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2002 Summer Mystery Photo


Where The Girls Are

Our 2002 Summer Mystery Photo contest was won, hands down, by classmate Joe Wood, who wrote:

“Front cover shot of “Where the Girls Are.” Peter Sandman Assoc. Ed., Copyright 1965, the Daily Princetonian.

“I don’t know who the girls are although I do know who some of the other people in the book are.

page 30

For example on p. 30 the girl in the car is Reddy Levy older sister of Laddie Levy, a classmate of mine at the McDonogh School. The guy with his hand on his hip is our own Doug Kelbaugh. The second guy might be McChesney or Doug’s roomate, Edwards.

page 78“On p. 78 the girl facing you in the background is the late Bobbie Sell who married Pete Beweley ’68.

– Joe Wood ’67 (July 17, 2002)

Our classmate Peter Sandman graciously contributed the following:

“My recollections of Where the Girls Are are hazed by 35+ years of private mythmaking. But for what it’s worth...

“The first edition, which the Prince self-published, was the brainchild of Jim MacGregor ’66 – I was asked to do most of the writing and several ’68ers did most of the “rules and hours” fact-checking. Whoever happened to be passing by as I was writing contributed “color” and stereotypes....

Frontispiece: Was it him...or his Piping Rock?“The persona of witty womanizer was easy for me to assume in writing ... though as a Woodrow Wilson Society wonk I never could achieve it in person. With decades of hindsight, I still think the writing holds up – if “holds up” can translate as a pretty decent example of sophomore smart aleck. The sexism is obviously dated – but it doesn’t bother me as much as it did in the eighties, when I guess I was more p.c. than I am now.

“The book was meant to be a “dating guide,” to be read for fun and profit by road-tripping students at Princeton and other all-male colleges. (I was already “pinned” to my first wife, a Vassar student I knew from high school, so the whole thing was very theoretical to me.) When it came out, sales were primarily to college women, who bought it to see how their school fared; secondarily to high school girls, who used it as a sort of “social Lovejoy’s.” College men were a distant third in audience size.

page 12 Bennett College“There was a flurry of media interest, fueled by irritated and mock-irritated responses from students (women) who didn’t like how their school was described. I was a contestant on “To Tell the Truth”; we were quote-of-the-day in the New York Times. Dial quickly republished the book, unchanged, and the Prince signed a contract with Dell (Dial’s mass market paperback house) for a national edition ... which we quickly produced, based on even less first-hand knowledge than the first edition. It sold well too. The profits enriched the ’66 editorial board; and helped the Prince fund the transition from letterpress to offset. I got an instant reputation as an author, and over the next couple of years I published several other books (How to Succeed in Business Before Graduating, The Unabashed Career Guide, Students and the Law) that didn’t do nearly as well but did well enough to help finance my way through grad school.

“All the best. – Peter (June 24, 2002)

page 49 Sarah Lawrence CollegeWe also have this contribution from Jim MacGregor ’66

“It’s been so long that I’m not sure my memories are particularly reliable, so take all of this with several grains of salt.

“The Daily Princetonian used to do (still does) a fat summer issue for incoming freshmen, filled with information about almost everything, and ads from campus organization looking for new members and the local merchants hoping for new customers. Once on campus, freshmen told us they really wanted more information about social life, because it was hard to get started when there were no girls on campus and the surrounding geography was new and strange. So: Let’s do a guide to women’s colleges, perform a service for clueless freshmen everywhere, make a few bucks, have a little fun, and give ourselves an excuse to do, well, a little field research. Yes, it probably was my idea to begin with, but Peter Sandman did the lion’s share of the organizing and writing, with a ton of help from Ned Scharff and Lane Lasater from the class of ’68. And we really did have a lot of fun doing it. Mostly I remember a lot of very late nights in the old Prince offices above the U-Store after final exams through to the end of Reunions, writing, editing, laying out, and enjoying each other’s witticisms, real and inadvertent. In the end, the book made the front page of the NY Times, Peter and John Kretzmann I did a few radio talk shows, and Dial Press bought reprint rights to the book. So it was a success.

page 61 Vassar College“But looking back at it now, what strikes me most is the incredible artificiality of the whole process about which we were writing. The idea that young people would need a guidebook to finding and dealing with people of the opposite sex in their native habitats is a strange one today; it’s reassuring that we were at least able to laugh at the peculiarities of the process. It’s also, though, the last gasp of the 1950’s; within months after WTGA was published, the anti-war, racial equality, sexual liberation, rock music, drug culture, youth movement would finally become widespread at Princeton (as it already had at numerous other campuses).

