Where There Is Smoke

Donning his most weather-worn clothes, and fired up with expectations of the traditional "sex, beer, riot," many a Freshman will soon head toward Memorial Hall for the Smoker. Like other Harvard customs such as maids and waitresses, the Freshmen Smoker no longer conforms to the lines of genteel tradition.

This year's ballyhoo is a far cry from the first Smoker held in the Union by the class of 1914. Speakers, light refreshment, and few "reels of high-class movies" filled the usual agenda, and were followed by the "lusty singing of Harvard songs that often shook the Union's mooseheads."

In 1929 the form of the Smoker was for the first time changed as the Committee substituted a performance by the Hasty Pudding Club for the usual motion pictures. The trend toward entertainment had only barely begun, however, and Elliott Perkins '23, then Assisstant Dean of Freshmen, spoke on "Individualism of Harvard." In 1934 the speeches of President Conant and of F. Skiddy von Stade jr., secretary-treasurer of his class, shared the spotlight with Bill Cunningham, Rabbit Marenville, and Rudy Valle. In the next year, President Conant gave way to Jimmy Foxx.

Three years later, the Committee turned its attention from athletes to women; the Smoker moved to Memorial Hall to accomodate Gertrude Nieson and her bevy of "40 beautiful girls." The following year bubble dancer Sally Rand, amid a barrage of pennies, spoke on "How to be Intelligent though Educated." In addition to Miss Rand the Smoker Committee presented Frank Buck, the human giant Jack Earle, and Felix Adler, the world famous clown. President Conant did not appear.

Following a kidnapping by M.I.T. students of the Smoker's star, Jack Benny's Rochester, the class of '43 awaited a "mystery woman." The "mystery woman's" name, Ann Sheridan, was not revealed until the last day. Ann Sheridan, however, turned out to be a monkey. Dressed in sunglasses, Ann skated around the stage once, but became frightened by the noise and fled.

Miss Rand again left the Howard Athenaeum in 1941 to entertain the Freshmen. She greeted them with a fine assortment of shady stories, but turned a deaf ear when the Yardlings implored her to revert to type. Some of the more impatient stripped to the waist to give Sally the idea.

From 1942 to 1948 the Smoker was suspended for the war. Reborn by the class of '51, the frolic, headed by Al Capp and Victor Borge, seemed to assume a pace less torrid than that of the liberal pre-war years. But in 1951 Sally Rand bounced back to Memorial Hall to reveal more facts. "I am a ballet dancer," she purred. Miss Rand lectured '54 on the threat of Communism and then retreated amid a hail of pennies and ice cream bricks. Later when interviewed in her Scollay Square dressing room, she told the CRIMSON "I got no personal gain from the speech. I just had to get it off my chest. I am not seeking political office." During the more recent smokey years, the Committee has managed to produce some variety of spice including a bashful Dick Button's placing a garter about the leg of Miss Sweater Girl of 1952. The Smoker, however, has lost most of its old brashness, and much of the noise now comes from Al Capp who jokingly has insulted the Yardlings and protected the Wellesley Widows for the last two years.