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- Nurse Noir: 1943
- ... in which he was placed.
(The Gallery, John Collier, Kids, Medicine) ... Posted by Dave - 06/19/2024 - 10:20am -
- Beached: 1942
- ... Youngsters at the beach on the Sacramento River." Kids these days! Nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Sorry Kids But in this photo the bridge wins!
Good old days Back when bridges had visible steel.
Kids Today 2013 Forgive my quick and extremely sloppy photo manipulation, ... Posted by Dave - 04/21/2023 - 10:20am -
- Donations
- ... negatives.
Red-border Kodachrome slides showing the kids, clothes, families, stores, cars, houses, streetscapes, Christmases, bar ... Posted by Dave - 06/28/2024 - 6:35pm
- Grapes of Youth: 1910
- ... have to be in this stupid picture?"
(The Gallery, DPC, Kids) ... Posted by Dave - 06/10/2024 - 10:00am -
- Candy Factory Kids: 1913
- ... to holding their breaths for 21 years or so, hoping their kids come out the other end without being completely screwed up or ... that all their childhoods were entirely robbed, though. Kids have always worked, until very recently. Why do you think farm families ... Posted by Dave - 11/03/2009 - 5:45pm -
![October 1913. Dallas, Texas. "A few of the young workers in Hughes Brothers Candy Factory, South Ervay Street. I counted five going and coming at night and at noon, that appeared to be from 12 to 15 years old. One girl told me that she is 13 years old, 'but we have to tell them we're 15. I run a chocolate machine.' " Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
The Chocolate FactoryHow many of the boys here were named Charlie?
"Robbed of their childhood?""Robbed of their childhood"? Spare me. Childhood today consists of a pampered, entitled existence, devoid of imagination, cluttered with electronic entertainment devices and other brain-deadening paraphernalia, their days filled with pre-planned, adult-supervised "activities" (youth sports, play dates, etc.), their parents reduced to holding their breaths for 21 years or so, hoping their kids come out the other end without being completely screwed up or over-diagnosed with some sort of "syndrome", and at least reasonably capable of actually living on their own without Mommy and Daddy sending them a check every other week. The youngsters depicted in many of these photographs grew up with notions of responsibility, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency that seem almost quaint in today's world. God bless them!
Like a kid in a...If I had to pick between being a breaker boy in a coal mine, and running a "chocolate machine" - I'm pretty sure which one I'd pick.
Some conditions for child labor were admittedly awful. I think its a bit of a stretch to melodramatically delare that all their childhoods were entirely robbed, though. Kids have always worked, until very recently. Why do you think farm families had 6+ kids? And farm work is consistently one of the most dangerous working environments there is.
If this is really Deep Ellum, there will be a tattoo parlor just out of frame.
Workin' kidsWhen I was a kid, I had a paper route, worked in fields and any other job I could find. Still had time to be a kid too. I would wonder how many hours a day the kids worked and whether they were afforded time for school work. I sure agree that today's kids are pampered too much. I try to keep my 11 year old daughter busy with daily jobs around the house, but she still has lots of time to do kid things too.
Oh Wow!A kid, working in a candy factory. How lucky can you get? When I was a kid I worked in a chicken house shoveling you know what.
Another timeLife was hard for our working class ancestors. Mom kept house with little money and cared for the small children. Often she took in other people's laundry and mending to make some money. Dad worked six days a week for low pay as a farm worker or factory laborer. Those families needed the income from their children's labor on the farm or in the factories to survive.
Historic buildingThe Hughes Brothers building is south of downtown Dallas in the Cedars, which was a Jewish neighborhood around 100 years ago, next to Old City Park, where several historic buildings have been relocated, including the Millermore mansion. The factory is said to have produced "the first African-American soda pop."
Today"Robbed of their childhood" would be letting them sit in front of a game console, television or computer.
Working KidI spent my first 27 years of life working on a dairy farm. At 5, I had daily chores. At 11 years old, I was tall enough to reach the clutch on the Case tractor and was put to work in the fields operating heavy machinery. At 14 I drove the farm truck to and from the fields (what a great non emissioned 350 V8 that truck had!). I ended up just fine even though I worked most of my childhood. Work at an early age teaches responsibility and a good work ethic.
How sadAll these photos showing child workers makes me think how terribly sad on how all these children were thoroughly robbed of their entire childhood.
Where were all the adults? Taking a perpetual siesta? I know it was a totally different era and different culture, but still!
["Robbed of their childhood"? Oh brother. - Dave]
Hasn't Changed MuchThe Hughes building is still standing in Dallas and the loading dock at the back of the building looks much the same.
