Bargle:
Again, speaking as an ex-high school janitor, I feel fairly sure that the desktop poem was written sometime between the Summer of ’66, and Winter Break, ’66. School janitors are well aware that students are untidy animals, and that a desk with a folding top might contain, in its bookwell, moldy sandwiches and such. The desk in question was likely found by a janitor too busy to play Sherlock Holmes, and who simply stashed it in storage in case it could be repaired.

There is absolutely know way of knowing when that poem was written. It is anyone’s guess.

Having been a high school custodian, let me say that I suspect the desk was found during Winter break, and placed in storage until repaired or replaced. I doubt it–particularly, its poem–would have been ignored during the general cleaning of the previous summer. My guess? The poem was written between the beginning of Fall semester, 1966 and Winter break, in December, 1966.

Thanks for your thought Dag.

I’m wondering…why store it at all? Maybe they would just replace the top?

Actually, it was written on the under side of the desktop, probably wouldn’t be easy to spot.

What student, though, would write on the underside of a desk? Sounds like Stitch may have a point.

Soze

Has anyone checked to see if the janitor was a suicidal teenage girl yet?

Has anyone checked to see if the janitor was a suicidal teenage girl yet?

LOL, we don’t know the name of the Janitor

Has anyone checked to see if the janitor was a suicidal teenage girl yet?

I’ve heard Patricia Hautz was a janitor. Well, at least I’ve never heard her deny being one.

Has anyone checked to see if the janitor was a suicidal teenage girl yet?

I’ve heard Patricia Hautz was a janitor. Well, at least I’ve never heard her deny being one.

LOL

a student worker could have placed the desk in storage and thought nothing of it..after the fact it was located by the janitor..anybodys guess on when it was written..my wag is by rh after the homicide….that poem is the reason i like ross..worked in library which would have given him some access to areas others did not have and he would have had the time to write on the bottom (possibly but i have some inkling a women wrote it and not ross)..i put chewing gum under my desktop (we had desks like that) and ink penned the underside..no way I could have written anything underside desktop during class or I could have expected to be sent to the principals office//

Bargle:
Again, speaking as an ex-high school janitor, I feel fairly sure that the desktop poem was written sometime between the Summer of ’66, and Winter Break, ’66. School janitors are well aware that students are untidy animals, and that a desk with a folding top might contain, in its bookwell, moldy sandwiches and such. The desk in question was likely found by a janitor too busy to play Sherlock Holmes, and who simply stashed it in storage in case it could be repaired.

Here’s a link to a picture of the type of desk in use. As you can see, there’s no bookwell, just a rack/shelf under the seat. I thought it was the type you’re thinking of until I saw a picture of the entire desktop.

http://s254.photobucket.com/user/tahoe2 … p.jpg.html

Bargle: But, the desktop could be opened, right? To allow easier access to the seat? In any event, the desk would have to be located at a place where, or the poem written at a time when, others weren’t present.

Bargle: But, the desktop could be opened, right? To allow easier access to the seat? In any event, the desk would have to be located at a place where, or the poem written at a time when, others weren’t present.

Doesn’t look like it. Looks like a very simple construction with no reason for one to add a complicating opening mechanism. One gains access to the seat by sliding into it. Oddly enough, the desktop poem photos show no signs of screw holes, that I can see anyway, which makes me wonder if the poem was scrawled on the desk’s top surface instead of its bottom, contrary to the claims.

The guy who photographed it for LE back in the day was adamant it was written on the bottom, as per Howard Davis, who interviewed him once.

Who knows, though. I can’t find a picture of the whole thing just now, but I think there is one posted on here somewhere. Can’t remember seeing any screw holes, though. You certainly can’t see them in the pictures of the actual poem and the surrounding area – but that doesn’t really prove anything, as the surface area where the poem is written is pretty small.

The images are quite closely cropped. This is the only one that I can find showing the most surrounding surface area and even at that it doesn’t include the outer edges so it’s of no use either in terms of attachment holes. There is ‘something’ in the top left corner of the image but without corroborating details I don’t think it’s possible to know what that is. A hole, a mark, pen mark etc? Who knows?

Any images, that I’m aware of, showing an entire desk section are from the movie and as such aren’t reliable in terms of fixing holes or lack of. Having said that though I do have to wonder at the scene in the movie where the ‘mini task force’ are shown the desk and it’s a detached surface. This, if indeed true to the state of the actual evidence, does, imo, reflect the photographers contention that it was on the bottom of the desk. For one, the fact that it was (if accurate) removed from the desk frame then that makes sense as it would have to be to photograph its underside. The other thing I notice about the images posted of the ‘type’ of desk is that they are right handed. Taking this into account and looking at the prop of the desk in the movie then even in the movie the reproduction of the poem actually ‘is’ on the underside of that piece of wood if taken off a right-handed desk frame configuration.

This is just a rough visual so please excuse but it was just to show that comparing the movie still to the image of the desk type for that piece of wood to fit the frame it would have to be flipped.

Let me also mention that when I went to school, we used these types of desk, or very similar, and the underside is basically bare wood, and the tops are "laminated," or coated in some way (I’m not a woodworker) that makes them very scratch and ink-resistant.

-glurk

P.S. – They weren’t any specially-made "left handed" desks either. Left handed kids were considered weird, and were at least attempted to be forced to write right.

Hmmm….makes me wonder if they flipped some, somehow, for those weirdos who write with their left hands.