Thursday, August 9, 2012

Twenty-Eight Candles

It's a POLAROID!!!
In 1984 many great things happened. Some of the most memorable movies of all time were made, like Sixteen CandlesThe Terminator and Ghostbusters; Tarleton State University celebrated 85 years; and last but not least, I, Crystal Money, was brought into this wonderful world. The Terminator did manage to keep to his word and "came back" while Tarleton keeps thriving still today (as do I).

Tarleton celebrated its 85th Birthday in 1984! That year they experienced 682 preregistered freshmen, 40 of which were in the 100 member band. There were 1,183 students that lived in the residence halls, 723 males and 460 females. Even with a drop in graduate enrollment they still had over 4,600 students attending that Fall. The Texan Stars also had their first public debut at the September 8, 1984, football game. Today we have over 1,076 freshmen enrolled and have more than doubled the number of students attending Tarleton in the Fall since 1984. GO TEXANS!!

What was very fascinating for me to discover is that during the month of August 1984, the library began loaning out Polaroid Instant Cameras free of charge. The cameras came from the 600 series with built-in electronic flash, and one button operation. The cameras were part of the "Check This Out" Program. Some small stipulations for use were: you must be 18 years or older, 2 week borrowing, and you must supply your own film. Today, we loan Sony Bloggies for 7 days. No need to supply your own film for this one...it's digital.

You can find this information by using the Library's databases and searching the J-TAC Newspaper Archive.

I'll be celebrating 28 years in existence on the 23rd of August and I'm sure most of you are wondering how I'll be celebrating my birthday...with family, friends and good food! Presents welcomed, please no Polaroids!!

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