Sophomores committed a great deal of time, effort and financial expenditure to crafting the cremation ceremony. They prepped for the ceremony all year long, even forming organizing committees. Receipts from the class of 1885’s records illustrate the networks of production for the ceremony spanned from Haverford to Philadelphia. While these ceremonies provided a place for play, their construction provided an environment to practice organizational labor and tighten the bonds of community. However, anxieties around opulence (much akin to the anxieties surrounding the genre of the novel) did create tension. The Haverfordian reports that Board of Managers chastised one class for printing over 700 invitations (this was at a time when the population of the school leveled around 100 students).
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