“There’s an old story about a lady who urges Woodrow Wilson to make Princeton a co-ed university, “in order to remove the false glamour with which the sexes regard each other.” To which Wilson replies, “Madam, that is the very thing we are trying at all costs to preserve.” My son (age 32) and his peers went through college having not only romantic and sexual relationships, but also non-sexual friendships, with the opposite sex, and I think he, and they, are the healthier for it. After getting your e-mail, I dug out a copy of Where The Girls Are; it’s still moderately entertaining, but I wonder if we might not have been better off at some level if there hadn’t been a reason to write it.

“Cheers, JMacG (July 3, 2002)

back to Winter 1965-66
excerpts from Where The Girls Are © 1965 Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. Used by permission.
Beaver College
“Beaver girls may describe themselves as “well-rounded” and “All-American,” but the men who date them prefer the word “posh.”
Middle or late April – JUNIOR PROM: Biggest weekend of the year; held in Grey Towers Castle
Bennett College
“If you want a Bennett girl, get her while she’s a freshman; she may not be there next year.”
CHAPEL attendance is not required on Sunday mornings, but all students must attend chapel every Monday night at 7:30.
Bennington College
“Overnights are unlimited, a sensible rule since curfew is 6:30 a.m. Men must leave the dorms somewhat before then, but a man can still spend more time in a girl’s room in a week than she spends in her classes in a month.”
Briarcliff College
“Where does the Ethel Walker or Dobbs graduate who never worked too hard, but had a good time doing it, go to college?”
First week Dec. – CHRISTMAS DANCE: Black ties; one of Briarcliff’s two big dances, held at New York’s Savoy-Hilton
Bryn Mawr College
“While the Bryn Mawr lass may try hard to show that she is just one of the girls, it is still the man prepared to discuss existentialism and Romantic poetry who will get along best with her.”
Centenary College
“Centenary girls are supposed to be pretty and agreeable, and you may very well want to invite one to your school some time – but it’s hard to see why you’d want to visit hers.”
DRESS: Men are expected to wear a jacket and tie after 6 p.m. and all day Sunday.
Connecticut College
“When you arrive at the college gate, a Pinkerton-type guard will ask you for the name of the girl you are going to see. This is just a ploy to keep undesirables out: Casually give the man any name that comes to mind – they never bother to check up on it.”
Douglass College
“Good times are possible at Douglass if you can get by the Rutgers guardian angels.”
Moscow’s – (Handy St.) The main hangout for Douglass girls; bar and restaurant.
Goucher College
“And Goucher girls are, according to Goucher girls, fed up with their steady diet of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins students, and eagerly await the Eastern Hoards.”
LIQUOR is not permitted on campus, but anywhere off campus (including the nearby woods) it is permissible.
Mount Holyoke College
“Mount Holyoke is situated in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Unfortunately.”
AMHERST is only 10 miles away and Amherst students are usually willing to put up total strangers free for a night or two. Go to any fraternity or dorm and look sleepy.
Sarah Lawrence College
“Sarah Lawrence girls’ favorite spots range from Trude Heller’s Twist Palace (one of the most outrageously overpriced tourist traps in the Western Hemisphere) to the movie theater at the Museum of Modern Art (cheaper) to the Apollo Theatre’s superb rock ’n’ roll shows.”
Smith College
“Always keep in mind that a Smithie is looking at you not only as her date but also as the man who may some day be footing the bills to send her daughter to Smith.”
Late Feb. – RALLY DAY: Smith’s biggest weekend, involving almost everybody; cost: $10 or so for the man; about $40 for the girl
Sweet Briar College
“Most men who find their way to Sweet Briar don’t make it back for their Monday classes.”
Mrs. B. H. Hudson’s is the best place to stay – nearby, only $2.50 per night and comfortable.
Vassar College
“Vassar’s motto used to be “Wisdom and Purity.” We’re not quite sure when, or why it was changed.”
GIRLS’ ROOMS are on-limits from 12:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The door may be closed but not locked.

Wellesley College
“There is no real center of student life on campus, so try a dorm at random. The girl at the bell desk knows everyone, and everyone’s plans; if anyone can help you find a date, it is she.”

page 69

The Well, a small student snack bar, is located in Alumnae Hall. Men may also join their dates at the dorm dining rooms. Hours: Breakfast, 7:30; Lunch, 12; Dinner, 6. Sunday dinner is served at 1 p.m., and costs $1.50. All other meals are $.80.


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