“Killer-Diller!” - 1920s - ’30s slang. Very effective; excellent, sensational

For almost 25 years, the University of Idaho Argonaut printed an annual Co-Ed edition. Produced by women staff members and Theta Sigma, the women’s journalism honorary society, it ran from 1920-1944.

In the April 27, 1920 inaugural issue the editors wrote in part that:

“This Argonaut is issued merely as an Argonaut. It is issued partially to show the men of the University that the Idaho Co-eds are capable of putting out a paper that at least looks like the one which usually appears Tuesday night. We wish to give you the campus news—to make you smile a little—and to make you understand that perhaps women can do something. This is our first attempt. Judge it as leniently as you did the first attempts of the regular staff. If you have criticisms to make—make them to us” (Foreword).

It was often noted in the editors section or in a short column on the front page that not only was the edition they were reading produced by women but it centered on women and featured “women’s activities as well as routine news of the campus” (Co-Ed). These special newspapers also gave the women on staff practical experience in aspects of production they might not ordinarily work in. “Once a year the spot-light of publicity is turned upon the co-eds, and beneath its cold glare we find what the women of Idaho are doing” (Item).

Like other Argonaut issues, these papers covered general campus news, human interest, and humor. The staff changed the job titles in the 1941 staff listing from press positions to kitchen ones for fun.

And on occasion, they altered the masthead, as seen in the 1924 edition which featured drawings of young women or created new taglines. The 1939 edition had two taglines: “Censored by Journalism Teachers Everywhere!” and “Does NOT Bear Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” It boasted that the edition was a “Killer-Diller!” (Masthead.)

Articles were varied. The Mar 17, 1925 front page published the results of an informal survey about what campus men looked for in women as well as a news article about women diversifying their classes and taking more courses traditionally attended exclusively by men. One student was studying to be a seed analyst and is noted as the only woman in the Agricultural departmnent at that time; another was specializing in mining engineering. The article noted that campus men were not reciprocating this trend and had not “shown any desire to register in the department of home economics” (Interest).

Front page headlines from a 1926 Argonaut include:

“Women Are Active in College Work”

“March Encourages Frivolous Follies: Feminine Month Brings New and Unique Ways of Entertaining”

“Talented Cast in Romeo and Juliet: Five Co-eds in Cast Will Have Been in 20 Plays in College.”

“Women Abandon Hearths for Careers in Varied Vocations” and an item about a recent win by the women’s rifle team (Headlines.)

Finally, a scan of a summer front page months before the United States entered World War II. This edition carried a receipe for Brownie Cup Cakes and slyly skipped the page’s fifth printing column. In that column where the recipe supposedly should have begun was a note that “Lucy’s Cooking School doesn’t stand for a Fifth Column.” A “Fifth Column” was a secret group of enemy sympathizers within national borders. The Merriam-Webster dictionary noted that the term gained “widespread popularity after Ernest Hemingway used it in the title of a 1938 book, and it was often applied …to Nazi supporters within foreign nations during World War II” (Fifth).

The last Co-Ed issue was in 1944 and there is no mention why the practice was discontinued. It may be that during the World War II the Argonaut staff was primarily women due to men joining military service and creating a special edition was not particularly special. The Theta Sigma Society is no longer on campus. There are a couple of journalism groups but none are specifically for women in publications.

Resources

Argonaut Editors, “Item,” Argonaut, 1925 Mar. 17.

“Co-Ed Argonaut Out This Issue,” Argonaut, 1931 Apr. 14, The Argonaut Archive

“Fifth column.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.

“Foreword,” Argonaut, 1920 Apr. 27.

Headlines, Argonaut, 1916, Mar. 16.

“Interest Shown in Men’s Lines” and “Men All Alike but Demand Women Different, claimed,” Argonaut, 1925 Mar. 17.

Masthead, Argonaut, 1939 May 12.

“Stir in Two Cups of Raisins; Add One Cup Milk,” Argonaut, 1941 May 9.