Vintage Princeton | Princeton Magazine

Inside Princeton Reunions

By Doug Wallack

Art by James McPhillips/JayMcPhillips.com

Sometime in April of each year—typically just in time for campus preview visits for accepted high school seniors—the cold, grey damp of winter at Princeton University gives way to a brilliant spring. Dogwood flowers and daffodils grace the grounds with flecks of gold, and white and pink. Saucer Magnolias bloom, lining the newly verdant up-campus lawns. Following their campus’s botanical lead, students emerge too, and all life at the university becomes more visible. Professors hold classes on the steps of the sundial in McCosh Courtyard, and students take their reading outside. The odd frisbee or slack line appears. more

Princeton’s Stately Mansions

Photography by Robert Manella, Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty

The First in an Occasional Series

by Anne Levin

Back in the late eighteenth century when the Rev. John Witherspoon was the sixth president of Princeton University, he was known to end his work day at Nassau Hall when he saw a light in a front window of Tusculum, his  country house and tenant farm located just a mile to the north. According to a local legend, one of Witherspoon’s daughters would light a candle in that window, letting her father know it was time to close up shop and head home. more

Beatrix Farrand – Force of Nature

by Wendy Plump

It is possible to be cowed by Beatrix Farrand even now, over 100 years since her first landscape commission at Princeton University and half a century since her death. There is much to be thankful for in the sylvan, living landscape she put in place to give an austere campus a greener aspect. Two hundred years ago the university was practically a field; there were no trees at all around Nassau Hall. Farrand‘s influence remains most evident today in the twisting blooms of wisteria that climb the great Gothic walls of the Graduate College each spring. Or the Wyman House rose garden. Or the sugar maples and beeches that accentuate—rather than compete with—the university’s soaring architecture. Or for that matter the entire, park-like character of campus. more

Going, Going, Gone! Sebastian Clarke is the Affable Auctioneer

By Anne Levin

If you attended a charity auction to benefit McCarter Theatre, Trinity Counseling Service, Princeton Charter School, or any number of other organizations in town last spring, you probably encountered Sebastian Clarke. He’s the lanky, personable guy who runs the show, rattling off the numbers and “filler words” to coax bidders higher and higher—but always with a light touch. more

Enter Urban Agenda Magazine’s February Photo Contest

Photos courtesy of Cranford Millburn Camera Club

Send us your best shots of NJ by January 20, 2017 for the chance to be in the next issue of Urban Agenda Magazine!

By Sarah Emily Gilbert

You might have photographed your favorite Jersey diner. Perhaps you’ve snapped a picture of a secret trail in the Garden State. Maybe, you’ve taken an image of a historical location in NJ, or better yet, a historic moment in your life. If you’ve shot a picture of New Jersey that represents your personal vision of the state, we want to see it! more

Rival the Claus’s House with These Festive Outdoor Decorating Ideas

Photo Credit: @shopterrain

By Sarah Emily Gilbert

There is one good thing about the sun setting at 4:30 p.m. in December: Christmas lights. A hitherto dark and dreary time, dusk becomes a period of holiday cheer as neighborhoods light up to showcase their Christmas trees, red ribbons, and wreaths. Here, we provide some outdoor decoration ideas to make the season even brighter. For more holiday inspiration, head to the Hopewell House Tour and Quilt Show on Sunday, December 18 from 1 – 4 p.m. more

Not So Unimaginable: Women and the White House

By Ellen Gilbert

“Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it”

— HILLARY CLINTON TOLD SUPPORTERS WHEN SHE DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE FOR THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER, THOUGH, THAT OTHER WOMEN WERE STIRRING THINGS UP QUITE A LONG TIME AGO.

Still known to many in Princeton as the “old Town Topics building,” the imposing 19th-century brick edifice at 4 Mercer Street was restored by its owner, Princeton University, in 2013 and will see new use as apartments for faculty and staff on the second and third floors and office space on the first floor.

Princeton has a rich history of moving houses, churches and other architectural landmarks

By Ilene Dube

The year was 1868. A few heads must have turned when the house with colossal columns, reminiscent of a Greek temple, arrived by barge in Princeton Basin. From there it traveled up Alexander before settling into an orchard on Mercer Street. The owner, the Rev. George Sheldon, had inherited his family’s Northampton, Mass., home, and when a builder gave the thumbs up to moving it more than 200 miles, the 1830s wooden structure was disassembled, freighted through Connecticut to New York City, then shipped up the Raritan and barged along the D&R Canal. more

First Smackdown 1869

This depiction of the Rutgers-Princeton game of 1869 was painted by William Boyd, Rutgers Class of 1932. Since photographs of the game were not taken, Boyd’s painting has become the standard representation of the first intercollegiate football game.

