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Yahoo!Despite the gloriously, usually sunny weather, Isla Vista’s students haven’t been causing much of a ruckus lately, probably due to showers of midterms followed by a nightly thick fog of essays. So, I decided to pick up a copy of a 1958 issue of El Gaucho — a UCSB campus paper that preceded the Daily Nexus — to see what the kids were up to back then. I have for you a smattering of headlines from 50 years ago this week.
El Gaucho newspaper — click for a larger, readable version.
NOVEMBER 18, 1958
Playboy Princess, Two Escorts Selection to Highlight Lambda Chi Dance Saturday
Yes, ladies and gents, this looks to be your typical, run-of-the-mill beauty contest of the 1950s. Girls from various “living” groups — mostly sororities — will post their pictures in various places around campus. Students will vote for the princess at the door of the “Playboy Dance” on Friday. In case you were thinking maybe this competition was about more than just a cute body and a sultry face, John Laritzen, princess contest chairman, puts those worries to rest: “Each living group has put up a good-looking candidate and the playboy theme and decorations will be long remembered on the Santa Barbara campus.” Ah, vanity.
Grim, Gruesome Guys Seek ‘Ugliest’ Crown
Fear not, the females are not the only ones up for a contest based solely on looks. The men on campus are competing for the title “Ugly Man of UCSB.” This is not discriminating against handsome fellows — even sexy sirs can compete because the contest is based on effects created by make-up or masks. The judges are looking to see “variety of ‘ugliness’ either in the gory or humorous vein.” Winners receive a trophy — yawn — and a turkey — sweet!
NOVEMBER 21, 1958
Gauchos Fight for Title Tonight
Looks like a familiar headline for fall 2008 except instead of referring to the men’s soccer team, this headline is for the Gaucho football team. The Mustangs are favored by 21 points, but the Gauchos are not accepting defeat before they step foot on La Playa Field. Ray Schaak, left tackle, in all his brutish brilliance, says, “Everyone wants to win real bad.” With dedication like that, the Gauchos are destined to win. A dance will be held after the game, and all 2,500 Cal Poly-ers expected to attend are invited. How’s that for sportsmanship?
Tomorrow’s Playboy Dance Features Princess Selection
This story makes the front page for the second time in the week. Seriously.
El Gaucho's "ghastly crew — click for a larger, readable version.
We Are a Ghastly Crew!
The Ugly Man contestants are featured on a full-page spread today, each with a two-by-two-inch picture of themselves decked out in gruesome make-up and attire. Photos are accompanied by paragraphs written by the girls’ living groups sponsoring the lads, pandering to voters and explaining why they deserve the title — as if the pictures don’t say enough themselves.
Poor Walt Dennis has “elephantiasis of the ears, athlete’s foot on the face, a cork leg, false teeth and a spooky glass eye.”
“Life is just a bowl of cherries, even though it has been dumped all over your face and the pits ground in,” so proclaims the text beneath Ned Permenter’s photo.
Clark Reynolds’s face is literally melting off, but it isn’t too bad because “anytime he gets hungry, he can chew on the end of his nose, a fine hunk of raw chicken skin nicely defeathered the last time he went apple dunking in a tub of boiling water.”
Ugly Contest Examined…
So it looks as if the El Gaucho staff is completely disturbed by the Ugly Man Contest spread today, according to this staff editorial. They and other campus folk are offended by the grotesqueness of the men, appalled that they went so far beyond being comedically ugly and ventured into morbid death heinousness. “Something is amiss when individuals seem to derive pleasure from the excessive distortion of the natural for creation of the disgusting and revolting.” If only the editors could see Halloween today …
All of these articles are hugged by advertisements that are equally as amusing to a 2008 audience.
“The Man Who Thinks for Himself Knows — only Viceroy has a thinking man’s filter… a smoking man’s taste!”
“They said it couldn’t be done — but today’s L&M gives you — Puff by Puff Less Tars & More Taste”
“In Santa Barbara its Madeline’s… The Salon which features the hairstyles worn by the 10 Best Dressed College Girls in America”
“Mansmooth lends itself beautifully to a shirt that boasts such feminine (and usually hard to iron) details as nylon lace edged collar, bosom, and cuffs—because no ironing’s required!”
Oh, cigarettes and gender stereotypes at their finest.
As much as I may complain about the lack of activity around I.V. today, at least we have more to look forward to than formal dances and beauty pageants. Cheers to a good 50 years and so much change, Isla Vista.
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Yes, it was "El Gaucho" - certainly a little more original than "Daily Nexus". Total student population was 3,000, parking fee was $5 a semester, and we could park where North Hall (is that now Girvetz Hall?) now stands.
Oh, most girls were insulted if you asked them for a date less than a week in advance.
SamRedDog (anonymous profile)
November 18, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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