Remembering Ivan Meštrović

Today is the 130th birthday of Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), the Croatian sculptor and architect and, starting in 1955, professor of sculpture at the University of Notre Dame.

The 1950's in Winona

Minnesota author Kent Stever has published his first book, Growing Up on the Mississippi: the 1950's in Winona, MN. We doubt he had any run-ins with Anthony Monday but you never know. NorthField.org has an article about his August reading and some information on the book:

Time Capsule: Feb. 1952

February, 1952: Come one, come all! Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire beckons you to visit the quintessential New England village, complete with the prominent town common and twelve surrounding homes all on the National Register for Historic Places.

Where's There: Sorin Hall

John Bellairs describes this Notre Dame dormitory as "South Bend's answer to the House of Usher" with one room being “at least 15 feet high, its exact height being a mystery because of the ever-present cloud formations, and...decorated to resemble a cross between a Victorian tenement and a Pompeian attic [the beginning: a little too much about the author; Oct. 3, 1958].

Time Capsule: 1951

September, 1951: On a chilly Monday night in late September – sixty years ago this month – 12-year-old Johnny Dixon walked home from his Boy Scout meeting and found his beloved grandmother sitting alone in the dark and wondering if her grandson was home from school early. As any child would be in such a situation, Johnny was thrown for a loop and unprepared for the battalions of sorrows that were to come his way over the next few months.

Time Capsule: 1959

August 21, 1959: Fifty years ago today, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th state. Hawaii had been considered for a state as far back as 1919 but it took another four decades to make it happen (read more about that here).

Time Capsule: March 8, 1959

March 8, 1959: Tonight’s the night John Bellairs made his television debut – live from Washington D.C. Fifty years ago tonight Bellairs, along with three other students, represented Notre Dame on the G.E. College Bowl program. In a battle of the wits with Georgetown University, these other Four Horsemen from Notre Dame buzzed in their answers but it was Bellairs who made the night memorable.

The Curse of the Blue Figurine Chronology (Part I)

Several years ago, probably as we were putting The Dullard’s Bane version of this website to pasture, I got the wild idea to go through the Johnny Dixon series and identify all the passages of time. When Bellairs noted the date, or a day or week or month passed, I scribbled down the particulars. Part of this was to gauge just how much of Johnny’s life was crammed into the “early 1950s” – the generic setting Bellairs used, and Strickland inherited. Also, if the events had happened chronologically, what year would it have been by the end of The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost? A case of too much time on someone’s hands? Maybe. Anyway, here’s when the initial chapters of The Curse of the Blue Figurine occurred:

Time Capsule: October 3, 1958

October 3, 1958: 50 years ago today John Bellairs debuted in the pages of the University of Notre Dame student magazine, the Scholastic. Now a senior level English major, Bellairs and friend Charles Bowen were tapped to share their humorous observations about life in South Bend by alternating each week as the author of "Escape".

A Look Back: the University of Notre Dame, 1957-58

Enthusiasm rears it head again as we've reviewed the 1957-58 Dome, the University of Notre Dame yearbook. We’ve thumbed through the thing and found a few items of interest, which we’ve highlighted below - plus with added commentary.

A Look Back: the University of Notre Dame, 1956-57

Call us enthusiasts yet again for tracking down a copy of the 1956-57 Dome, the University of Notre Dame yearbook. We’ve thumbed through the thing and found a few items of interest, which we’ve highlighted below - plus with added commentary.

The Spaghetti Incident

Down on the farm 50 years ago today the BBC reported about the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest, where “thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop.”

A Look Back: the University of Notre Dame, 1955-56

I suspect you can call us enthusiasts with this: we’ve tracked down a copy of the 1955-56 Dome, the University of Notre Dame yearbook. We’ve thumbed through the thing and found a few items of interest, which we’ve highlighted below - plus with added commentary.

Go Bellairs! Quote Chaucer!

On the dust jacket of the original Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition of The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn you’ll find this interesting bit of trivia bout John:

While an undergraduate at Notre Dame University, John Bellairs startled a national television audience by quoting Middle English on the College Bowl program. He went on to teach English at several colleges and to travel widely. 

Time Capsule: September 30, 1955

September, 30 1955: Back to college we go as television and music star Eddie Fisher drops in on the student body at Notre Dame, broadcasting his NBC program, Coke Time, live from the pep rally at the old field house. Along hand in the production were the Notre Dame Band and Glee Club.

After the program, Fisher and wife Debbie Reynolds mingled with students; both were in attendance at the football game against Indiana the next day.

We've learned John was not the BMOC at this point so we find it doubtful he was in attendance at the pep rally.

Remembering Roommate Ronald Cardwell

Fifty years ago this fall John Bellairs began life as a college undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame. While there are the usual number of firsts anyone undergoes transitioning from high school to college, one first of Bellairs's was this semester he had a roommate in Zahm Hall. Actually, in four years of college at Notre Dame, Ronald Cardwell would be Bellairs's only room mate.

Whatever happened to Cardwell is uncertain but another Zahm resident - Bellairs's life-long friend Alfred Myers - was nice enough to recall their brief encounter:

Notre Dame: Living in Zahm Hall

Fifty years ago this fall, Bellairs began his Freshman year (1955-56) on the University of Notre Dame campus. During this initial year, he lived in Zahm Hall.

Time Capsule: 1955

May 31, 1955 - Fifty years ago John Bellairs graduated from Marshall High School. According to the MHS yearbook, the Dial, he spent two years in the Latin club and the Chess club for all four years of high school. Dubbed "Genius John," the yearbook says his future included attending Notre Dame and studying pre-law. Only half of that came true: Bellairs did live in South Bend for four years but focused his attention on English literature and, during his senior year, becoming a minor television celebrity.