An alumnus of the class of 1965 writes, "It was "different" than any other toilet paper I had ever seen: a strange shape and not at all soft. But it was every where, in all the Men's rooms I experienced during my time on campus (1961-1965), including Burton House where I lived for four years.
Traditionally, Springfield Oval was the official toilet paper used to light the Steer Roast fire. In this annual ritual, a wire was run from the barbecue pit to the roof of Senior House, and a flaming roll of Springfield Oval was slid down the wire to light the roast. For many years, there was a secret stash of (the discontinued) Springfield Oval specifically for this purpose. Eventually, the stash started to run out, and so a single sheet of the precious Oval (from the one remaining roll) was wrapped around a more modern roll of institute TP to start the fire.
Now that my (9-year old!) daughter has some sort of fetish for over-using toilet paper by the handful, depite parental cajoling and scolding, I thought back to good ol’ Springfield Oval. I hoped to find some for sale online, but to no avail. Came across this entry instead.
Traditionally, Springfield Oval was the official toilet paper used to light the Steer Roast fire. In this annual ritual, a wire was run from the barbecue pit to the roof of Senior House, and a flaming roll of Springfield Oval was slid down the wire to light the roast. For many years, there was a secret stash of (the discontinued) Springfield Oval specifically for this purpose. Eventually, the stash started to run out, and so a single sheet of the precious Oval (from the one remaining roll) was wrapped around a more modern roll of institute TP to start the fire.
I’m not sure if this tradition continues.
Andy Stevens
14 Nov 09 at 12:14 am
Now that my (9-year old!) daughter has some sort of fetish for over-using toilet paper by the handful, depite parental cajoling and scolding, I thought back to good ol’ Springfield Oval. I hoped to find some for sale online, but to no avail. Came across this entry instead.
Andrew Chao
6 Oct 10 at 1:47 pm