College institution.

Houses participating are Eliot, Kirkland, Winthrop, Leverett, Adams, and Lowell. Square merchants will shower the favorite with gifts.

Any student or group of students in an entry who think their maid should be the favorite should list their reasons and give the lists to members of the House committees, Hansen said. The committees will meet next Tuesday to select the House choice.

"Beyond Usual Duties"

Selection, according to Hansen, will be "for services to students above and beyond the usual duties."

"These things don't have to be essays," Hansen said, "just lists. Writing won't count a bit--it's the reasons that matter. Some of these maids are wonderful ladies. It's about time they got some recognition."

Cakes and Buttons

The maids, or "goodies," as they were called to 1920, have been a College institution for 270 years. During that time, they have been known to bake cakes, sew buttons, care for ill students, and help solve girl problems. Many alumni have referred to them as "the Harvard man's mother away from home."

H. V. Kaltenborn '09 once characterized the "goodies" as "chosen more for their lack of beauty than their broom efficiency." Last night, he said from New York that they were a beloved institution for College men.