#orations

Throwback Thursday: Ticket to the College of New Jersey (as Princeton University was then named) Junior Orations for June 26, 1866. According to the Princeton Standard, the students gave their speeches to a packed house, and latecomers could not find seats. It was a hot evening with only a light breeze. Many in attendance could be heard fanning themselves throughout. A lot of those present were “chatterers who came to talk and not to listen.”

Qui omnia nomini debes

 -

You, boy, who owe everything to a name

Pages 626, 642 paperback

I have to learn two Shakespearian orations for my honors class (technically three, Hamlet is not pictured but I’m still trying to decide between “To be or not to be” and “Is this a dagger?”).

The further back one goes into Princeton history, the less familiar it becomes to the 21st century viewer. The interlocking “PC” logo shown on this envelope and invitation (which stands for “Princeton College,” as the College of New Jersey was colloquially known until 1896), however, was once pretty common around campus. It took a variety of forms; see, for example, the baseball team’s uniforms in 1875. Though pink and blue may seem especially strange for Princeton, at the time of this 1872 event, the Junior Class Orations for the Class of 1873, Princeton had yet to commit to its colors. Orange and black ribbons were first used to represent Princeton in 1874.