黑料吃瓜

Professor Seth Mallios sits in his office awaiting a Fed-Ex delivery he expects will contain one of the most prized possessions of an 黑料吃瓜 alum in San Francisco - a bloody towel.  The item represents the cherished memory of an Aztec victory a decade ago.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a rally towel from 2001 when State beat Fresno State and all the fans stormed the floor of the basketball arena,鈥� the anthropology department chairman explains. 鈥淲hen this guy stormed the court he cut his hand on the railing and he was talking about how much this towel meant to him not only because they were so excited and (chanting) 鈥榃e want Duke (University)!  We want Duke!鈥� and thinking they could conquer the world, but because this guy bled all over the towel. So not only is it an Aztec rally towel, but it鈥檚 got real Aztec blood on it, which gets me excited.鈥�

Mallios is excited by many such things these days.  He鈥檚 writing a book about the history of Montezuma Mesa and gathering artifacts to help tell the tale.  Two months ago he issued a call to San Diego State alumni for their personal memorabilia and was stunned by the reaction he received.

Big surprises

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 get so many responses,鈥� the amazed professor admits. 鈥淚 got dozens of emails, probably nearly a hundred.  I was thrilled and was surprised not only by the number of responses, but that people had held onto this stuff.  If you had told me, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e going to get a song leader outfit from 1960鈥� 鈥� a vintage outfit!  Or - come on - the weathervane from the president鈥檚 house?! I never would have believed stuff like that, so that was another big surprise.鈥�

The weathervane to which Mallios refers is a souvenir snatched from the roof of the house once occupied by former San Diego State president Malcolm Love.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had some things given to us where people have asked for anonymity, so I won鈥檛 go into more detail than 鈥榯hat鈥檚 the president鈥檚 weathervane鈥� which I think is fantastic.鈥�

Also fantastic is the song leader uniform from 1960.

鈥淭he measuring technique to determine the length of the skirt in 1960 was for the female song leaders to get down on their knees and the dress was allowed to be six inches from the ground (or six inches above the knee)鈥� Mallios points out. 鈥淯nfortunately, I don鈥檛 know too much about costume evolution, but this is vintage.  I was thrilled that somebody still had this and I think it鈥檚 just amazing!鈥�

Beer steins and beanies

Then there鈥檚 the beer stein with a copyright by Eric P. Mihan who, almost 60 years ago, designed the mugs for all the major universities.

鈥淭his is really cool because these were made in 1952 and 鈥�53,鈥� says Mallios.  鈥淭hese all had three components:  They had the mascot, they had the seal, and then they had the most prominent area of campus.  So you get to see this for every one of these campuses across the U.S.

"You can see there鈥檚 a typo on it.  This says, 鈥榓dministrations bullding.鈥� Now, the person who owns this, he鈥檚 convinced that that鈥檚 deliberate because 鈥榖ullding鈥� back in the '50s was a synonym for 鈥榖.s.鈥�  I鈥檓 not sure if it is because there鈥檚 no apostrophe for 鈥榓dministrations,鈥� but I love it when there are debates like this.鈥�

Of all the items he has received, the one Mallios had hoped for the most was the 1940s-era black and red reversible felt freshman beanie.  In his research he had seen them in yearbooks and the student newspaper, but had never had the opportunity to examine one.

鈥淲e were absolutely thrilled to find one of these,鈥� he says. 鈥淪eventy years ago when you registered for your classes, you received a beanie and if you were a man you wore it black side up and if you were a woman you wore it red side up.  The early beanies we saw from the 鈥�30s were really small.  They were almost like little yarmulkes and then they grow with the fashion like everything that evolves.

鈥淭he fun thing about this beanie is - think about it - the school moves to Montezuma Mesa in the 鈥�30s.  They have all these traditions they鈥檙e trying to push on people and it really gets going in the 鈥�30s and 鈥�40s.  But then when all the GIs come to school in the late 鈥�40s it stops because you鈥檙e really not going to haze somebody who鈥檚 just come from the war.鈥