I recognize the balustrade that skirts the main campus, but having a hard time placing this exact building/location despite my Zaprudering. Any sharp-eyed Shorpies know which this is?

I thought the hula-hoop was invented in the 1950's. Shorpy corrects again.

[Those are rolling hoops. -tterrace]

I had the same initial reaction that the clowns looked awfully old for 21-22 year-olds, However, the photo was taken in 1920, 11 years post-graduation of the class of 1909.

Might be a tight fit.

Being university types, they lack the terrifying edge of true clowns.

C'mon everybody. It's a conga line!

Unless we're mistakenly seeing the Clown College Faculty... why does the class of '09 look like a pack of 40-year-olds? Can't really claim this is youthful hijinks...

If somebody had described this photo to me, I would have said ”No way”!

I had no idea that Columbia was a clown college. We do learn something new every day.