Princeton Trend of the Week: Poster Pinching

People say the Orange Bubble is one of the safest places to go to school—beautiful campus, idyllic, low-crime town, motivated students who are here only to learn, perhaps enjoy a party or two.

But beware Princetonians—there are thieves in your midst.

Don’t call Public Safety just yet—the thieves of whom I speak are mostly harmless creatures, interested in one thing and one thing only: the numerous, colorful posters which adorn every pole and billboard on Princeton’s campus.

Poster pinching takes a variety of forms on campus, and is usually employed as a mode of dorm decoration. No doubt many of you have stepped into a friend’s room (or perhaps even--*gasp*--your own) to discover walls ornamented with announcements for the Triangle Show, the latest offering from Disiac, or a Nobel Prize Winner’s scholarly address.

Hopefully these artfully designed, eye-catching and “low-cost” hangings are outdated, taken only after the subjects of their deliberate phrasings have long passed. Occasionally, you will find the odd transgressor who has boldly taken a poster touting a current event—but I’m sure (err…hope) there were just a lot of extras.

Subject matter takes on interesting variations. I have seen a single room bedecked with fifteen copies of the same poster, others with a wide variety of shapes, sizes and themes. Some will choose a particular genre—theater, dance, notable speakers, others simply reach for whatever they can get. Poster configurations go from Top Design worthy spreads to paper-vomit sequences that could barely be called collages. The possibilities are numerous, and Princeton students, never failing to exhibit their ingenuity, explore many avenues with their questionably acquired goods.

A note of respect—try to keep your poster-swiping until after the advertised event has taken place. Trust me, it’ll look just as nice on your wall next week!

-Nava Friedman '13