Archive Item of the Month – December 2011

Categories and tags:
University Archive

The festive season was anticipated and regaled as much by past students as it is today. Our item this time is an edition of “The Chelt” magazine from Christmas 1938. “The Chelt” magazines were produced by students from 1895 to 1970, and are a printed accompaniment to the Manuscript Chelts held in the University Archive. They are a compilation of student news from societies to sports, stories, poems, artwork and adverts for local businesses, and provide a fascinating insight into student life during a given era.



The Christmas 1938 Chelt comes with the following editorial, written by St Paul’s student A. R. Cole, on the first Chelt to be written by the 1937-1939 year group. Cole talks of the tradition and expectation felt by each year group when compiling the Chelts, something that can be mirrored by our current students when taking into account the long history of our institution:



“It is good to speak, to lift the load of unuttered thought once in a while. We of 37-9 have learned to use our ears; now is time to give tongue.


The legacy of past generations in Chelt affairs must be regarded as rather a mixed blessing, so many notes struck that may not sound again, so much that we must maintain.


Let but our voice be new it cannot then be utterly waste.


So with the minimum of ceremony we wish to begin a new chapter in our old book. We thank the men who have made this possible and others whose work has fallen by the way. Lastly we pay tribute to those who manipulate the obscure financial background of our publication.


And now, queer readers, who insist on beginning at the beginning, we release you to more serious business….”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.