Words are the only things that last forever; they are more durable than the eternal hills. - William Hazlitt, English essayist

The Rensselaer Pup has some wonderful examples of graphic design and student art from the first half of the 20th century.  As a student-generated humor magazine it possesses some questionable content as well as beautiful covers.  Often the images from the covers play toward other popular magazines or comics of the time.&nbs

I was browsing through some newspapers from this date in history (St. Patrick's Day) and came across an interesting sports article. Since the NCAA men's basketball championship tournament begins this week and our neighbor to the west -- Syracuse University -- is a top seeded team, this headline caught my eye, BASKETBALL TEAM IS BEATEN BY SYRACUSE IN FAST GAME.  It was the last game of RPI's regular season, played on March 11, 1922, at home.

Bravo to our blog readers.  All of the mystery images that have been posted thus far have been identified!  So let's move on to the next image. This must be a very serious scholar (You've seen pictures of Da Vinci haven't you??).  Can you put a name with this face?

I was recently asked a question about RPI memorabilia so I thought I would share an example of what we have in our collection. We receive donations from alums, their families and other generous people.  We also regularly troll Ebay looking for RPI related material to add to our collections. (BTW, we NEVER sell anything on ebay!!) We've been able to acquire commencement programs, sports media guides, photographs and memorabilia. A fun item that we purchased this past year is the silver bracelet pictured below.

This photo really intrigues me! In all of my RPI history travels, which includes extensive research for exhibits on student clubs and student traditions, I haven't found an explanation for this image. I hope I stumble across something someday that will help me identify this curiously dressed group of men! I'm dying to know what they were up to. Was this an early LARP club?!

Finals week is coming to an end, and from my vantage point (limited as it may be), it has been very quiet on campus this week. It definitely feels like the semester is winding down. On the job, I often live in the past ;) and today I wondered how very different it must have been here 38 years ago this week in May.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for another round of Mystery Image! There is still a thick folder of unidentified photographs on my desk so let's get to it! My best guess about this prof is that he is/was in the School of Engineering.  I like the self-satisfied, arms crossed pose. Do you recognize him? If so, click on Comments and ring in —  wait, that's another show —  type in?!

Every RPI student and alum has invariably heard the term "'Tute Screw" often used metaphorically and also embodied as an actual object. No one knows who coined the term or how long it has been in use, but the object itself has a documented origin. In the Fall of 1949, Sigma Phi Epsilon awarded the first 'Tute Screw in a ceremony on the '87 Field. Three hooded fraternity brothers known as "The Order of the Royal Screw" presented the "trophy" to the freshmen class.

This photograph has been kicking around my desk for some time. The house looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. I showed it to my colleagues and they also remembered seeing it before — but where?