Photo: URI Grist

Fall 2023 Winners

Winning Caption
“Belatedly, she realized she had grabbed the wrong coat.”
—Robert (‘Scaf’) Schafer ’58

Runners-Up
“Thinking I should not have worn this raccoon coat to Wildlife Management 101.”
—Michael Powers ’72, M.S. ’74

“That day Mr. Vanderbilt’s confused aunt wandered over from the Breakers and into a URI classroom.”
—Elizabeth Tobin ’85

All Fur Fashion

This photo from the 1937 Grist elicited, not surprisingly, lots of funny captions about the student in the fur coat.

We also got a lot of captions about that empty front row. It seems to be one of those quirks of human nature that we just avoid the front row, especially in a classroom or lecture setting. You’ll find a lot of answers, theories, and opinions about this if you Google “Why do people avoid the front row?”

While we don’t know the full story behind this photo, the caption that accompanied it in the 1937 yearbook was, “A Typical Class—Our roving camera man, while in the new Home Economics building, snapped this studious group.”

Maybe some of the students in this photo were around the following year, 1938, when first lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited campus.

Thank you, readers, as always, fur all the fun captions.

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Share your vintage URI photos!
Would you consider sharing some of those vintage photos for the photo caption contest—or just for fun? If so, we’d love to consider sharing your photos in URI Magazine. Please scan or take a good-quality photo of your snapshot and mail to urimag@uri.edu.