
A Debaculous Fiasco - ca98am79
https://www.damninteresting.com/a-debaculous-fiasco/
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marcoperaza
If you ever wondered why Dr. Seuss took his pen name, or even if you haven't:

 _Geisel attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1925. At Dartmouth, he
joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-
O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief. While at
Dartmouth, he was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room. At the
time, the possession and consumption of alcohol was illegal under Prohibition
laws, which remained in place between 1920 and 1933. As a result of this
infraction, Dean Craven Laycock insisted that Geisel resign from all
extracurricular activities, including the college humor magazine. To continue
work on the Jack-O-Lantern without the administration 's knowledge, Geisel
began signing his work with the pen name "Seuss". He was encouraged in his
writing by professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey, whom he described as his
"big inspiration for writing" at Dartmouth._

 _In 1956, Dartmouth awarded Geisel with an honorary doctorate, finally
justifying the "Dr." in his pen name._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss#Early_years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss#Early_years)

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pavel_lishin
I thought Prohibition only forbade the manufacture and sale of liquor, not the
possession or consumption?

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marcoperaza
I’m no expert, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were state and local laws
that went further and banned possession and consumption.

Interestingly, the version of the story told between Dartmouth students these
days includes him being caught bootlegging, not just consuming. But that might
be apocryphal.

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pavel_lishin
More fun facts! This movie was one of Matt Groening's inspirations; the
Simpsons prominently features both a Bart and a Terwilli(g/k)er.

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HillaryBriss
first of all: debaculous. i mean, what a great word. even better than
shambolic.

second of all, this comment on racial job discrimination in America and
especially Hollywood: _Narrators of Japanese ancestry were available—and most
were desperate for work, having been only recently released from their
internment camps on American soil—but producers hired Conried to imitate the
accent instead._

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josh_fyi
Great movie, though. Watch it!

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kurthr
I didn't know from the title it was the "5000 fingers of Dr T"... definitely a
classic of weird and metaphorical.

