The Orange Commonroom of 1969 

By Stephen Howe

Regular readers may know that we have been looking into the prehistory of the Classical Faculty Library, in the days (1933-1982) when it was housed on the top floor of the Mill Lane Lecture Rooms, while the Museum and Library of Classical Archaeology (founded in 1884) were located round the back, in Little St. Mary’s Lane.

We turn once more to the contents of the Mill Lane Library filing cabinet to discover what issue above all was agitating the placid world of Cambridge Classics in the year 1969:

From: Farrago: Journal of the Cambridge University Classical Society, January 1969 (price one shilling), page 30:

We have tried to put on evenings where Senior and Junior members could meet socially over drinks; about half the Faculty came to the last one, and as long as so many people seem to enjoy this sort of do, we’ll go on running them. The fact that we don’t have a coffee-bar helps to make Mill Lane rather a grim and unfriendly morass, and we’re doing all we can to arrange for a joint common-room/coffee-bar somewhere in the building.

In fact, the transfer of History lectures from Mill Lane to the new History Faculty building at West Road in 1968 had already eased the pressure on rooms at Mill Lane, and the authorities were in consequence amenable to the proposal.

The Mill Lane Lecture Rooms

From a letter dated 28.iii.69 from ‘M’ (Jesus College) to ‘Patrick’:

Holmes phoned today to say that the GB officers have finally cleared the way for us to have Room 12 Mill Lane as a common room, and that they will now put the proposal to the Council of the Senate.

Room 12 was, like the Classics Library, located on the top floor of the Mill Lane Lecture Rooms. ‘M’ was the great Moses Finley himself. ‘Patrick’ was the Faculty Chairman, L.P. Wilkinson. ‘GB’ is probably the General Board of the Faculties.

From letter dated 5 June 1969, from L.P. Wilkinson to J.G.W. Bowen, Financial Board, Old Schools:

July 13 – 18 is the only time the painting can be done (after Mrs Crawford’s [i.e. Dorothy Thompson’s] return and before the Local Examinations Syndicate take temporary possession). Can you advise us about choosing and buying paint? Can you supply colour-patterns? And how do we know how much to order?

We have hired scaffolding for £16 from a builder, who says we can keep it till the painting is done.

Very ‘hands-on’ in 1969, and health-and-safety is clearly not the ‘issue’ it has since become!

From second letter of same date, from same to same (an itemised comment on the estimate):

We must dispense with the Ceiling Panels, owing to cost, for one thing…We must also dispense with the wall panels. The white formica tops etc., would be acceptable. Screens. The outer side of the returns should be left plain wood. (The intention is to paper these with the dust-covers of classical books). Decoration is being done by voluntary labour. The intention is to have the walls orange up to the dado; and on the vertical strip round the lantern deep orange emulsion, lighter toning orange gloss for the dado, horizontal ceiling parts above dado and roof of lantern white.

Presumably the ‘lantern’ was a substantial sky-light. All things orange were le dernier cri in 1969, and the colour would retain its appeal among interior decorators throughout the 1970s.

 Part of the architect's original decorative scheme for the new Mill Lane Common Room, dated 19^th June 1969. Can you spot the ashtray?

From the Report on the Classical Faculty Library 1969-70:

The Common Room continues to be administered from the Library. The vending machine is a constant source of trouble – it goes wrong regularly and needs checking and cleaning every day. It does however seem to be appreciated and we look forward to the day when the present model can be replaced.

From the Librarian’s Report dated October 20^th 1971:

The Common Room has continued as an extension of the Library. (Some users might put it the other way round). The new vending machine, which also provides soup, is used more and more, especially during the popular weekly bread and cheese lunches…The Library staff have uncomplainingly extended their responsibilities to include this room and have quickly become experts in the temperamental mechanics of the machine and the special disinfecting care of its plastic components.

Dorothy J. Crawford, Librarian.

This Report proves once again that librarians can turn their hands to anything! Meanwhile, readers should look out for further gleanings from the Mill Lane filing cabinet in future newsletters.