Ninety years ago, the reporters and editors of The Appalachian did things a little differently. They printed ads promoting cigarette brands. They published marriage announcements for students and local couples. They subscribed readers through a small box printed in the corner, asking them to pledge their support to the paper’s success.
These changes may not be drastic, but compiled together in the form of The Appalachian’s first printed newspaper in 1934, there is a stark difference compared to the latest paper.
Now, nine decades later, it is time to revisit some of these practices in an homage to the creators and founders of The Appalachian and the work they put into the foundation of a lasting newspaper.
In many of the early papers, small segments usually printed on the third page featured the voices of App State alumni, sharing their memories, experiences and inside jokes.
In reverence to these early writers, the current App State alumni featured in this story share their take on a modern version of these segments.
Alumni Puzzlers
One of the segments created and printed in the early 1930s was titled “Alumni Puzzlers.”
It was a quarter-page blurb in which alumni shared their experiences through questions posed to fellow alumni and current students.
In The Appalachian’s third paper, published Nov. 9, 1934, an alumnus asked, “Why did someone blow smoke through the keyhole into Mr. Downum’s room?”
The questions went unanswered, an open-ended mystery for other knowing alumni to share in and students of 1934 to speculate on who was blowing smoke.
In this modern-day take on “Alumni Puzzlers,” questions posed by current App State alumni will be answered
Richard Fulton, an alumnus from the class of 2006, wrote in an email, “What was the original name of the Schaefer Center that was often spelled wrong on marketing materials by leaving out the ‘H’ (accidentally and/or intentionally)?”
Fulton, a former member of APPS, said members of it sneakily renamed the Farthing Auditorium, now known as the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts, to the farting auditorium in some promotional materials. While it was mostly an inside joke among APPS members, Fulton said anyone who looked closely at the flyers or posters advertising artists performing on campus might spot the farting auditorium.
Elizabeth Munn-Lively, a 2004 graduate, asked whose recorded voice used to be played before each App State football game.
Munn-Lively said a recording of Sean Connery from the 1996 film, “The Rock,” was used to tell football attendees, “Welcome to the rock.”
Debra Anderson, a 2015 graduate, asked students and alumni, “What kind of car was it that drove into the duck pond?”
Debra Anderson said in 2012 a Mustang was pulled from the murky waters of the duck pond.
Her husband, Chris Anderson, asked “What was stolen after the Georgia Southern home game in 2015?”
Chris Anderson said he had already graduated from App State when this happened, but he distinctly remembers finding out when someone stole an ambulance from Kidd Brewer Stadium. It was later discovered at the Cottages of Boone, Chris Anderson said.
Do You Remember When…
Another segment the early 1930’s writers of The Appalachian created was titled, “Do You Remember When…”
In this segment, memories and experiences of App State Alumni were shared in a quick format with limited details. Some responses were specific, alluding to events that only a select number of alumni would know. Others were broader, expressing changes in the general atmosphere of Boone and App State since it opened.
In a paper from Dec. 7, 1934, an alumnus featured in the segment asked who remembered, “When Allen Laxton’s brass-plated chariot was the joy wagon of campus?”
Current alumni featured in this story shared some of their favorite memories from their time at App State through the “Do you remember when” format.
Fulton said he remembers when John Mayer came to App State to perform at Legends.
“People were like, ‘Hey did you hear about this guy,’” Fulton said. “And then, probably by the end of that year, we had booked him to come play at Legends and then three months later, he was huge.”
Megan Murphy, a 2002 alumnus, said she is also nostalgic about old Boone eateries and remembers when Sollecito’s was the place to go when craving a good slice of pizza.
She said she and her mother often chose Sollecito’s when deciding on where they wanted to eat out.
Munn-Lively and Fulton both said they remembered when Boone was struck with a spontaneous snowstorm in April and they were both very unprepared.
“We didn’t have cell phones with, you know, weather alerts. I mean it was just, ‘Oh crap, it’s snowing,’” Fulton said.
He said he was wearing shorts when he went to class in the morning because the weather was fair. However, after a few classes, Fulton walked outside to discover several inches of snow on the ground and classes being canceled by the university.
“I mean I had sent all of my winter clothes home — I mean it was April, I mean, it was after Easter, all the flowers were blooming,” Munn-Lively said.
Quotes and Comments
In the original printed papers of The Appalachian, writers would compile a list of quotes from other publications, notable figures and local voices for a segment titled, “Quotes and Comments.”
In a paper published Dec. 21, 1934, one quote printed in this section read, “We need to find out what we want to do and then do it, not with a ‘wavering purpose,’ but with a set determination to succeed.”
For this rendition of “Quotes and Comments,” the current alumni featured in this story shared quotes they heard as students, quotes that have impacted their lives and general comments from themselves they want current App State students to hear.
Fulton said one quote that stuck with him was from a writing class he took freshman year by Thomas Wolfe, who said, “You will never go home again.”
Fulton said he was instructed to write an essay based on this quote and it was a profound experience to realize that leaving home to come to App State had shaped him into a different person.
“It was much bigger than just like, ‘Oh I don’t have a curfew now or I have different stories to tell,’” Fulton said. “It was like more of a feeling, like, ‘Oh, this is not my home anymore.’”
On a more comedic note, Fulton said he remembers chanting, “You don’t have no Subway,” at a football game against Western Carolina in 2013.
“They didn’t have a lot of restaurants there, like four restaurants in the whole town,” Fulton said. “And one of them was Subway, and the Subway had just burned down that week and the whole stadium chanted.”
Murphy said she still remembers going to say goodbye to her favorite professor after she took her last class with him and he said, “I am so glad I got to have you in my class.”
Ben Spain • Jan 19, 2024 at 10:26 am
Freshman year, ‘74-‘75: hitchhiking on 321 to Blowing Rock to buy beer; Watauga Co was as dry as a bone. The few dollars left over after buying the week’s groceries (mostly Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup and pretzels) was forked over to Holly’s Tavern on the outskirts of town. Holly’s hung on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Gorge, a fantastic place to down a few 25 cent beers. Other times we’d drop into Antlers’ bar just off Main Street then head up the dark road to snoop around creepy abandoned Mayview Manor to see what we could see. One night, peering through a window into a pitch black dining room where tables were still set up, the window shade suddenly shot up and flapped around the roller at the top of the window. That’s when we unloaded most of the beer we’d soaked up at the Holly’s and Antlers. Just the beginning of my memories of Happy Appy.