View Larger Map
Spare Me.Right, all of us worked, and are just fine. None of us were alive in 1913. I suspect most of us are baby-boomers. So none of us can speak with much authority of how things were at the time this photo was taken.
We're not talking about working for your dad on the farm, or picking up an early paper route before school. I know that gives us the warm fuzzies.
We're talking about six days a week, backbreaking labor, which these children were forced by economic circumstances to undertake. Apples and oranges, people, apples and oranges.
[Work in a fabric mill (and, I would imagine, the candy factory) was not exactly "backbreaking." - Dave]
Not exactly "backbreaking"?I'm curious, Dave. What are you thoughts on child labor laws? It appears from your frequent comments on the matter that you feel that children should be allowed to work from the time they can walk, and not only should we be able to force them to work, but we should be able to force them to work around dangerous machinery, and, Yes, be robbed of their childhoods (oh, the horror!, says Dave). What an unbelievably deranged point of view you have. Do you actually believe that these children had a marvelous existence? If so, you're deluding yourself.
Did you ever wonder why so many of these photographs of this era showed nothing but grinding poverty? It wasn't because the photographers were trying to earn their keep by finding sensational subjects. It was because it was so damn easy to find. Use your head: these kids weren't having fun working in candy factory. You can sugar coat it all you want (ha ha), but child labor was nothing but a disgrace. And child labor laws were a godsend to generations of children.
I'm not expecting this comment to be published, but I sure as hell hope that you read it. One has to wonder, what do you have against kids? Kid loses his arm in a thresher? Apparently, you wouldn't have a problem with that: kids gotta work, and that's what happens. Your attitude is nothing short of sickening.
[Evidently the pills aren't working. - Dave]
Child labor my a--My fondest memories as a "child" are not of hanging around the neighborhood with nothing to do, bored out of my face, but of the summers spent working on a farm. Hard work? Yes. Rewarding? Very. Great pay? Back then, I was able to stretch it out the entire year until harvest started up again. Oh, and at 12 I was able to reach the clutch.
Nuff SaidGranted that in many families during the era it was imperative for children to work in order for the families to survive, since no government handouts were available. Child labor laws came into being because of the long working hours and, in many places, horrid and unsafe working conditions. The long hours prevented many children from obtaining anything close to literacy and doomed them to a lifetime of poverty and manual labor. Fortunately, and as many posters have already said, the grueling labor suffered by these children resulted in them becoming resilient, responsible, and able to persevere in the face of future hardships....but at what cost.
(The Gallery, Factories, Lewis Hine)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/04903u.thumbnail.jpg "Candy Factory Kids: 1913")
- The Kids' Table: 1940
- ... is grossing out the poor little girl to his left at the kids' table with a gigantic bite of mashed potatoes in a wide-open mouth.
The infamous kids' table When you're a kid, you want to sit at the main table. As an ... Posted by Dave - 11/21/2018 - 10:22am -
- Small Fry: 1943
- ... Marco.
That's what the eyes told me.
(The Gallery, Kids, Marjory Collins, NYC, Stores & Markets) ... Posted by Dave - 05/24/2024 - 10:26pm -
- Bring the Kids: 1938
- ... like old men. They dress like they did when they were kids.
Fabulous pic!
The Sting Looks like a young Robert Redford and ... I'm still not as dressed up as the child on the right.
Kids at the fair It's entirely possible that the kid with the hat has an ... Posted by Dave - 06/03/2008 - 11:13am -
- Forest Brook: 1956
- ... of the classroom. Even with the photographer present, the kids appear to be gazing out the window. Maybe she needed to be that close to ... with the 1923 high school. Of ocurse, they house far fewer kids than they did then.
Several years later I was attending a Catholic ... Posted by Dave - 02/14/2013 - 7:14am -
![November 8, 1956. "Forest Brook Elementary School, Hauppauge, Long Island. Classroom and teacher." For those of a certain demographic, this may strike a chord. Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
We never did that.I grew up in the suburbs around Akron, Ohio, and we never had a bomb drill or duck-and-cover drill ever. All of my peers that grew up in other places had those drills, which has led me to a couple of possible theories. One, that we had some sort of pacifists in our local administration that refused to take part in the Cold War(unlikely). Or two, that we were so close to potential industrial targets that there was simply no point in hoping for survival... Better to go out in the first flash.
