E is for eugenics
In the fall of 1920, The Varsity reported on a lecture by a British doctor, Dr. Helen Boyle, on the topic of “congenital mental defects, insanity and other abnormalities.”
“Dr. Boyle stated that it is her belief that defectives could be not only trained to work but also to love it. ‘I believe,’ she said, ‘if properly handled we could get most of our hewers of wood and drawers of water from among the mental defectives.'”
Remember, this was an age when locking up such “defectives” in institutions was de rigueur. More ominous is what happened next:
“At the conclusion of the address, a resolution was introduced by Mrs. H.W. Parsons, pointing out the menace of the feeble-minded in the community…
“She urged that immediate steps should be taken to deal with this problem.”
Source: “Interesting address by Dr. Helen Boyle,” Oct. 6, 1920
Bee’s knees: the yo-yo
Proof that The Varsity has long had its finger on the pulse of popular culture, one of our writers explains the working principles of the yo-yo-before that toy “sold out:”
“Even during the fall, however, news of the yo-yo and its insidious influence had been reaching The Varsity office through exchange copies of American college dailies. Yet not until a Varsity reporter saw with his own eyes a specimen, has it been possible to report exactly what a yo-yo is.
“A yo-yo consists of two pieces of wood, each shaped like a bicycle bell, about an inch and a quarter in diameter, separated by about an eighth of an inch, yet joined by a spindle at the centre. A string is tied around the spindle; you wind the string up on this, hold the end of it in your hand, and let the yo-yo drop. As it drops, the string unwinds and causes the yo-yo to rotate rapidly. The speed thus attained caused the string to wind up off the yo-yo again, so that it climbs up to its owner’s hand. It then drops, winds, drops, producing an effect much like a ball on the end of an elastic.”
Source: “Yo-yo enthusiast hails from States,” Feb. 4, 1930
-Mike Ghenu
