Husband-minded co-eds

By Nancy Bartosek

From the editorial pages of the TCU Daily Skiff:

"It is often charged by the public-at-large that the coed's sole purpose in entering college is to catch herself a husband. So what? The country would probably be a lot better off if other women of the nation would go to as much trouble and give as much planning and before-hand thought to the husband-picking process. Such an objective method of choosing suggests a native intelligence in these girls.

"Respect should be due of the coed who admits husband-seeking as her collegiate purpose. However, the confession is impractical today because it is too honest for society and college officials to swallow as being sufficient reason for enrollment.

"Nevertheless, where better a place than a college to pick one's spouse?"

Want to guess what year this was published? The war would end that year, but the country was still deeply affected by it. In fact, the size of the yearbook, which shows a profusion of Navy-garbed fellows, was curtailed because of the second world war.

That year -- 1945 -- the staff of the TCU Daily Skiff shows strong female representation: Women led the paper as editor and business manager and outnumbered the men on staff.

This picture comes courtesy of the 1945 Horned Frog yearbook. The caption, featuring freshman James Paul Cooper, read: Five reasons why the Freshmen Follies was a success -- eh, Cooper?