In the twenties and thirties, "Flour Fights" were waged each year between freshman and sophomore classes. On the left side of this picture, one can see ammo (sacks of flour) stacked up on the ground. This photo was taken at the corner of Watts and Norris Streets during the 1933 skirish. The picture is looking west towards Broad Street.

For those who don't remember where Watts and Norris was, it's right outside the entrance to Peabody Hall. Thomas Hall on Norris ran between Park and Watts. The building was just to the left of where this photo was taken.

Referring to 1930 in a Temple University document, it says, "A 'flour fight' was a popular annual men's activity. Twenty sophomores dressed in old clothing and 40 small paper bags of flour concealed on their bodies. Twenty freshmen had just 10 minutes to find and destroy the loot. Clothing was torn to shreds during the battle. If the sophs could produce a single bag at the end, they won a trophy..." Afterwards, the flour was thrown at the losers.

Professor John Roberts said that when he started at Temple in 1946, they were no longer having the flour fights.

One other thing to keep in mind was at the time of this battle, Watts and Norris Streets was NOT on campus, and the Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church (Thomas Hall) was still an active church.