Today marks April Fools’ Day, a day reserved each year for playing pranks and practical jokes on each other. It has also become a day well known for spreading hoaxes. One needs only to visit Google, Wikipedia, or any number of publications’ websites on April 1 to understand how far –reaching and deep-rooted this tradition is. The student newspapers at Centenary are no exception to this madcap tradition. As early as the 1950s, “extra” editions of Spilled Ink, the college newspaper, were made up and printed in addition to a regular April issue. These issues would typically use cut and paste photography and showcase outlandish stories about different departments and faculty on campus. Can you tell which ones are fake?
March 21, 1951
April 1, 1952 April 1998
April 2014
This jovial tradition was forgotten during the transition from Spilled Ink to its successor, The Quill in the 1980s and did not pick back up again until the 1990s where it once again became and continues to be an annual tradition.
Happy April Fools’ Day!
TAYLOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY ARCHIVES 