Last issue, the focus was finding out how the Port Hole name was almost that of the Foghorn newspaper. This time around, we’re looking to Del Mar History to fix it.
Surely, we all know that Del Mar College’s mascot has always been the Vikings.
Ever since the college first established a mascot back in 1939, the Viking name has been synonymous with what was called Corpus Christi Junior College at the time. Alright, something’s wrong here.
Checking the College’s website, you’ll find that it says the mascot name dates back to 1939. After digging through the Foghorn archives however, I fear that year may be wrong.
I direct your attention to volume three, issue five, wherein the very first citation of the word ‘Vikings’ in reference to Corpus Christi Junior College athletics is found.
In fact, ‘vikings’ is the very first word in the whole paper, being found in the front page’s top headline. This issue was released on December 15, 1938, so I’d consider the year before the website’s 1939 reference to be the first year the Viking name was used.
While 1939 is cited by Del Mar College’s website as the first year the Vikings mascot name was used, a look into Foghorn archives reveals a reference to a Corpus Christi Junior College Vikings team being found in the December 15, 1938 issue.
No other issues around the time announced the establishment of the Vikings name however, so I’m not sure of how the Vikings name came about, only that it was first used in 1938.
With that, consider this installment of The Port Hole finished! I’ll leave you with a simple question: a foghorn is, quite literally, a large horn that is generally used as a warning sign for boats. Given a newspaper named after a large horn, what was depicted in the first Foghorn logo?
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