[Never had them in my grade school years 1952-1960 in Larkspur, California, either, nor was I aware at the time that they were going on anywhere. -tterrace]
Lighting fixturesWe had very similar fixtures in my Elementary School about ten years after this, ours had a large bulb with the bottom painted silver sticking through the center though.
They were probably ancient even in 1966.
X marks the spotI'm not sure if it looked that way in 1956, but Forest Brook today has a strange shape, what you might get if Picasso or Dali had been asked to draw the letter X.
Hauppague today is a densely populated community, home to most of Suffolk County's government (though Riverhead is the actual county seat) and a huge industrial park, but back in 1956 it was on the frontier of suburbanization. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the students in this picture were the children of farmers.
You will not leave this house dressed like thatIt would be three years before I entered first grade about 20 miles west of Hauppauge. The New York City Board of Education had a much less relaxed dress code. Boys from first grade on had to wear ties. Jeans and sneakers were not permitted. On school assembly day everyone was required to wear a white shirt or blouse and the boys had to wear red ties. Of course by the time we were graduating from high school there were still strict dress standards, but they only applied to the teachers.
Smelementary SchoolThose wooden desks were washed and cleaned before classes three months ago, and the floors are waxed weekly.
All the girls are in skirts or dresses, and the boys are well groomed and always polite. After all, no one wants to get called down to the school office!
Plus, there's a great lineup of cars out the window, in case a little daydreaming is in order, but only for a few seconds at a time. By the way, you can smell today's newfangled hot lunch almost ready to serve, down the hall.
Let there be photonsMy elementary school (Horace Mann in Burbank, Calif.) had the same light fixtures, although we had four to a room. Each contained one ≈500 watt bulb; the bottom of the bulb was obscured by a silver coating. When a bulb was nearing the end of its service life, it would usually emit a high-pitched squeal. The teacher would then cycle the light switch off and on several times, killing the bulb and throttling the distracting squeal.
Reading MaterialMost of the children have notebooks, many children seem to have the Spell and Write workbook, and the young man in the lower left (just behind the girl in the foreground) has the Air Raid Instruction booklet on his desk.
My First Year of School1956 was my first year of school in Houston. Would have loved to have been able to wear blue jeans and shirt tails out but HISD rules at the time (and almost all the way through my HS years) said no blue jeans, no t-shirts, no shirt tails out for boys and skirts/dresses only for girls.
Hard to believe especially since the schools weren't air conditioned in HISD except for offices and a few other classrooms (science for one)until after I graduated in 1968.
No duck and cover drills for us until the Cuban missile crisis when we were told Houston would be a first strike target due the refineries throughout the Houston area. We had an air raid siren right next to the window in my 5th grade class that went off each Friday at noon. I also thought to myself that if the Russians were smart they would attack at noon on Friday!
Star pupils or problem children?Teacher has all that space in front of the classroom for her desk but it's right up close to those pupils at the far end of the classroom. Even with the photographer present, the kids appear to be gazing out the window. Maybe she needed to be that close to keep their attention for any length of time. I wonder if modern medicine is overused in favor of such simple solutions.
Maybe I'll send the first grade picture (1960) from my Catholic school in New Jersey. It's a bright, clean classroom like the one shown here but it's packed tight with baby boomers, all in navy blue and white uniforms, with Sister in her black and white habit up front.
1956 RebelAlright, who's the non-conformist on staff who just had to park facing the wrong way?
Sturdy Desks and the "Good Old Days"Those sturdy desks are perfect for the inevitable "Flash Drills" of the era, in which the principal would come into the room unannounced and write "FLASH" on the blackboard, causing all of us students to "duck and cover" to avoid instant nuclear incineration. I'm not sure how much good it would have done in a real attack, but it was the only tool in the drawer.
Also, I'm surprised the windows don't have the standard heavy blackout curtains, which were handy not only for viewing nmovies but to keep enemy bombers from spotting stray lights at night.
And a decade laterI started public school a decade later, in a building constructed in 1961. And it was exactly like this, light fixtures, desks, and all. Most of the teachers were young then (and exactly one man, who I got in fifth grade) but I started out with Mrs. Lord, the white-haired wife of the principal, who could have stepped out of any 1910 school administrator picture with naught more than a change of collar. However in my day the fellow with the open shirt front there would have been made to neaten himself up.
