Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1898 (Creation)
Extent
3 pages
Name of creator
Administrative history
A literary and debate club at the Model School from 1882 to 1917. The members (only young men) focused on improving their oratory skills, personal appearance, and general comportment, with one member serving as "Critic" to evaluate the boys' behavior during each meeting. The literary aspects of the Society led to the publication of "The Signal" in 1885--while it started as a literary magazine through the Thencanic, it quickly escaped the Society's control and became a general Normal/Model School periodical. This club ended when the Model School closed in 1917. This version of the Thencanic should not be confused with the later revival in the 1930s with college students.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Model School student and Thencanic Society member, ca. 1890s. Brother of Trenton historian and librarian Mary J. Messler and of fellow Thencanic member James S. Messler, all children of the prominent Trenton merchant Robert A. Messler. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148492439/benjamin_e_messler
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The first critic's report by future Thencanic Secretary Benjamin Messler shows the author's love for writing by surpassing in length every known prior report. Messler remains respectful but spares no one in the Society from his criticisms, listing problems with behavior, describing rhetorical and oratorical mistakes, and begging the Society's pardon for his remarks. Transcription included.