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Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2004 > May-June 2004   Print View From Music Boxes to Meat 5/11/2004 By Tim Brady Through its 100-year history, the University of Minnesota Alumni Association has employed a variety of clever, novel, and—shall we say—interesting products to advertise itself, provide a service for its members, and make a few dollars for the association in the process. The Mug 'N Meat pack falls into the "interesting" category. Mug 'N Meat was a line of university-crested coffee mugs handsomely packaged with two pounds of country sausage. In the late spring of 1963, the Mug 'N Meat distributor in Milwaukee contacted Ed Haislet, executive director of the Minnesota Alumni Association, wondering if the alumni association might be interested in selling these gifts to its members. The school's crest would be etched on the front of the mug in 22-karat gold, and the sausage would come in two varieties: summer (laced with spicy garlic) and hickory links ("especially perfect as party hors d'oeuvres with crackers or cheese"). The distributor's timing was perfect. His letter arrived just as Haislet was putting together the annual "Official University of Minnesota Gift Items" catalog, and the Mug 'N Meat pack sounded like it might be a nice addition. There was a problem, however. The distributor couldn't produce a University of Minnesota-crested coffee mug quickly enough to photograph it for inclusion in the gift item catalog, which was nearly on its way to press. What if, he suggested to Haislet, we shoot a Marquette University mug and do a little manipulation of the image? They would put a sharp focus on the "M," and the rest of the word—"ARQUETTE"—would be out of focus and disappear around the side of the mug. No one would know the difference, the distributor insisted. Catalog browsers would read the "M," and, where they saw only fuzz, their love of their alma mater would fill in "INNESOTA." Haislet was obviously pressed for time, liked this Mug 'N Meat idea, and felt that the art might work. Who wouldn't want a slice of spicy summer sausage with a cup of Maxwell House on a Gopher football Saturday morning? He gave the go-ahead, and into the 1963-64 gift catalog went the Mug 'N Meat Pack and its tantalizing description: "Make your coffee break a toast to your Alma Mater with this spanking white ceramic mug. . . . And for a companion snack, two lbs of all-beef smoked country sausages!" It's hard to say whether the fallacies of the ad were detected by Gopher alumni and detracted from its appeal, or if the time just wasn't right for the Mug 'N Meat concept. The bottom line, however, was that the package was not a hit. Haislet let his distributor down quickly and cleanly the following spring. "I know that you must have been disappointed in the number of Mug 'N Meat Packs sold," he wrote. "I was. I feel, therefore, that for the coming year we should drop the item." The Mug 'N Meat Pack had been just the latest in an explosion of what came to be called "loyalty items," marketed through the alumni association beginning in the 1950s. Whereas in the first half of the 20th century, alumni association-affiliated products had been limited to a handful of publications—primarily University directories and references—gradually through the 1950s and '60s an entire catalog of U of M souvenirs were marketed for alumni through the association. University blazers and blazer buttons, Minnesota playing cards and insignia serving trays, U of M cigarette lighters and a musical cigarette box that played the Rouser when you opened the lid and plucked your brand from within. Catalog might be too grandiose a term for the marketing piece. The "Official University of Minnesota Gift Items" was a brochure whose presentation was a model of pre-modern salesmanship, featuring blunt copy with a hint of hard sell to it. "You Will Want Them," the text read, regarding the items inside. "*For Your Office *Your Home *For Your Own Use." . . . "Perfect For: *A Birthday *An Anniversary *Graduation *Or Just a Gesture of Thoughtfulness." The alumni magazine also served as a prime tool for selling loyalty items. The plum space on the back cover was typically reserved for advertising a rotating line of products. These included walnut chairs bearing the University logo silk-screened in gold on the seat back (priced at $27); University plates by Spode; and Echoes from Memorial Stadium, the first record ever cut of University of Minnesota songs. Echoes was produced in 1953 and served as kind of a bridge project for the association between pre- and post-World War II alumni association sales efforts. Prior to the Ed Haislet era (1948-76), marketing of the association through product sales had meant producing and selling publications under the association's imprimatur. To E.B. Johnson, the first executive director of the association, this seemed a natural extension of the General Alumni Association's role. Along with being a founding force in the association itself, Johnson had also created the alumni magazine and served as its editor through the first 19 years of its existence. He was thus already inclined toward the publishing industry and encouraged the association to produce a string of books to help promote itself and spread the word about the U of M. All edited by Johnson himself, these books included some remarkably helpful reference tools: a Dictionary of the University of Minnesota, which was issued in two editions, in 1908 and an updated version in 1911; a 40-year history of the University, published in 1910; and several alumni directories. Publishing, however, was an expensive and risky business to shoulder alone, and the University showed no interest in helping foot the bill for these early association efforts. By the mid-1910s, the association had decided it was wiser to contract with an outside publisher to produce its directories. The Dictionary of the University and any further alumni efforts at a general history of the U of M also fell by the wayside. In 1928, however, the alumni association was right back at it, publishing a history of the University of Minnesota football program. Like the earlier references, this book was successful and remains a valuable historical tool; but as a stand-alone publication, it lacked the oomph necessary to perpetuate itself or other publications. Up