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Did you ever hit ârâ? when you aimed at k?
And mixed-up your copy
With a double jj?
Made a capital M when it
Should have been small.
And ruined the meaning
With âbellâ instead of âballââ¦.â?
Poem from Pescadero Union High School 1924 Yearbook: Carnelian and Blue
Pescadero Union High School student Evelyn Voge never punched an ârâ? when she aimed for a âkâ?.
âEvâ? was the perfect typist, a real âspeed demonâ? who set out to prove she could click-clack her way to first place at the National Typewriting Contest held at the San Francisco Business Show in April 1924.
Typing was a significant skill. A proficient typist could aspire to be a secretary, a glamorous ambition in this new age of working women.
Given Evelyn Vogeâs superior typing skills, it was no surprise that she became the editor of Pescadero Highâs first âCarnelian and Blueâ? yearbook, named for the schoolâs colors.
She surely organized the yearbook that was artfully bound in red construction paper. Browsing through a surviving copy of âCarnellian and Blueâ? is like being transported back to Pescadero 1924.
The 90-plus pages are crammed with art, graphics, excellent black-and-white photos, humor and exuberance.
To see Evelyn Voge walking to school she appeared as a stylish young flapperâbut when she sat down to punch the keys on an Underwood typewriter, she was transformed into a vrtuoso.
On a 60-second typing test, Ev scored an astounding 79-words per minute, earning the admiration of all her classmates and teachers.
Due to Evelynâs influence, typewriting became one of the schoolâs most popular classes with may of the students enrolling. When the day came for Evelyn to compete with 100 other first-rate typists at the contest in San Francisco, she was escorted by her friends to the bus stop in front of the local hotel owned by Dr. Thompson, the county supervisor from Pescadero.
As the bus carrying the young aspirant rolled away in a puff of exhaust fumes, the mood among Evâs friends was wistful.
The soft-spoken Catherine âCassieâ? Bentley and the chatty Elsie Blomquist lingered on the hotel porch wishing they could have accompanied Evelyn on her exciting trip to the big city. Alas, their typing skills were mediocre and the girls glumly walked back to the school.
Note: Cassie and Elsie had their own talents. They were mischief-makers of the first order, later involved in an amusing scandal at the school when they hid the soccer teamâs street clothes.
Evelyn Voge, Pescadero Highâs legendary typist performed admirably at the contest in San Francisco. Ev finished in the top ten, the only candidate from San Mateo County to do so.
The Underwood Typing Company awarded her a bronze medal. In my 1924 copy of the âCarnelian and Blueâ? yearbook thereâs an amusing caricature of Evelyn Voge wearing her flapper era cloche frantically pounding at the keys of her typewriter.
Evelyn Vogeâs true legacy was a role model to many of the other students who resulved to emulate her so that, they, too, could one day make the exciting trip to the big typing contest in San Francisco.
