HSA 65th Anniversary Book

fy
61
SEPTEMBER 1, 1960 –
AUGUST 31, 1961
Let’s Go gets its name
fy
62
SEPTEMBER 1, 1961 –
AUGUST 31, 1962
The Catering agency
pours its first drink
Europe by Air spawned another, much smaller offspring with the inception of the Import agency. Now
passengers on HSA’s charter flights could buy foreign goods at a reduced price through a distributor, earning
HSA a tidy commission.
The Carling Brewing Company donated $6,000 to HSA for capital funding and the expansion of the HSA
idea to other colleges. With the aid of this gift, HSA hired Robert McCoy ’62, MBA ’65, a former manager
of Europe by Car, as Assistant General Manager. Commencing work on June 1, 1962, McCoy provided
Dusty Burke with considerable administrative support.
PRESIDENT
William
Gross
OFFICE
4 Holyoke St.
LET’S GO TITLES
• A Student Guide to Europe
AGENCIES
HAIL TO THE HSA FOODMEN!
From HSA’s inception through FY65, the courageous employees of the Refreshment agency labored
to provide the college community with late-night sustenance. Snack-laden red wagons in tow, the
HSA foodmen trudged through rain, wind, snow, and frigid temperatures to air their plaintive cries
of “FOOD!” at the base of many a dorm and house, hoping ever so desperately that someone might
emerge to purchase one of their sodas, doughnuts (5¢), or eight-inch subs (30¢). As if it were not
already a task of superhuman dimensions, the heroic foodmen also had to fend off rampaging hordes
of their own classmates.
In April 1962, 200 freshmen in Holworthy, Thayer, and Stoughton responded to the HSA goodyman’s
cry with a mob onslaught. Yelling from windows and beaming two blinding spotlights on our
hero, the slavering rabble descended en masse on his little red cart. Five were later relieved of their
bursar’s cards. In October 1963, partisans of the Eliot House Grill (a former HSA agency gone awry)
harassed the noble HSA foodman on his nightly rounds, relieved him of his wares, liberated his wagon,
and burned Dusty Burke in effigy. Escaping without wounds, the HSA warrior vowed never again to
serve a house full of such savages.
The 1960 European Guide acquired the title “Let’s Go,” a name coined by Henry G.
Koppell, President of YTC Universal and father of Oliver Koppell. With the assistance
of Lois Dean and Gordon Milde ’62, MCP ’66, John Marlin ’62, the well-traveled son
of a UN officer, researched over 20 European countries for the new guide, wrote more
than 300 pages, and earned $200 for his efforts. The list of countries was determined
by where Marlin had traveled and expanded according to Dean’s experience. Koppell
consolidated their work down to 64 pages and coordinated the printing and sale of
the 6,500 copies produced. It was the first time Let’s Go was distributed beyond the
Harvard campus, but HSA couldn’t afford to ship the books to their
distributor, so Koppell piled as many as he could fit into the back
of his aging Chrysler and set off for New York City. The weight of
the books broke the car’s struts, and it broke down somewhere in
Connecticut. The books, however, eventually made it onto the shelves
— and sold out every copy. This very first, very sage Let’s Go book
included a tip on how to travel from Europe to Asia for four cents
(take the ferry across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul) and reminded
readers, “It is the dream which makes traveling fun.”
PRESIDENT
Oliver
Koppell
OFFICE
4 Holyoke St.
LET’S GO TITLES
• A Student Guide to Europe
AGENCIES
On the agency front, Catering was established
and began operations late in the summer of
1961. Initially founded as a service for Harvard
faculty parties, the agency quickly expanded
to include events and parties throughout the
Cambridge and Boston area. Particularly
well suited to HSA’s mission, the Catering
agency returned a significant portion of its
revenue as wages to the students it employed
as servers and bartenders. The Concessions
agency staged a Salada Tea promotion at one
of the fall football games, dressing several
Bradlee Howe ’63, MBA ’69, Betsy Slade, and Robert McCoy.
students up as butlers and maids and serving
tea by the cup to fans. The Linen agency, tired of door-to-door linen pickups and dropoffs, established the
depot system, depriving countless students of hallways filled with the pungent odor of dirty laundry. The
Crimson fretted that “undergraduate organizations which cannot pay students for participation may in the
future have difficulty in attracting members among people who could do similar work with HSA for a
profit,” despite HSA’s promise to “not publish a daily newspaper, a humor magazine, a yearbook, or a literary
magazine, as long as the existing publications occupy these fields ‘adequately.’”
The 1962 edition of Let’s Go was “researched” and “written” by a group
of Lampooners, although the majority of the work occurred back in the
basements of Cambridge. Upon discovering that HSA had employed a
non-Harvard student in the production of the guide, questions arose. Upon
discovering that HSA had paid $150 to a (gasp) Yalie... Nothing really
happened. Phew. Let’s Go produced 7,200 copies of the guide that declared
the Netherlands to be, “by and large, a country of fat, jolly little blonde girls.”
The creative cartooning of Richard Copaken ’63, JD ’66, including the iconic
hot-air balloon, appeared on the front cover for the first time.
• Linen
• Let’s Go
• Europe by Air
• House Painting
• Fall Concessions
• Student Calendar
• Refrigerator Rental
• Europe by Car
• Rings
• Refreshment
• Union News Stand
• Moving
• Summer Calendar
• Stationery
• Birthday Cake
• Fall Blotter
• Novelties
• Magazine
• Beer Mugs and Banners
• Newspaper
• Watson Rink
• Coop Laundry
• Summer Blotter
• Fall Programs
• Sampler
• Spring Street Stadium
• Import
• Tanglewood
• Linen
• Let’s Go
• Catering
• Europe by Air
• House Painting
• Fall Concessions
• Student Calendar
• Refrigerator Rental
• Europe by Car
• Rings
• Refreshment
• Union News Stand
• Moving
• Typing
• Summer Calendar
• Stationery
• Birthday Cake
• Fall Blotter
• Novelties
• Magazine
• Beer Mugs and Banners
• Newspaper
• Watson Rink
• Coop Laundry
• Summer Blotter
• Fall Programs
• Sampler
• Spring Street Stadium
• Medical School Laundry
• Import
• Tanglewood
12 HSA 65th Anniversary History Book 13