The Rambler has drastically evolved over its 107 years of existence, serving the Transylvania University community since 1915. This evolution can be seen in several vintage issues of the Rambler released between 1955 and 1966. The formatting, content, and even the name changed over the 11-year period and has continued to change in the 56 years since.
The October 7 1955 issue of the Crimson Rambler mainly focused on the first few major events of the academic year, with the cover story focusing on the events of the previous summer, specifically the funds collected by the 175th Anniversary Development program. The program collected $34,636 through events in Northern Kentucky and Elizabethtown over the Summer and planned to continue the program in Maysville in the near future.
This issue covered the first activities of the year for many old and new clubs. A front-page story was given to the brand new Pre-Ministerial club on campus, which planned to volunteer at hospitals, orphanages, and local church Sunday School classes. The Home Life Department was set to present a “style show” which was sponsored by a local clothing store to “exhibit new clothes styles” for “high schools, colleges and club women.” The first play by the Drama Department, “The Cocktail Party” by T.S. Elliot, was advertised for October 17th in Little Theater. An optimistic update was made by the Concert Band, with 14 new members and 35 total. The rules for the gymnasium were announced, including a requirement for “regulation gym shoes” and a ban on bottled drinks. The Transylvania Choir also had its first performance of the year at the annual convocation.
A new column of the Crimson Rambler entitled “Sports Rambling,” was created to talk about sports both within Transylvania and the wider community. The main focus was the start of intramural football between fraternities, with a reminder to the teams: “Let’s play hard and clean, and may the best team win!” Other updates in the column included a note about new basketball coach C.M. Newton, recent freshman commits to the Transylvania baseball team, and rival football teams at Georgetown and Centre Colleges.
As for general news, a large section was dedicated to the upcoming Kentucky gubernatorial election. A “tight” race between Edwin Denney and Transylvania alumni, former commissioner of major league baseball, and incumbent, A.B. “Happy” Chandler, who ultimately won in the largest landslide ever seen in a Kentucky gubernatorial election.
Another short general news story, which was titled “Un-Erotic Jazz” will be posted in full here:
“A recently conducted investigation gave interesting indications on the diversified reactions of students and other young people to jazz. It was stated that the majority of the students were drawn by the “subterranean, chaotic and anarchistic” in jazz; their motto is “the wilder, the better.” In complete contrast to this, young people in the country and vocational schools preferred sentimental hits. According to the answers by the students, pure jazz has a less erotic effect than a popular song.”
Once again, The Rambler thanks SGA President Tate Ohmer for providing physical copies of these fascinating vintage Rambler editions.