until the 1950s, there were periodic calls to revise, update, and reissue a Gopher football history at the U, but these efforts all died aborning. Meanwhile, the alumni association held what many considered a valuable asset, both in sentimental and marketable measures. These were the copyrights to a number of U of M songs, including "Hail! Minnesota" and "The Minnesota Rouser." Truman Rickard (1904), the author of "Hail! Minnesota" as well as "The Ski-U-Mah Fight Song," had presented the rights for both these tunes to the association in 1926. The Minneapolis Tribune Company held the rights to "The Minnesota Rouser," which accrued to it after sponsoring a fight song contest, won by Floyd Hutsell, in 1909. The Tribune Company presented the alumni association with the license to use this most popular of songs in 1928. Exactly why the alumni association and not the University was given these rights remains a little foggy. At the time, distinctions between the U and the association were less defined than they would subsequently become. Apparently University President Lotus Coffman felt the alumni association was a natural province within the University for all song-related matters. According to E.B. Pierce, the second executive director of the alumni association, "President Coffman preferred that the Association secure the copyrights, conduct competition for the new songs, and handle the whole song situation." And so it was. Pierce subsequently signed a contract, on behalf of the association, with the Melrose Brothers Music Company of Chicago, giving that company publishing rights to the songs. He did so because, as noted from the prior history of the association, it was easier and made more sense for the association to contract with a publisher than to go into the publishing business itself. "It is expensive to make original arrangements," Pierce wrote, "but after they are made, copies may be had very cheaply. . . . A large music house has the staff and facilities for making arrangements and manifolding them as well as distributing them." All of this became more important in the post-war years, just as that first LP of U of M songs, Echoes from Memorial Stadium, was evolving. The album emerged during the dawn of a new era at the University, a new era on college campuses across the United States. With the G.I. Bill, the University saw an explosion in its population. The growth in students meant a growth in graduates. The growth in graduates meant that the alumni association would be faced with many new members and many new opportunities. It was too early to say, in the late '40s, looking out at the Quonset hut housing, the crowded classrooms, and the waves of students rolling over the campus, that someone was dreaming of selling all these future grads Mug 'N Meat packs. It is fair to state, however, that with this post-war tide of students a new and burgeoning market for University souvenirs and memorabilia was born. And the alumni association wanted to take advantage of it. Enter Ed Haislet, who became the executive director of the association in 1948. Haislet was hired to help modernize the organization, which included finding new streams of revenue for its growing membership. One of Haislet's first suggestions was for the association to take advantage of those association-owned University song rights and publish a songbook. This could be followed by a University of Minnesota LP record, and then another and another and another, all sold to the growing number of graduates pouring from the University. The problem was that the Melrose Brothers Music Company was still around and claimed it owned the publishing rights to the University songs due to its 1928 contract signed by E.B. Pierce. A University lawyer was called in to look at the history of the rights, and he essentially determined that it was a mess and advised the alumni association to hire a New York law firm that specialized in copyright law to sort things out. There was a good deal of back and forth between law offices and the alumni association, but three years later, Ed Haislet was able to announce the outcome of the matter in a column in the Minnesota Alumnus, which he titled "Now We Can Sing." He might have added "finally." "Years ago the publishing rights to Minnesota songs was assigned to a commercial publishing house," wrote Haislet, "and because of ensuing copyright difficulties no record or album was officially published. In this day and age, when all the masters of the world of music are at our beck and call through high fidelity recordings the songs of the University of Minnesota have been conspicuously absent." No longer. As of September 1953, Echoes from Memorial Stadium, featuring "Hail! Minnesota," "The Minnesota Rouser," "The Ski-U-Mah Fight Song," and other, lesser-known works such as "The Golden Gopher Line" was made available to alumni association members for the low price of $3.75, shipping included ($5 for nonmembers). The first order from the record company sold briskly. By May 1954, Haislet was asking for a second printing of 500 LPs. Though sales slowed in subsequent years, until a second University album was recorded in 1963, Echoes from Memorial Stadium signaled the alumni association's entry into the brave new world of marketing memorabilia. In years to come, the association kept expanding its souvenir offerings. In time, the "Official University of Minnesota Gift Items" catalog would include all of the items mentioned earlier and more. There were U of M pewter tankards and letter openers, plaques and paperweights, pen sets and glasses, end tables and bookends. There was a Gopher Helmet Radio and a Gopher Helmet Lamp (both $14.95 from the 1976 catalog). While the money didn't exactly pour in, the gift items did bring in a steady line of income. The world of collectibles was enlarged and enriched, and the University of Minnesota Alumni Association had a good time improving it, including recent items like the popular "bobblehead" Goldy figurine and the practical insulated lunch bag. As for the Minnesota Mug 'N Meat pack? Quoth the raven, "Nevermore." Tim Brady is a St. Paul freelance writer.

Last modified on 11/16/2004 12:49:03 PM ©2009 by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. The University of Minnesota Alumni Association is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

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