AlbertG Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 (edited) One thing I am having issues with while preparing these scenarios is that, not being from the USA (I am from Spain), I have very little knowledge of the life in the years the scenario is set in; actually I have some issues with writing in English too, but that's entirely another matter and one I hope you will forgive me for. I THINK I have a good idea of what would be a student's day in today's university, from movies and TV shows, but I can't really figure how students lived 80 years ago. What did they do for fun? How much hours a day did they spend studing, attending classes, etc...? What was the relationship between male and female students? Was it usual for them to have cars, or did they all live in the campus? At what age did they join University, and how long till they majored? If anyone could point me to some information about what was university like back then, it would be useful to people who are not familiar with that time period. Thanks Edited June 8, 2016 by AlbertG Link to comment
nclarke Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Although I'm not in your position regarding lack of knowledge about student activities in the 20's as I've seen a variety of old movies set in the thirties where students are featured. That's not necessarily factual more idealised but even so it's useful for background. A more useful thing would be to get hold of the Miskatonic University book published by Chaosium, either the 1985 version or the updated version from 2005. Both have comprehensive information on Miskatonic University, University life and the staff together with scenarios and a character generation option for taking students through all four years of college. 2 Nigel Link to comment
joggiwagga Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 TV as entertainment was a bit limited (http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0151956.html) but definitely the hot new thing. College students are more likely to catch a film at a theater, or even a news reel at a theater than watch TV on campus. Other things they may do for fun: play sports, attend games, go to dance houses, ice cream socials, participate in hobbies, read, etc. 2 Link to comment
mvincent Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 What did they do for fun? Go to the movie theater or listen to serials on the radio (in addition to the items mentioned above) How much hours a day did they spend studying, attending classes, etc...? About 5 hours of class each day, Monday to Friday (and theoretically another 5 hours studying, but that can vary) What was the relationship between male and female students? Usually non-physical (joke... the ratio was fairly equal, or just a bit higher for males) Was it usual for them to have cars, or did they all live in the campus? They usually did not have cars, and lived on campus At what age did they join University, and how long till they majored? 18. Four years to obtain a bachelor's degree Note: this was during the Great Depression, which likely set the tone for many students' lifestyles. 2 Link to comment
AlbertG Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Many thanks for your replies, I'll work from here. Link to comment
trystero Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 20 hours ago, joggiwagga said: TV as entertainment was a bit limited (http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0151956.html) but definitely the hot new thing. College students are more likely to catch a film at a theater, or even a news reel at a theater than watch TV on campus. TV did exist in the (late) 1920s, but it wasn't yet the everyday presence that it became after WWII. I think it's very very unlikely that college students (or even colleges) in the '20s would have TV sets, and there wouldn't be nearly as much programming as there is nowadays. Note on the timeline that the BBC, the world's first television service, didn't begin that service until 1936, and that even then there were only three hours of programmes per day. Now radio... that's contemporary entertainment. :-) 2 — “Self-discipline isn’t everything; look at Pol Pot.”—Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Link to comment
morganhua Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) And it's not portable either. :-) Edited June 9, 2016 by morganhua 4 Link to comment
jajagappa Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 These two examples of old college yearbooks are available as Google eBooks and provide a lot of interesting examples (not to mention pictures) of clubs, fraternities, sports, and other activities (e.g. dramatic productions, band, glee club) that would engage some of a student's time in a college setting. From University of Chicago 1920 (has some nice descriptions of the purposes of various clubs starting around pg.282): https://books.google.com/books?id=XDU6AQAAMAAJ From University of the South 1925 (partial preview only): https://books.google.com/books?id=OWkJAwAAQBAJ I'm sure other examples can be found as well. 2 Link to comment
joggiwagga Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 On 6/9/2016 at 0:12 PM, trystero said: TV did exist in the (late) 1920s, but it wasn't yet the everyday presence that it became after WWII. I think it's very very unlikely that college students (or even colleges) in the '20s would have TV sets, and there wouldn't be nearly as much programming as there is nowadays. Note on the timeline that the BBC, the world's first television service, didn't begin that service until 1936, and that even then there were only three hours of programmes per day. Now radio... that's contemporary entertainment. :-) Yes, definitely. I apologize if by "hot new thing" I implied that everyone was getting it or that there was a lot of programming. More that it was definitely around and totally something people were fascinated by. Definitely highly unlikely that a college student would have a TV set. Link to comment
trystero Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 2 hours ago, joggiwagga said: Yes, definitely. I apologize if by "hot new thing" I implied that everyone was getting it or that there was a lot of programming. More that it was definitely around and totally something people were fascinated by. Definitely highly unlikely that a college student would have a TV set. No apology necessary (at least as far as I'm concerned); I was just trying to clarify some of the helpful points you offered. — “Self-discipline isn’t everything; look at Pol Pot.”—Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Link to comment
sverbridge Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Here are some pictures: http://acidcow.com/pics/30869-student-life-1930s-46-pics.html Article on activism: http://newdeal.feri.org/students/essay05.htm 2 Link to comment
Joe Adams Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 Sorry to be late to the thread, but here's a site that has some information you could use University of Michigan - http://bentley.umich.edu/collection-highlights/university-of-michigan/ Link to comment
AlbertG Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Thanls to both @sverbridge and @Joe Adams. More info is always welcome and in this case hardly late. Link to comment
mvincent Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) On 6/9/2016 at 9:12 AM, trystero said: Now radio... that's contemporary entertainment. :-) I recently noticed that: "The Shadow debuted on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the Street and Smith radio program Detective Story Hour developed in an effort to boost sales of Detective Story Magazine." Also on that date: the Alfred Hitchcock-directed film Murder! was released. Since the campaign starts in August 1930 (and day 1 likely coincide's with Aug. 1), these might be recent topics of conversation for the PC's. Edited August 11, 2016 by mvincent Link to comment
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