We've seen a ton of amazing yearbook quotes emerge from the class of 2015 this year — but sometimes it's more fun to look to the past than to the present. Case in point: These 1914 yearbook quotes from Southwest Texas State Normal School. I'm not kidding when I say that they are hands down the greatest yearbook quotes I have ever seen — ever. An image of the yearbook's pages is currently making the Internet rounds courtesy of Reddit, and it's exactly what we all need on a Friday afternoon.
A Redditor going by the name hybridginger posted the image to the r/OldSchoolCool sub yesterday, simultaneously gaining Internet fame and introducing me to my new favorite subreddit. OldSchoolCool bills itself as “a pictorial and video celebration of history's coolest kids, everything from beatniks to bikers, mods to rude boys, hippies to ravers. And everything in between.” There are a few rules one must follow to join the crowd of cool kids reveling in the days of cool kids past; any image submitted should be at least 25 years old, and the year or decade must be somewhere in the title of your post. Also (and thankfully) “all racist, homophobic, sexist, and abusive comments will result in an immediate lifetime ban.” The whole place is a historical goldmine, and I just had to wrench myself away from it so I don't lose my entire day to it.
Are you ready to see the page itself? Yes? Okay. Here you go:
I wish I had gotten a chance to know you, Lee Hensley; I do not know what this “porcupine epidemic” may have been, but based on the fact that you referenced it in your yearbook quote, I feel like we would have been friends.
Here's the best part: They're real. These amazing yearbook quotes were penned by actual people in an actual yearbook, and I love it. Savvy Redditor icanhascheesesteak managed to dig up a digitized copy of the book from Texas State University-San Marcos's archives, and it's chock-full of words of both wisdom and weirdness. Good work, icanhascheesesteak — you deserve all the cheesesteaks in the world for your magnificent detective work.
It turns out, by the way, that "Southwest Texas State Normal School" was the very first name pegged to what's known today as Texas State University-San Marcos. TSU-SM was originally founded under the Southwest Texas State Normal School moniker in 1899, accepting its first class in 1903. According to the Texas Tribune, the name of the school changed to Southwest Texas State Normal College in 1918 (just four years after these magnificent yearbook pages were printed and bound); in 1923, it became Southwest Texas State Teachers College; in 1959, it dropped the “Teachers” and became simply Southwest Texas State College; it morphed into being a university in 1969; and then, in 2003, “Southwest” was dropped and “-San Marcos” was added, and voilà — the current name of the school.
Luckily, the Texas State University's library not only has the whole yearbook available to view on its website — but even better, its pages are actually embeddable. While I highly suggest perusing the whole thing at your leisure, I've also gone ahead and pulled out some of the choicest bits for your Friday afternoon reading pleasure. Click 'em to make them bigger. You're welcome.
1. “Why is a sleeping course not given?”
Good question, Claud R. Harmon. All in favor of mandatory nap time say “aye.”
2. “I have taken my fun where I've found it.”
Winnie Cole definitely has her priorities straight.
3. Short People Problems
I'm starting a club for short people with May Dearborn and J.C. Hall. Anyone else want in?
4. “I'm lost in Normal mysteries.”
I assume this is some kind of in-joke that only made sense to people who attended this particular school in this particular era. Alas, its meaning has been lost to the sands of time.
5. “Trust not the treason of her smiling face.”
Wow. Looks like Mary Linton Barr has some darkness in her soul.
6. “Ideas trouble me even more than men.”
I'll admit that I'm not totally sure what Mamie Curry was getting at here, but it's kind of amazing all the same.
Images: Simon Collison/Flickr; Imgur
