While certain activities -- partying, drinking, building snow sculptures and having fun -- remain key Winter Carnival traditions, according to Dartmouth alumni the weekend festivities have evolved significantly over the years.
Carnival Dates
Before Dartmouth became coeducational in 1972, students invited women from nearby colleges such as Mt. Holyoke and Wellsley to be their Carnival dates.
"I remember there used to be enormous anxiety about whether or not I would be having a date," Nelson Lichtenstein '66 said.
There used to be special trains to Hanover from Northhampton and Boston, almost completely filled with Winter Carnival dates. The Dartmouth students would expectantly wait for the arrival of their dates at the train station.
"Their coming was ridiculously awkward," Lichtenstein admitted.
The arrival of women also created a housing dilemma. Fraternity brothers generally evacuated the top floors of their houses to make way for the incoming women. Many local Hanover residents also rented out rooms in their basements to accomodate the influx.
According to Richard Liesching '59, students would try to establish a rapport with the local families to keep a place for their dates for all four years.
The College enforced strict curfews for the weekends -- no student could go above the first floor after 10 p.m.
"One of the parents of the guys in the house would ensure this," Robert Kasier '39 said.
A selection committee of faculty would also shortlist 12 of the best-looking girls at the Carnival and take them to the Club House. The most good looking was then titled the "Queen of the Snows" and received attention from the national press.
According to Kasier, this practice was discontinued around the time of coeducation because many believed the practice was sexist.
Elaborate Sculptures
Alumni recall that building the snow sculpture in the middle of the Green was a campus unifying event, with a high proportion of students coming together and lending a hand.
Unlike some of the sculptures of the recent past, alumni, who studied here prior to the '60s, said the snow sculptures were much bigger and far more intricate.
Kasier, who lives in Hanover and has seen most of the snow sculptures since being a freshman in 1935, said the one built his senior year with Eleazer Wheelock holding a barrel of rum "is the best sculpture I have ever seen."
Recalling some of the other sculptures of the past, Kaiser said the one built in 1976 -- the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence -- was a "marvelous" replica of the Statue of Liberty.
Fraternity houses and dorms also built sculptures for Carnival weekend, hoping to win a campus-wide competition.
"There was a lot of competition between fraternities," Liesching said. "But no rivalry led to destroying another person's sculpture. It was all done in very good teamwork."
Other events
Alumni recalled many other events that were planned for the weekend.
"When I was a student here, the Winter Carnival was a much bigger deal," Kasier said. "All the national newspapers used to cover it."
According to Kaiser, the Winter Carnival committee worked weeks and weeks in advance to plan an "Outdoor Evening" on Friday nights at the Golf Course which attracted many students.
The Golf Course was also used as a staking rink and Dartmouth students witnessed some of the best figure skaters perform during the weekend.
Liesching said he saw his fellow-classmate, Barlow Nelson '59 -- who went on to become an Olympic skater -- perform on Carnival weekend.
On Sundays, a ski jump was also organized at the Golf Course, which was attended by most students.
"We had some of the best jumpers from the country," Kaiser said, adding that the tradition was ended recently due to concerns over safety.
