The Lemon Squeezer

Introduced in 1857, the Lemon Squeezer remains one of the College's most unusual traditions. Under the leadership principally of William W. Niles, who subsequently taught Latin at Trinity and later became the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, the Class of 1857 instituted the tradition of handing down, from class to class, a large wooden lemon squeezer during Class Day ceremonies. Niles and his classmates found their inspiration in the squeezer used by Professor Jim to prepare the Class Day punch. According to a contemporary description, the class entrusted with the squeezer's care was to present it to a rising class "whose aggregate excellence in scholarship, moral character and the qualities requisite to popularity was the highest." The novel idea appealed to the undergraduates and soon led to spirited rivalry. The first recipients, the Class of 1859, passed the squeezer to the Class of 1861, which in turn passed it to the Class of 1863. Members of the honored class secreted the squeezer so that it would be safely preserved while it was in their care. In time, the passing of the squeezer became eagerly anticipated as Class Day neared, and led to the introduction of a "Lemon Squeezer Oration."

Lending mystique to the lemon squeezer are the many escapades that have occurred in the course of its transmission from class to class during the period from the end of the Civil War through the 1950s. In 1969, the late Robert S. Morris, Class of 1916, lemon squeezer historian, recorded in the Trinity Alumni Magazine the many amusing instances in which a rival class seized the squeezer on Class Day and spirited it away before it could be entrusted to the desired recipients. In some cases, it was several years before the squeezer was returned, and this gave rise to the introduction of substitute squeezers.

Perhaps the most celebrated incident involving the 1857 squeezer occurred in 1895. It was then the practice to announce to the student body on the first Monday evening in May the class that would receive the squeezer on Class Day. The designation of '97 as recipient was too much for '96, and on Class Day a free-for-all ensued when a carefully laid plan by several '96 men resulted in the snatching of the squeezer from the speaker's desk in front of Northam Towers. Fought off by '96, '95 and '97 unsuccessfully attempted to open the barred doors to Northam. Meanwhile, the squeezer was passed through a west bedroom window to a '96 man waiting on horseback. As he galloped away that June afternoon, no one suspected that half a century would pass before the squeezer's reappearance.

For several years thereafter, the passing of the squeezer was accomplished by public announcement only, but in 1914 a substitute squeezer was introduced. It was soon carried off as well. Eventually another squeezer entered the picture, but it was separated at the hinge in 1928 during a scuffle between the Classes of 1929 and 1930. The 1914 squeezer reappeared in 1935, and was passed several times with occasional difficulties. During World War II the tradition lapsed, and when Trinity's president, G. Keith Funston, Class of 1932, reintroduced the squeezer in the late 1940s, the Class of 1947 designated the Class of 1948 as recipient. At Class Day in 1948, 1950 received the honor. Shortly thereafter, during dedication ceremonies in the Chapel for the Class of 1896 pew end depicting the famed squeezer coup, a procession of alumni from Delta Phi entered, bearing what they believed was the 1857 squeezer. This, however, was not the case.

Learning of the event through a newspaper report, a member of the Class of 1904 to whom the relic had been entrusted contacted President Funston, who arranged for its return.

The 1857 squeezer was locked away for safekeeping and was passed in absentia by the Class of 1950 to the Class of 1952, the ceremony occurring for the first time on Honors Day rather than on Class Day. In 1952, the presentation to the Class of 1954 was carried out. Two years later, several members of the Class of 1955, fearful that '54 would pass the squeezer to '56, learned that it was under lock and key in the Chapel and managed to liberate it. The squeezer was returned to the College eventually at reunion in May 1969 during an Alumni Association luncheon. Prepared in advance, President Theodore D. Lockwood, Class of 1948, received the squeezer from two '55 men, and promptly handed it to Karl Kurth, Director of Physical Education, who removed it from the scene while members of the coaching staff provided cover.

In the absence of the 1857 squeezer, meanwhile, the 1914 squeezer was brought out of retirement for the 1956 Honors Day ceremony. Members of the Class of 1957, suspecting that the honor of possession would go to another class, seized the squeezer just as it was being conveyed to the Class of 1959, and it was carried off by automobile. The 1914 squeezer was returned to the College in 1966 at the request of President Albert C. Jacobs, who forbade its further appearance in public. The following year, members of the Class of 1957 at their tenth reunion presented a squeezer to President Jacobs, professing it to be the original. During the luncheon, however, a youngster snatched the squeezer from the table on which it had been placed, and outrunning a College dean, made off with substitute number four. It has not been seen since that time.

The 1857 squeezer that had been returned to President Lockwood remained under lock and key at the College during the 1970s. At a fall 1981 convocation, however, the venerable relic again made a public appearance. President James F. English, Jr. revived what he called an "agreeably zany" tradition as a way of reinvigorating class spirit. The 1857 squeezer was passed during the 1980s and 1990s, with occasional attempts at denying its transfer. Entrusted most recently by the Class of 1993 to the Class of 1995, the squeezer vanished from campus in 1995 and remains at large.

Another squeezer entered the picture in the spring of 1999. This squeezer was presented to the College on Honors Day by the daughter of the late Joseph C. Clarke, who was Dean of Students at the time of the 1956 escapade involving the 1914 squeezer. Dean Clarke had intervened to prevent disciplinary action being taken against the members of the Class of 1957 involved in the incident. Entrusted to the Class of 2001 at the 1999 Honors Day ceremony, the Clarke Squeezer commemorates a highly respected Trinity administrator and serves as a symbol of class spirit. At Honors Day 2001 the squeezer was passed to the Class of 2003.