Dinner with Dougie

Dougie finishes off another 40 oz. at Lone Star with some of the library staff.

Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench-Book Review

Ever wonder what it's like to visit an old hardware store? Ever wonder how rubber came to be or who invented the Vice Grips? Look no further than the book, Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench, by Vince Staten. This book is chalk full of witty humor along with quite an insight into the world of selling nuts and bolts. Believe me, this is not a book that will bore you to sleep. It may just keep you up in the wee hours of the night, just like the running toilet did in your home. This easy to read book is perfect for those that like tinkering with hand tools, even if you are not very successful. Even the author claims to not be a handyman, but he has a plethora of knowledge on the tools handy persons use. Pick up this book and get a glimpse into a culture that may one day be gone. Tyler G.

Book Thief

The end of September and start of October are always punctuated by Banned Book Week, which is, in short, a celebration of books that tend to be challenged by various groups because of content, word choice, characters, titles, covers, and so on. And while that could be a perfect excuse to wax poetic about Mark Twain, Voltaire, or yes, even Harry Potter, my annual celebration of Banned Books is to reread a very ironic book on that list:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 Why is it an ironic choice? Because The Book Thief is not only a surprisingly funny and heartfelt story about World War II Germany, it centers on books and book burning.

The New York Times described the book as “not really… ‘Harry Potter and the Holocaust.’ It just feels that way.” It’s narrated by Death, who shouldn’t be as fabulous as they are, but they’re fabulous (even if I can’t shake the image of Death being a tiny, sassy Australian woman). The main character (the titular “Book Thief” who is really named Liesel) is an adolescent girl whose life has been tinged with death, but has remained resilient, warm, kind, and sweet. The first book she steals is a manual for grave diggers, and her love of learning proves insatiable. She and her adopted family show a tiny slice of the War from the perspective of German citizens and every act of defiance her family commits feels like a victory.

It’s completely worth the read, and the film version is set to be released in early November. ~~Maisie

Editor's note--If interested, call # is PR 9169.4 Z87 B66 2006

Coe College Cosmos: Final Exams 1949

"The English Department has decided on a very small exam: 32 essay questions. Each essay counts 3.125 points"

"The Philosophy Department has only one question: Discuss fully all phases of mankind 10000 B.C. to the present."

"--just conjugate each verb we've had so far, in all tenses, and write a history of the World War in French."

"Hold on here. Let's give this lad a practical exam.  He needs your subjects like he needs a hole in the head!"

Coe College Cosmos, January 19, 1949.

~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant.

Ninja Coe Squirrels

Since the dawn of time, man has befriended the squirrel. Man provided the squirrel with acorns and the squirrel provided man with cuteness. As time went by, man began presenting the squirrels with a pile of apples near Armstrong and the squirrels entertained with many leaps earning the title, Ninja Squirrels. Today, the circulation clan of the library wishes to honor the relationship between man and squirrel by rewarding those who can find the ninja squirrels hidden within the library.
So here’s the deal, guys! Paper squirrels will be hidden in the library and if you find one, you can get your picture taken (and put on the super awesome blog under amazing people) and a free piece of candy. But, there are some rules.
1. The squirrel and book must both be brought to the circulation desk.
2. The squirrel and book must be brought between the times of:
8:30 am to 4:00pm Monday-Friday
3. You can only win once a week.

Hints to the location of the squirrels can be found on the twitter: @CoeSquirrels which will be updated with either a short summary of the book, a famous quote from the book or a pop-culture allusion to the book. The twitter will be updated on a weekly basis.

Happy hunting!

*no squirrels were injured in the making of this activity

possibly more important than Valentine'​s Day...

NATIONAL FERRIS WHEEL DAY

February 14th is the annual celebration of the National Ferris Wheel Day. This “unofficial” holiday is held on this day to honor the birth of the inventor of the Ferris Wheel, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.

This first Ferris Wheel was invented for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

The original Ferris Wheel was sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel.

The Ferris Wheel was the largest attraction at the Columbian Exposition with a height of 264 ft.

It has been dismantled and moved to the 1904 World’s Far in St Louis Missouri and there it was demolished in 1906.

