 
The Great Coke caper
On a warm evening in May of 1941, Bill Snyder, Class of 1942, and some
friends were sitting in the Bison Brevities Office in the back of Festival
Hall. "Wouldn't it be great if we had our own Coke machine?" someone thought
out loud. Apparently that was all Bill needed, since he got in touch with
the Coca Cola Company and found out that company charged 25¢ per case
of Coke sold, plus the wholesale price of the pop.
At first it was just for the people who worked at Brevities, but there
were other potential customers - dance attendees, chorus and band members.
Business slightly increased, but being true entrepreneurs they discovered
that by turning up the thermostat, business increased even more. One day
Bill discovered a trapdoor in the Brevities Office, which turned out to
be a crawl space to where the water pipes were located. Another opportunity
for entrepreneurs - no water fountains, more pop to be sold. This proved
to be too much and building and grounds turned the water back on. The
entrepreneurs were not to be deterred. They found that by turning the
water to a trickle, the same purpose was achieved - increased Coke sales.
This went on for a couple of years, but eventually, like all good, but
devious, ideas, it came to an end. It was another warm May night and Coke
was selling furiously. Students sitting in the balcony were lining up
Coke bottles on the railing. Professor Arvold, seeing this, and worried
that someone might be hit by a falling bottle, lodged a complaint with
President Eversull. Bill was called into the President's Office and told
"no more concessions." "Can I sell the rest of the Coke?" Snyder impertinently
inquired. "OK, but then get rid of it," Eversull replied."
(Jerry Richardson, Bison Briefs, March, 1984, p. 2).
Did You Know...? Grace Moore Plays Fargo's Festival Hall
      
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