For several years, the editors of the TWIG/HERALD had fun with the newspaper for April Fools’ Day. For select years in the 1940s when the actual day coincided with publication, the entire front page became an April Fools’ prank. Other years, there might be a single sneaky story inserted somewhere on the page. And like any good April Fools’ joke, the reader can be initially drawn in to the mix of the outrageous and real, perhaps forgetting the date. Decades later, we can read these stories to get a glimpse into the interests, complaints, and imaginations of students about their campus.
For those interested in reading these April Fools' issues (or any of the Meredith College newspapers) in detail, they are available on the library's Archive's website under "Publications."
Among other things, this April Fools' Twig makes outrageous claims about a new building, an expanded spring break and a teacher talent show.
To read online: TWIG, April 1, 1931
In 1933, the joke was confined to one article about several campus instructors, written by "Aprilus Primus."
The 1940 issue of The Twig went big with claims about both Clark Gable and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
To read this issue online, go to: TWIG, April 1, 1940
The sole joke in 1944 appears to have been the upside-down orientation of the paper.
To read this issue online, go to: Twig, April 1, 1944
While most of this 1945 page must be carefully read for outright lies and half-truths, the water tower behind the dining hall really was regularly painted by students from Wake Forest or NCSU.
To read this issue online, go to: Twig, April 1, 1945
Prior to the building of Jones Auditorium, the editors had their own ideas about what the first new building on campus should be - amongst other stories in 1949.
To read this issue online, go to: Twig, April 1, 1948
The 1949 issue is packed with inside jokes about campus life.
To read this issue online, go to: Twig, April 1, 1949
The headline that Meredith College was going co-ed must have been startling to less-than-attentive readers.
To read this issue online, go to: Twig, April 1, 1950
The brief jokes are self-explanatory.
A story about cancelling Spring Break is resolved in the final sentence.
Fortunately, the library was never really missing.
To read this issue online, go to: Twig, April 3, Twig, April 3, 1980
In what was normally a mundane weekly feature, the MCTV programming guide had hidden treasures for April Fool's Day.
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