The Football Game That Started It All

By Wendy Plump

Images Courtesy: Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

The game was held on a November afternoon, so the ground must have been wicked hard. They played without shoulder pads or shin guards. They played without helmets. There were no officials and no referees. The rules of play were adopted that very morning based on the home team’s wishes, and presumably on its strengths. There were uprights at each end of the field but there were no crossbars. more

Alexander Hamilton’s New Jersey

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Painting: The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton January 3, 1777.

By Taylor Smith

“Hamilton” has become something of a phenomenon.

The play won 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, as well as a Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Grammy Award for best musical theater album. Additional awards include the Kennedy Prize for Drama and a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The musical’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has freestyled for President Obama and a national tour is set for 2017. more

Princeton Insider: Princeton Gameday

#OrangeOut in Princeton University gear.

Don’t forget – the famous Princeton vs. Harvard football game will take place at Princeton Stadium on Saturday, October 22.

Photo Credit: @anna_brstyle

Modern rings for a modern woman.

In the words of Junot Diaz, It’s Where All of New Jersey Comes Together

By Ilene Dube

Whether made from Brazilian hardwood or recycled soda bottles, chances are a boardwalk will be making contact with your feet in the coming months. Boardwalks are about mingling: people-to-people, of course, but also a place where the scent of sauerkraut and mustard meets the sea air; the screams from carnival rides mingle with the crashing surf; and the steady rumble of pedestrians, cyclists and skateboarders overlaps with the serenity of those sitting on benches. more

“I Was Very Fond of Both of Them”: Kristina Lindbergh on Her Grandparents

Lindbergh Grandaughter

By Anne Levin

During the summer of Kristina Lindbergh’s 14th year, she spent a week with her famous grandparents, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, at their home in Switzerland. While she has pleasant recollections of the visit, the eldest of the famous couple’s grandchildren distinctly remembers being captive for at least one of her grandfather’s lectures. more

Princeton Insider: Friday the 13th

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Black cats and broken mirrors. Friday the 13th asks you to embrace your dark side.

@khurtwilliams – Princeton Battlefield

Celebrate our planet with these outdoor Instagrams of #Princeton

By Sarah Emily Gilbert

There’s no questioning Princeton’s commitment to environmental preservation and conservation. The town is full of bicyclists, pedestrians, and other eco-friendly modes of transportation. There are several health-conscious supermarkets and farm-to-table restaurants and shops. more

Chronicles of the Rich and Famous: Gerard Barnes Lambert

By Ellen Gilbert

His Princeton diploma (class of 1908) was signed by Woodrow Wilson and a street in the tony Western Section of town is named for him. On the less decorous side, perhaps, is the fact that Gerard Barnes Lambert (1886-1967) is widely known as the “Father of Halitosis,” for his aggressive marketing of Listerine mouthwash. Good news for guardians of good taste (pardon the expression) is that Lambert’s daughter, Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd “Bunny” Mellon (1910-2014), was a great pal of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. more

Princeton Insider: Item of the Day

CLASSICAL BOOK COLLECTION FROM DOT & BO

Give your bookshelf a face lift with these gorgeous editions of your favorite literary classics.

Henry Arnold: Princeton’s Mr. Bike

By Linda Arntzenius

The many advantages of bicycling for recreation and as a mode of transport have become hot topics for Princeton residents in recent years with active members of groups such as Princeton Future, Walkable Princeton, and the Princeton Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee promoting improvements such as dedicated bicycle lanes. Recently recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a bicycle friendly community, Princeton has long had bicycling enthusiasts. In the 1970s, landscape architect Henry Arnold was foremost among them, earning the moniker “Mr. Bike” for his advocacy of two wheels over four.

Vintage Princeton: Cynthia Gooding (1924-1988)

By Jordan Hiller

Today, it’s not uncommon for a female musician to be the sole talent driving a performance. Many female artists have achieved stardom without the support of back-up singers or traveling bands. In Cynthia Gooding’s time, however, a woman on stage with only her guitar for company, was an anomaly.

Gooding, who lived in Princeton and Kingston from 1964 until her death in 1988, grew up in Rochester, Minnesota. In the 1930s, at the start of her teenage years, this midwestern girl moved to Mexico City, where her love of music came to fruition. more