Professor With False Teeth Fails at Bobbing for Apples, 1931
I went to a Halloween party when I was very young (aged 6?) and was introduced to the game of bobbing for apples. Simply put, the participants duck their heads into a tub of water and try to catch floating apples with their teeth. Often the player’s hands are tied so the teeth are the only tool available. I tried to replicate what the others were doing, but could not force my head under water, not far enough to catch an apple. That was fifty-plus years ago; I doubt I could do it now, and have no desire to try.
So I sympathized when I read an article in a 1931 Tan & Cardinal about another such incident:
I heard the call for help and immediately rushed to the basement and found the head of one of the professors about two feet under water in a tub, trying to catch with his false teeth an apple which kept ducking him. [1]
The setting was a Halloween party, held in the Association Building:
Hallowe’en trimmings, colored papers, soft lights, and an air of happiness completed the beauties that surrounded the gay crowd that ventured into this category of mirth-making fun.[2]
Cider, doughnuts, costumes, and games were features of the evening. One girl student, Elaine Ashcroft, wore an amazing butterfly costume. The chaperones were the two physical education teachers, Royal F. Martin and Florence Y. Johnson, although other Otterbein faculty must have been in attendance.
One event that would have shocked faculty only twenty years earlier was that at least two women were dancing. Vivian Breden and Laurabelle Dipert were seen dancing; whether solo or with each other is unknown. The T & C article claimed they were dancing in a room belonging to the YMCA in the “Sosh” building.
And the source of this Halloween tale? The article was written by student George William Botts, class of 1932. A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Botts wrote for the Tan & Cardinal, and was on the basketball team.[3] His post-Otterbein career is unknown. There is no evidence that he had any interest in the holiday beyond the 1931 article.
We all have Halloween memories, I think, although specific memories fade with time. I can only thank Mr. Botts for leaving us this vivid description of girls dancing or an unnamed professor trying to bob for apples using an artificial plate.
-by Alan Borer
George William Botts, class of 1932