April 3,1969
THE TWIG
Page Three
Crooking Tradition to Return After 21 Years
By PAM PURYEAR
"Traditions are the result of
original interest and effort on the
part of spirited individuals and
groups. However, as they become
part of an institution, the en
thusiasm with which they started
gradually dies, and they are taken
for granted. The habits thus formed
become a matter of course to fade
away, be revived, or drift.”
Twig, “Policy of the Twig”
April 30, 1954
ORIGIN OF TRADITION
The class of 1906 had a prob
lem. There were nine girls in the
class, but only eight parts in the
class play. Question: What part
could the last girl play? The curious
solution to this dilemma established
a solemn ritual which was for years
after one of the favorite and most
loved of Meredith’s traditions.
A member of the faculty, Miss
Phelps, came to Meredith from
Adrian College in Michigan where
lagging class spirit had been revived
by the annual hiding of the crook.
The black shepherd’s crook came
from the “wee red house on the
hill” (wherever that was in 1906).
The ninth member of the class of
1906 presented the Crook to the
class of 1907. What in the world
would anyone do with a black shep
herd’s crook? Hide it, of course!
The purpose was, after all, to boost
sagging class spirit.
FIRST SEARCH
Some time in the summer of 1906
the officers of the Senior class of
1907 hid the Crook from the Ju
niors. The start of school in the
fall began a year-long search by the
juniors, aided by the Freshmen. On
class day the crook was tied with
the colors of the Senior Class, for
the Juniors failed to find it. In years
to come, the Crook was tied with
the colors of the class possessing it
on the morning of May 1. In those
years when the juniors were the
victors, the seniors added to the
• other ribbons a monstrous “black
bow of Mourning.”
FUN IN LOOKING
The fun of the thing was in the
searching. Remember that in these
days girls remained on campus
much more than we do now — and
the rules were much stricter. Con
sequently there were more people
around to search for the Crook.
This was done at night. On certain
nights two girls from each class
were selected to search with flash
lights. They were allowed to stay
out until 12 or 1 o’clock (an ex
traordinary hour, in those early
days).
TWIG RECORDS
Over the years the Twig has
carried a lively record of this crazy
search. There were few places the
girls would not go to hide or seek
the Crook. From the Twio of 1937
comes this description, “the Juniors
want that stick more than anything
else in the world. There aren’t many
things, either, the Juniors won’t do
for the sake of the Crook. They will
look huge, shiny cockroaches and
sporty, scrawly spiders bravely in
the eye; they will risk a new and
permanent manicure to the dangers
of the underworld the night before
the Junior-Senior; they will mount
the thousands of steps on the water
tank, when hanging curtains was a
perilous task before — Heartaches
don’t come from torn clothes and
bruised legs. They come from
passing, a few minutes before 12
on the fatal night, the spot where
the Crook rests peacefully.”
Years passed, and more tradi
tions surrounded the Crook. It be
came customary for the whole stu
dent body (and part of the faculty),
to gather in the auditorium at 12
o’clock on the night of May 1 to
witness the revealing of the Crook.
The Twig of May 9, 1936 de
scribes the excitement of this night.
“Coming as a climax to a day ex>
citing enough in itself (May Day)
the resurrection of the Crook Satur
day night threw the whole student
body into a state bordering on
hysteria. Promptly at 12 o’clock
(the Senior officers). . . under the
fascinated gaze of the students . . .
disappeared . . . and brought forth
the coveted relic from its hiding
place in the wall” (beneath a
porch).
HIDING AND RULES
Much originality and ingenuity
were expended in the hiding of the
Crook. It has been tied to a water
pipe in the tunnel, suspended from
the rafters, hidden in the mattress
of a faculty member. It has been
concealed on a rafter in the (now-
extinct) old chapel, on the water-
tower, behind a bulletin board, be
hind a lab drawer, on the ledges of
windows, on the roofs of buildings.
Certain rules were necessary to pro
tect the Crook and aid searchers:
1. Some portion of the Crook must
be visible at all times. (There is,
however, no stipulation as to what
position one must be in to see it!)
2. The Crook must be hidden
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within the campus, the limits being
the highway in front, the railroad
on the right, the road to the left
and back (obviously some of these
landmarks are gone).
3. The Crook may not be hidden
under lock and key nor may it be
buried.
4. If hidden out of doors, the
Crook must be protected from the
elements.
5. The Crook may not be moved
after the first hiding.
6. The Crook may not be hidden
in or on any roofs (This rule was
added in 1938).
7. Only Meredith students may
hunt the Crook.
CLUES ADDED
By 1938 the hiding was done so
well that finding the Crook was
near-impossible. Because of the dif
ficulty, this year, for the first time,
clues were given. The Juniors and
Seniors agreed on the number of
clues to be given. One week of
searching was allowed per clue,
plus an additional week for the
Crook itself. The first clue was pre
sented to the Juniors. Each clue led
to another, and the last led to the
Crook. All clues were in code and
had to be deciphered to be of any
use. On the morning of May 1 the
Juniors and Freshmen were still
frantically seeking the seventh clue
on the railroad track. Shortly before
chapel the eighth clue was found
in the rafters over the stage of the
auditorium, and the real search for
the Crook itself began. It was
known that the Crook was in a
temporary building not yet used for
a clue; however, despite a harried
search, the Juniors failed to find the
Crook before the deadline and the
Seniors were victorious. That year
there was no black bow.
MORE RULES
In 1939 the Crook was found
early, and a new rule had to be
added. If the Crook were found, the
class in possession had 24 hours to
rehide it (this is a change from rule
5). If the Crook is found in the last
week and rehidden, a hint, and not
a coded clue is given. In 1939 the
Juniors found and rehid the Crook.
The Seniors found, re-hid, and suc
cessfully concealed it. Again in
1940, the Juniors found and hid the
Crook, and the Seniors found, hid,
and kept it. In this year, three clues
were given. The clues were found
pinned on a curtain in Blue Parlor,
hidden behind a time clock in a
dorm, and stuck on the back of a
piano in the gym. The Crook itself
was suspended from one of the 90
ceiling sections in the old audi
torium.
INTERRUPTIONS
For the girls who loved the tradi
tion, the fun was in making
midnight flashlight searches, the
challenge in hiding the treasure suc
cessfully. For many years “crooking”
was one of the “intense pleasures
of MerediUi.”
The tradition was not unin
terrupted, however. The Crook
reigned from 1906 until 1913, when
the faculty outlawed the tradition
because it had fulfilled its purpose
too well. Excess class spirit was re
sulting in ill-will. The Crook was
resurrected and presented to the
rising Seniors on Class Day, 1929.
Traditions are not self-perpetuating.
Crooking thrived until 1948, when
it was laid aside, “dropped for lack
of interest.”
As Senior class gave way to Senior
class, the Crook was forgotten. By
now, few giris know anything at all
about the Crook. In 1957 a student
found the Crook near the card
catalogue and was totally mystified.
The discovery prompted an arti
cle in the Twig of May 3, 1957
on the history of the Crook. The
author says of the antique tradition,
“In its heyday crooking was char
acterized by anything but lack of
interest ... the wheat field incident
was one of the most exciting in the
Crook’s history.”
WHEAT FIELD INCIDENT
It seems that at one time the
President of the college annually
held a formal banquet for the
Seniors. Picture the young ladies,
decorously dressed for the occasion
. . . and the hilarious scene to
come. During the meal two Juniors
were seen heading toward the wheat
field, presumably (the Seniors be
lieved), to check on the Crook and
see if it were still secure. The rumor
spread through the dining hall, as
rumors will. Instantly, the field was
(Continued on page 4)
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