Today the Ferris Wheel is still a popular ride in amusement parks and carnivals around the world.

Lonely Frog wants to go Home!

Find me in Lost and Found behind the circ desk!

Acorn Jokes, page 235

The early Acorns (Coe yearbooks) had more than student pictures and lists of class officers.  They gave bits of information about each class, sometimes in the form of a class history:

"Four years ago, in a mild September, about seventy youths and maidens from scattered parts of our lovely state and from its adjoining neighbors, met for the first time within our college halls as the class of 1909.  It was their common purpose to pledge allegiance to the Saint of Knowledge, to be lead, not all knew wither..." (the senior class history from the 1910 acorn goes on for a full page and a half recording the triumphs, losses and anecdotes from their time at Coe College.)

Sometimes they included class colors, yells, or mascots.  You can read a few of these yells in the on-line exhibit of class mascots from the 1910 Acorn.  You may note that the Freshman class of 1912 is depicted as a child being protected by an owl, the junior class mascot (the junior classes put together the yearbooks).  A few years later the 1912 yearbook was titled the "Tiger" after their class mascot.

To conclude, another page from the 1938 Acorns advertisement section:


~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant

Acorn Jokes, page 229

"The Acorn" (that is Coe's yearbook if you haven't read the last two Thursday posts) wasn't always called "The Acorn".  It was first titled "Ziz Boom Gee" after the yell for the "class of nineteen O'three".  It then had a long stint as "The Rabbit" after the city Coe calls home, Cedar Rabbits (for those who don't know Coe resides in Cedar Rapids, named after the rapids in the river it sits along, but students thought themselves quite clever in 1904).  If you are confused as to why the name kept changing it should be noted that the yearbook was originally a Junior Annual.  It was created and published by the Junior class who was featured in the annual.  Because of this the junior class sometimes named the book after themselves which is what happened in 1913 when the year book was titled "The Goat" after the class mascot.  In 1914 the administration requested that the yearbook maintain a single name and "The Acorn" was chosen and used until its last issue in 2007.

Below is another page of old advertisements and jokes from the 1938 Acorn.



 

~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant

Acorn Jokes, page 217

"The Acorn", Coe's former yearbook (the last issue was published in 2007), was named after the acorn on the school's crest.  An acorn grows to become a large sturdy oak tree, which was seen as an analogy of the student entering college and growing to become a pillar of society.  Around the acorn are the words "Sig. Coll. Coensis Veritas Virtusque" roughly translated "The Seal of Coe College, Truth and Virtue".   The seal was modified in the late 1930s to incorporate the family shield of Daniel Coe, the college's first benefactor and its namesake.  The acorn now lies above the Coe crest in the seal, with the the original Latin surrounding both.

As a continuation from last week, here is page 217 of the advertisement section of the 1938 yearbook.


~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant

Acorn Jokes, page 212

Once upon a time Coe College published a year book.  It was called (for most of its existence) "The Acorn" after the acorn on the school crest (which isn't the school crest anymore).  Many of the Acorns were funded by advertisers which had their adds printed at the end of the book.  In the 1938 Acorn the ads took up 35 pages.  To encourage students to look at these pages the Acorn staff placed jokes and anecdotes between the advertisements.

The 1938 Acorn page 212

 

~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant

Cookie Monster in the Library

http://youtu.be/wpPLSytiCXc

It's a Book

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BK_2VULCU]

The day before graduation, 1952

from the archives...



Coe College Cosmos. June 8, 1952, page 1.

Congratulations Graduates!

~Sara, Archives Assistant

The Boogy Man (Examinations, 1913)

from the archives...


“The Ditty Book, with Cosmos Cartoons and Original Verses” by Don Chilcote ’16 and “Buddy” Burrows ’14, pages 39-40.

~Sara, Archives Assistant

The InternATIONal Rag (week before examination, 1913)

from the archives...


"The Ditty Book, with Cosmos Cartoons and Original Verses" by Don Chilcote '16 and "Buddy" Burrows '14, Pages 37-38.

~Sara, Archives Assistant

Lord of the Rings Humor

A little humor from Lord of the Rings for your Friday.  Hope we see you at the Common Hour this afternoon!