Green Key Like it's 1937!

Here at Dartmouth, Green Key has become synonymous with spring time fun. The weekend is full of live music and dancing. College kids take a break from their studies to enjoy the festivities. The past, however, reveals the slightly more formal origins of our modern Green Key.

This ticket from 1937 is a reminder of a very different kind of Green Key event. In 1929 the Green Key Society decided to host a Spring Prom to help fund raise for their group. The success led to an annual event. This Green Key Prom was a ticketed affair that only lasted a single night. Musical acts were added throughout the years. The event became a full weekend as more acts and events were added and frats held parties during the concurring weekend. This prom/house party weekend eventually evolved to what we on campus are familiar with today. While this ticket is a neat keepsake to help remember a different time, you can fortunately enjoy the festivities this weekend without needing a ticket of your own!

To learn more about Green Key Weekend, ask for the "Green Key" Vertical File. The ticket can be found in the "Dances, Ball, Cotillions" Vertical File.

Posted for Angela Noppenberger '17

The Glory of Morning Glories

Behind a muted cover, morning glories blossom. Kataoka Senfu's work Asagao zusetsu uses woodblock prints to present the diversity of the morning glory.

Japanese woodblock prints -- colorful and affordable -- have been popular in Japan since the seventeenth century. These prints were "discovered" by the West in the nineteenth century after Japan was strong-armed into European trade in 1853. Japanese prints were an inspiration for artists from Vincent Van Gogh to Edgar Degas.

Kataoka Senfu was active around 1902. Our copy was given to Special Collections in 1956 by H. G. Fitzpatrick in memory of Roger Conant Wilder, Jr., a member of the class of 1949 who passed away in 1953, and is an inheritor of the tradition of Western admiration for Japanese prints.

The first volume contains pages of stunning, vibrant woodblock prints, while the second volume consists of information about the plants and a few uncolored woodcuts. The second volume has been digitized by Princeton and is available via the Hathi Trust.

But Princeton doesn't have the first volume, and the binding of ours is super tight (resulting in these photographs, rather than our usual high quality scans), so you'll have to come to Rauner to see the flowers; ask for Rare Book SB404.8.K3 A7.