College Urban Legends @ Purdue University

SHOE TREES PURCHASED IN 1959

COLLEGE URBAN LEGENDS FROM OVER 50 YEARS AGO

Urban legends were not created in the computer age. In fact, I can report that as a student at Purdue University urban legends were alive and well. For maybe valid reasons, most surrounded two Speech courses (112 & 114) at that famous engineering school of higher learning.

All freshmen were required to take Speech 112---an introductory course in public speaking. During the semester various types of speeches were composed and delivered. (Speeches to inform, persuade, refute, and the grand daddy of them all---a speech to sell a product.)

Before I share some of those urban legends, here is a possible explanation why the Speech courses were so feared; however, not by me. Many of the students were majoring in technical areas and they may have felt more at home using a slide rule (slip stick) to find the cosine of a 57 degree angle than standing in front of a class. Another large segment of students were Ag majors who knew more about starting John Deere tractors than composing a speech. I was blessed to have had multiple speaking experiences in high school FFA and 4-H Junior Leaders.  

Legends from a Speech to sell a product:

a. One student it seems was selling a fire extinguisher and to prove his point, he ignited a bowl of lighter fluid and turned the fire extinguisher on the hot flames. The fire extinguisher was so powerful it blew the lighter fluid onto a table being used as a prop to hold the bowl. The table caught fire, but the student used his high powered fire extinguisher to put out the flames. No report on the grade for the speech.

b. Another student was selling the latest pant’s hangers that really held the trousers in place and to prove how effective they were, he not only pulled on the trousers, he started swinging the hanger in a an overhead circle with his finger. You guessed it; the resulting circular force pulled the trousers loose and the trousers allegedly went airborne and entwined themselves around the neck of the professor that was seated on the front row! The story goes the student flunked that speech.  

c. This I saw. A student was selling an electric shaver;  very rare item in 1959 and after a few teasing remarks, he plugged it in and tried to turn it on—no luck. Silence can get loud in a hurry. The professor came to his rescue and told the student the outlets were on a switch. The switch was turned on and the electric razor worked as advertised. It was a very convincing sales pitch because the student had not shaved in a long time and his electric razor worked like a charm.

d. By now you are hopefully asking—what did you sell? The photo at the top was taken in July 2016—the very same shoe trees I sold in 1959. I was very good friends with Dave Mills, Purdue track star who at one time was the high school world record holder for the 440 yard dash, and put some words in his mouth that he used a similar product for his shoes. He said go for it. My final convincing testimony was all true. I used the trees to hold my AFROTC shoes while I polished them and never got a demerit. Those shoe trees got an “A” for my speech!!!  

I will later report on another Speech 112 legend that demands considerable explanation.


Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday