It began on Nov. 29, 1923 and ran for more than 70 years, becoming one of the Navy's oldest continuous internal publications. The format changed over the years. The paper's focus changed with each editor, decade and technological ad-vancement, but the mission was always the same -- to keep NTC's Sailors informed.
The Hoist's staff has fluctuated over the years. Sometimes there were as many as 30 people working on the newspaper. Other times, as few as two.
The first editor was a Navy chaplain--Clinton A. Neyman, who said in an inaugural editorial that he hoped the Hoist would "fill a need and take a big place in the life of the station."
In the first edition, Capt. David F. Sellers wrote a message to all recruits beginning with his motto "well begun is half done." The first issue was published on Nov. 29, 1923. The newspaper continued weekly for 71 consecutive years, sometimes being published on Thursdays, sometimes on Fridays or even Saturdays.
During the years, the Hoist has had some impact on the Navy as a whole, mainly as an award-winning newspaper, receiving several Chief of information Merit Awards for outstanding journalism, and as a source of top cartoons which were distributed Navywide.
The Hoist's first illustrator was Lowell E. Elliott, a cartoonist who drew a weekly comic strip called Boots. In the Hoist, his names was Elliott, but he signed his name to Boots as Elliott.
During World War 11, Walt Disney Studio artists Joe Rinaldi popu-larized a short, fat and hapless recruit called "Willy."
Because San Diego was one of the main stopping points for Sailors in the Pacific became popular with Sailors throughout the world.
Over the years, articles by Ernie Pyle and other award-winning journalists have appeared in the pages of the Hoist.
In the 1940s, women began reporting for the Hoist. A popular column that appeared was called "WAVE Chick Chat", which talked about the women at NTC and their contributions to the Navy. On June 17, 1994, citing the need to consolidate six San Diego area military newspapers, the Hoist printed its final edition. The final edition was a tribute to the first paper and was filled with memorabilia from the past. It was with a touch of irony that the Hoist ended around the time NTC's closure was announced.
The Hoist was replaced by "The Compass", a state-of-the-art metro newspaper with four sections and color photographs. Each base had their own section inside The Compass, but somehow, NTC wasn't the same without the Hoist.
Aerial Photographs