Yesterday in La Crosse
Getting ready for “Snowzeit,” in early 1962
Snowzeit, the German term for “snow time,” was chosen as the theme for the Winter Carnival at La Crosse State College in ’62. They had chairmen for events such as ice sculptures, swimming, and gambling. And some college boys gave up shaving for a few weeks, to compete in the “Whiskeroo,” with the fellow who had the best beard winning a car.
La Crosse was going to become the first college in the state system to get a computer, a big IBM machine operated with punch cards. The school would only need five days to post semester grades to permanent records. Before the computer, filing grades took 17 weeks.
NASA was planning to launch astronaut John Glenn into earth orbit in late January, but the mission was postponed until February. And bread without holes was being introduced. Wonder Bread advertised a new baking process, in which its soft-whirled white bread came out smooth, “just like cake.” Batter-whipped Sunbeam Bread from the local Erickson Bakery also had no holes…in 1962, yesterday in La Crosse.