While dormitory rooms were more private than public areas like the parlors or reception rooms, even these still had strict guidelines and etiquette. Requiring all lights to be extinguished by a certain time was a way of ensuring order. Quiet hours still remain today at James Madison University, but the “lights out” policy has been abolished [Quote from: Student Handbook, 1941-1942, Madison College, p. 109.]
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This particular drawing is of the inside of her dormitory room at night and shows the ever popular pennant gracing the wall. She also decided to personalize the space with a framed picture. Most striking about this image is the “Positively No Smoking,” sign below the pennant. Iris has taken care to draw this in juxtaposition to an ashtray by the window, which is open for the smoke to escape. The ban on smoking in dormitory rooms was a way to promote a type of controlled environment that Iris decided to defy--at least through her drawing.]]>
Blue jeans, shorts, and shirts were for ]]>