The history of Veishea has included everything from threats of abolition, gondolas on Lake LaVerne and a mule named Frances.

Due to what the Veishea committee of 1940 believed to be student apathy, Veishea was almost abolished. The year before, many students used the extended vacation to return home and not participate in Veishea.

“VEISHEA ABOLISHED,” was the headline in The Iowa State Student newspaper. The ISU president at the time, Charles E. Friley, was attending a funeral when he heard the news. He immediately returned to the campus and questioned the paper’s editor in chief, James Schwartz, about what he knew of the abolition.

A meeting was conducted that evening with about 100 people in attendance to discuss the reasons for the possible end of Veishea. By the next day, students were told the celebration would continue.

To remedy the problem, administrators decided not to let students go home unless they had permission. Only one student was given that privilege.

Frank Paine, faculty member in electrical engineering in 1922, is the person credited for coming up with the name for this celebration.

The word Veishea is an acronym. The letters of Veishea stand for the five colleges existing at the start of Veishea: Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Industrial Science, Home Economics and Agriculture, even though the College of Agriculture did not originally support the celebration, according to the Iowa State Student. Before Veishea, each college had its own separate celebration at different times of the year, and the College of Agriculture did not want to give up its individual celebration. Members of the College of Agriculture believed Veishea would never succeed.

Veishea “started as an experiment in the undergraduate cooperation to display all colleges of the institution, affording for the people of Iowa to see the real institution in working clothes and to furnish them with some entertainment,” according to the Iowa State Student.

The main goal of Veishea was to bring high school students on the campus and recruit them.

“It was the whole carnival-like atmosphere that attracted me to Veishea and Iowa State,” said ISU graduate Matt Boles. “We used to have water balloon fights outside the Memorial Union … I remember going to look at the different college displays, looking at the floats and eating the cherry pies.” he said. Boles, a 30-year-old attorney from Des Moines, lived in Ames for about 29 years.

Boles said he believes students have a certain amount of pride with Veishea because the event is totally student-run.

“This is your event,” he said. “A lot of people view this as a sorority or fraternity event, which it is not intended to be. I think this has happened because of the lack of participation of dorm floors.”

The ‘follies of 1922’ was the highlight of the first Veishea on May 12. The follies was a variety program with acts ranging from dancing to vaudeville stunts.

“Iowa State as it is Today” was the title of the parade.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we don’t have the ‘Vodvil’ anymore,” said Ken Larson, agronomy professor. “We took the four best skits out of the varieties show and we would fill up old man’s gym [State Gym].” He was a member of the Veishea committee in 1952-53.

A carnival was held in the field behind State Gym for the second Veishea. Students from the military department rode horses and performed stunts, fortune tellers told students their future and there was a raffle of miniature campaniles.

One of the carnival rides, a ferris wheel, was built and operated by James Hilton and two other students. Today, the carnival is held near Hilton Coliseum.

Freshmen burned their red caps in a bonfire to signify that they were about to become sophomores. This was called a “moving up ceremony.”

The Iowa State Student reported that the president of ISU watched a freshman receive a paddling from a sophomore during the “moving up ceremony” of 1928.

During the 1930s, the Veishea Memorial Fountain was presented to Dr. Charles Friley in 1937 and in the following year, the Queen of Veishea, as chosen by the colleges, crossed Lake LaVerne in a gondola. Yellow flowers were placed in the lake to spell Veishea. Later, in 1945, Bob Hope chose the Queen of Veishea.

“Students returned to classes Monday with lessons unprepared for instructors who didn’t mind. Veishea only comes once in a year, they felt,” reported the Iowa State Student in 1938.

Veishea became popular through the 1930s as attendance for the annual event kept climbing. By 1936, about 16,000 people were expected for the celebration.

The incessant poor weather of Veishea began years ago.

In the 1950s, the Veishea committee decided to appease the “rain gods” after several years of rain. President Harry Truman lit the first torch in 1950 in Ottumwa, and the torch was carried by 127 runners who represented 25 campus organizations and carried it to Des Moines. From Des Moines, four ISU students and a mule named Frances were waiting to carry the torch 33 more miles to Ames.

Also, in 1958, actor Ronald Reagan was a guest speaker and the grand marshal of Veishea.

Student participation is what Larson said is the cornerstone for the success of Veishea.

“I don’t know if I could keep up with today’s students,” he said. “In terms of commitment, students are the same now as they were when I was in school.”