Today on MadisonOnline

A mission for Madison memorabilia

... and the ever-elusive Madison College beanie

By Tony Madsen ('99)

A postcard of the Normal School from Madsen's collection

A postcard of the Normal School from Tony Madsen's collection.

The collection begins

I have been a collector of JMU memorabilia since I was a student at Madison.

I was first intrigued by a display in the window of the former bookstore by the mailboxes in Warren Hall -- a green Madison college sweatshirt. I had to have it! Unfortunately, the bookstore ladies wouldn't let me buy the shirt because it was on loan for Homecoming weekend.

My first pieces were '50 and '52 School Ma'am yearbooks purchased at the Rolling Hills Antique Mall on East Market Street during my freshman year. From that point, I tried to find as much Madison memorabilia as I could get my hands on.

It is not an easy task, even if you are in the 'Burg.

While I was a Madison student, I visited the library to look at other yearbooks. Since I had an internship with JMU Special Collections, I had access to multiple volumes of each and panoramic photos of the school such as the picture of the Class of 1929 where Wilson Hall is absent. I later copied that photo and have it in a frame hanging above my desk at home.

In the library stacks, I found a book published in the early 1980s. Its pictures of the campus proved to be a valuable resource after I procured my own copy from the JMU Bookstore. (I remember they had to go to the warehouse to get a copy for me, which cost about $10.) I would later use this volume along with yearbooks to make many different posters for my Student Government Association campaign during my freshman year.

Tony Madsen aboard a Madison College bus

Tony Madsen aboard a Madison College bus

After becoming familiar with Madison history, I enjoyed walking around campus and finding traces of the college of yesteryear -- the black and white checkered tile floor in the foyer and the staircase near the old entrance of the library, the sloping floor where the swimming pool used to be in Reed (now, Keezell Hall) and, of course, the entrances to the "tunnels" which were blocked off in the basement level of Harrison Hall. My favorite "find" was the old gym in Ashby Hall that was used as an art studio during my tenure at Madison. I even tried -- to no avail -- to locate the old brass "MADISON COLLEGE" letters that were taken off the stone entrance gates by July 1977.

I did find a very curious piece during my senior year -- a 1927 student handbook bearing the crest of Harrisonburg Normal School. I bought it for $20 at the antique mall. The book outlines, among other things, the school's policies on "gentlemen callers."

A growing endeavor

After I left Madison -- to my everlasting regret for I could have continued my undergraduate studies indefinitely like National Lampoon's Van Wilder just for my sheer love of university memorabilia -- I continued to get mementos. Friends would find treasures in their visits to antique auctions and forward them my way. The antique mall supervisor, Bob Weaver, sent me some old Madison College stationery. My friend and colleague, Pauline Hensley, sent me a Madison college vinyl messenger bag.

Tony Madsen and JMU President Linwood Rose

Tony Madsen, wearing his homemade Harrisonburg Normal School t-shirt, with JMU President Linwood Rose

Since my Madison days, I have collected a number of postcards, the most common JMU items to find. The trick to acquiring JMU postcards is to buy them outside of Harrisonburg. For instance, postcards from the mid-1930s of Junior and Senior Halls, now known as Cleveland and Converse Halls, are quite common but could cost as much as $20 each at a Harrisonburg antique market. Farther south on Interstate 81 in Roanoke, Va., you may find them for $3 or $4.

Collection favorites

Like all collectors, I have my favorites. I'm fond of the card postmarked 1915 showing Maury Science Hall and Dormitory No. 1, now Jackson Hall. Another of my favorite postcards dates prior to 1930 -- it shows the Quad, minus Wilson Hall. I found it in Roanoke for only $4.

Other interesting pieces in my collection include old copies of The Breeze. One, an April Fool's edition, is filled with fictional news including an article on a movie to be filmed on the Madison campus. My collection includes a Madison College football bench cushion, a 25th-anniversary pin, a Madison College matchbook, a State Teacher's College brochure and an old letter written on Harrisonburg State Teacher's College stationery postmarked at Harrisonburg Normal Station.

Tony Madsen at the Centennial Convocation

Tony Madsen and Lindsey Filz ('00) at the Centennial Convocation

Looking for additions

And, like all collectors, there are still pieces I hope to add to my collection. I have not found a Madison College beanie, a Harrisonburg Normal School pennant or shirt, or a Madison College sweatshirt like the one I saw so many years ago in the Warren Hall Bookstore.

As many others have, I've wished James Madison University a happy centennial birthday. In the words of the old Virginia Slims cigarette ad, "you've come a long way, baby!" Of that, I have no doubt -- I just look at my Madison memorabilia of the last 100 years.

About the author's collection

If you have Madison memorabilia that you'd like to donate or sell (for a nominal fee) to help Madsen build his collection, you can contact him at fishheadlouie@yahoo.com or (757) 376-7911. "Nothing, no matter how small (like a pin or pennant) or how large (like a degree, scrapbook or piece of the old wooden boardwalk) should be tossed out! I can even sign a promissory note that the item will never be offered up for sale," adds Madsen. Click here to view items in Tony Madsen's collection.