[Porter, Cole. (1891–1964)]
The Yale Banner and Pot Pourri, 1912–13
Original Yale yearbook from 1913, the year of Cole Porter's graduation, and featuring the young composer and songwriter on several pages throughout. Porter is listed as a member of the secret society Scroll and Key; a football cheerleader (with photograph); the President of the Yale Glee, Banjo and Mandolin Clubs Association and the Leader of the Glee Club (with photograph); a second tenor in the College Choir; a member of the apparently humorous Mince Pie Club, the Pundits, and the Hogans (with photograph); and of course a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs (with photograph). The yearbook also features several amusing pictures of Yalies in fancy dress on "Whiffenpoof Day" and other occasions. 510 pp. Ex libris Joseph Brown on front endpaper. Blue cloth boards; some shelf wear and scuffs to the boards; overall in very good condition. 7.5 x 9.75 inches (19.2 x 24.8 cm)."Despite his poor level of scholarship, Cole did very well at Yale from a variety of other standpoints. Socially, for example, Cole had a field day in New Haven. He seemed to have been a member, at one time or another, of practically every club, large or small, devised by Yale men, among them the Whiffenpoofs, the Hogans, the Grill Room Grizzlies, the Pundits, the Mince Pie Club [...] and as a junior he was tapped for the coveted Scroll and Key, undoubtedly the most social of the secret societies. [...] Cole found his own way to support the [football] team—as chairman of the song-selection committee, as cheerleader, and as composer-lyricist—a very clever way for someone of limited athletic aptitude and diminutive size (he was five foot six), and with an abhorrence of physical exertion." (Charles Schwartz, Cole Porter: A Biography, pp. 24-5.) (15486)
Book Song