Prior to coeducation in 1972, men of Dartmouth vacated their fraternities for a weekend so women had a place to sleep. Men invited dates from the New York and Boston areas for the weekend to enjoy the outdoor sporting events, participate in a "Queen of the Snows" competition and dance at the Carnival Ball, according to College Archivist Peter Carini.
"Two special trains, one from New York and the other from Boston, drew into the Hanover station early this afternoon and 600 joyful girls stepped down to a soft fleecy carpet of snow laid down by the appreciative heavens only an hour before," The Dartmouth reported on Feb. 9, 1929 . "Dartmouth's annual winter carnival, which glorifies more American girls in a year than Ziegfeld does in a decade, thereupon became a complete and satisfying success."
The presence of women at the College for the weekend transformed the College atmosphere, Harvard Crimson reporters Judith Blitman and Joanna Burnstine wrote in an article titled "Winter Carnival: Reflections of a Mad Age" on Feb. 13, 1959.
"With the influx of 2000 girls, Hanover, N.H., temporarily loses its celibate atmosphere and begins its most strenuous attempt to live up to its fun-loving reputation," Blitman and Burnstine wrote in the article. "Contrary to popular rumor in the girls' school circuit, Dartmouth men are not exceptionally big drinkers or wah-hoo-wah.'"
The crowning of the annual Queen of Snows was one of the most highly anticipated events of the weekend. Fifteen Dartmouth students were charged with the responsibility of each nominating three women whom they deemed the most attractive, according to guidelines set by the Dartmouth Outing Club. At 5 p.m. on Friday, these 45 women known as the Queen's Court reported to Alumni Gymnasium, where they were surveyed by a committee comprised of students and honorary judges.
Dartmouth men were worried that, at any moment, their date could be taken away by the committee a process known as "datenapping," according to a Feb. 6, 1953 article in The Dartmouth. The Carnival Publicity Committee had to reassure the men that the Queen selection process would take only two hours.
"Men will be shuddering lest their dates will be tapped and lost from sight forever," the article said.
The Queen was crowned at the close of the Outdoor Evening Show at Occom Pond no later than 6 p.m. so newspapers nationwide could include the event in the next day's paper. Wire service photographers snapped pictures of the Queen so that newspapers unable to send their own staff to Carnival could still feature the Queen in their papers.
The Queen was treated as a celebrity upon winning the contest.
"Blinking in the glare of uncountable flashlight bulbs, clutching the big silver cup that symbolizes Carnival sovereignty, Marjorie Jean battled valiantly to preserve the best of her beauty and wit under the heavy barrage of cameras and rapid fire questions," The Dartmouth reported about the 1940 Queen, a 20-year-old junior from Georgian Court College.
Seventeen-year-old Florence Rice, daughter of sportswriter Grantland Rice, was the first to win the coveted honor in 1928. The next year, she secured a contract to perform on Broadway.
The Queen's opportunity for fame extended beyond the thousands of Carnival attendees. On the night following the announcement of the Carnival Queen, the Columbia Broadcasting System aired a radio interview with the Queen that reached audiences across the United States and Canada.
The Queens of Snow tradition ended in 1973, when the College's first female students attended Carnival.
Carnival, initiated by Fred Harris, class of 1911, started in 1910 as an effort to get students outdoors, Carini said. Social events were introduced next year in 1911, the year of the first official Winter Carnival.
"It went from what was meant to be a sporting competition weekend to a sporting competition weekend that was heavily interspersed with dates and parties," Carini said.
The Carnival Ball was so popular that the DOC had to limit admission to the gymnasium where it took place. In 1924, Leslie Murch, English professor and the comptroller of the DOC, wrote a letter to the faculty outlining the procedure for gaining entry to the dance.
