Cool@Hoole

Goodbye, Corolla, Goodbye: 1980s-1990s

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In the last of our series of posts saying farewell to the UA campus yearbook, the Corolla, we look at two books you can’t find online. (Various pages were photographed just for this post.) Both of them — and all the rest — are available in the Hoole Library reading room. Unlike most Hoole resources, they are part of the reference collection, which means they are on the shelves, ready to be used without you having to request them!

The funny thing about these two volumes is how little time I spent choosing which ones to pull. I gravitated toward volumes with covers I found interesting, and what was inside turned out to be a good indication of the decade that produced them. In many ways, any yearbook would’ve been just fine: each has pictures and articles that really speak to its time. That’s why the loss of the yearbook is such a loss for the campus.

1984

The Corolla for this year featured an embossed image of Clark Hall on the cover:

Corolla1984_06

That year, the building turned 100. But the pages of the book were definitely more 1984 than 1884. For example, the late 19th century military college wouldn’t know what to do with a girl dressed as Boy George:

Corolla1984_03

There was a spread on the popular movies of the day, including the conclusion of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi, and the second movie of Harrison Ford’s other big trilogy, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Click on the image below to see the spread up close.

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And look what was mainstream enough to make it into the pages of the yearbook:

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The Football team was regrouping from the Bear Bryant era, with the short tenure of coach Ray Perkins:

Corolla1984_05

Apparently, the Corolla Beauties section had morphed into Corolla Favorites. The fashion, too, had morphed…and I’m not sure if it was for the better :/

Corolla1984_04

 

1995

The cover of this mid-nineties volume featured fingerprint whorls, announcing the theme of the book: Identity.

Corolla1995_01

Topical pieces included a look at former Vice President Dan Quayle, who received mixed reviews from students when he came to campus to speak that year:

Corolla1995_02

A very different campus visitor also brought controversy, less because of anything she did than because of what the campus group that invited her didn’t do: promote the show very well.

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Following National Championships in 1988 and 1991, the Tide gymnastics team was hitting their stride.

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Though they didn’t win the championship in 1995, they did the next year.

While the late 20th century yearbooks covered more popular culture than ever before, they still had plenty to share about the campus greek system:

Corolla1995_05

But other topics were pretty new, like those new staples of the home and office, computers:

Corolla1995_06

Who knew that the Supe Store had been an Apple distributor for 20 years!

Thanks for taking this stroll down memory lane with us. For over 100 years, the Corolla has been a mainstay of the University, reflecting and at times even questioning the world of the campus and beyond. It will be sorely missed, if not by the current student body, at least by future researchers.

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