Beautiful Schools but the Russians are coming!I began my second semester of kindergarden in January of 1953 in newly built grade school on the west side of Detroit. We immediately began having fire and air raid drills. For air raids we descended into the basement of the school which was actually the main tunnel of the air circulation system. Some times when we went down the stairs during a drill, the big fan would still be rotating after being shut down. We had to sit along the walls and cover our heads. To condition us further the lights would be turned off for a short period of time. I switched to a newly built parochial grade school for the fourth grade on. No basement, so we sat in the main hallway between the class rooms and covered our heads. Both schools had class rooms identical to Forest Brook. To add to the tension, the nearby Rouge Park had a Nike missile battery. The missiles were normally hidden behind a high earth berm, but they were visible when frequently pointed skyward for testing. The AM radio frequencies of 640 and 1240 were permanently etched into our memory.
DrillsI'm exactly the right age for these memories, but except for a few very early instances that were termed "air raid," all our drills were of the fire kind. No duck, no cover - and this just north of San Francisco, with its own battery of Nike missiles by the Golden Gate - in plain view if you took a spin along the Marin Headlands. We all just marched outside. The only time we had to put our practice to use was for a 1957 earthquake centered just south of SF but sharp enough in Larkspur to get us squealing in our fifth grade classroom before the alarm sounded and we made our orderly exit.
"Silver Tooth"I was in the ninth grade in fall of 56. All of the new schools I attended in the late 40's and 50's had those windows and the 9 inch floor tiles. I believe the teacher's desk was in that position only for this pic. One memory came to me in a flash when I saw the tiles. In the 4th grade on the last day of school as I was swinging between desks I did a face plant on the green floor tiles. The impact broke off two of my front teeth below the nerves and the family dentist fixed them with silver caps that stayed that way until I turned 21.
Blue Jeans?I was in 5th grade at the time, in a far western suburb of Chicago. What I remember was the enormous spending on shiny new schools back then. My mom was a teacher, back when teaching was a respected profession, teachers were proud of what they did for a living and grateful for the $6,000 a year they were paid.
That and the rule against blue jeans. Strictly verboten in my school system. They looked "hoo-dy", pronounced with "hoo" as the first syllable, and were a a well known precursor for the dreaded juvenile delinquency during adolescence and a life of crime and depravity later on. Without that rule, thank goodness and a vigilant school board, I probably would have a criminal record by now.
Good Ol' '56I was in third grade in Hempstead, Long Island then. Ike was president and the world 'champeen' Brooklyn Dodgers would win another pennant only to lose once more to the Yanks. Anybody who wore dungarees (as jeans were called then) in my school district would have been sent home to change to proper attire and an open shirt would catch you a stiff reprimand. Nobody knew what a school bus was and schools were not in the restaurant business for anybody. There was a lot to like about those days.
Fond MemoriesI was in 1st grade at that time and our classroom in suburban Chicago looked very much like this one. Someone mentioned getting called down to the office. There was nothing worse than hearing your name on the PA system to report to the principal. Every kid in school knew you were probably in deep doo doo. As for the non-conformist staff member who backed into his spot, these types have always been around and still are today. They'd rather waste extra time and endure the hassle of backing into a parking spot just so they can pull out with ease at the end of the day. Never understood that logic.
The Joys of childhoodI would have been 9 years old when this photo was taken. I was attending "Summer Avenue School" at that time. It was an old three story brick building. We had the kind of desks that bolted to the floor so they couldn't be moved even if you wanted to do so. The seat was actually part of the desk behind you and folded up automatically when you stood up. The top of the desk was hinged at the front so that you could lift it up and put you books and such inside. Oh Yes, they had the obligatory inkwell hole in them as well, but never any ink.
Summer Avenue School still stands but is now known as Roberto Clemente Elementary School.
The desksStarting I guess in the late 40s that blonde style of wood came very much into vogue for furniture. Notice, they're the first generation of school desk withOUT a hole for an inkwell. We had ball point pens by then, no more dipping a nub into india ink. And no more opportunities for dunking the pigtail of the little girl in front of you into the ink!
The furthest cornersAh, those desks. In the later grades of elementary school we ate our lunches in the classroom, and the kid in front of me used to stuff the parts of his lunch he didn’t want into the deepest recesses, behind books and other trash. It got very ripe, and one day the teacher followed her nose to Robert G.’s desk and made him excavate the smelly mess. I will leave the rest to everyone’s imaginations.
4th grade for meDecatur Street elementary. I think the building was probably built at the turn of the last century. And probably the teachers. We had the well worn student desks that you find in the antique shops now for a pretty penny. The one with the ink well and indentation for a pencil with the seat back and foldup seat on the front of your desk. We had 12' ceilings, oiled wood floors that the janitor put sawdust down on daily to use his pushbroom on, kept the dust down.
Old School, New SchoolI started the first grade in 1954 in rural Kansas. We were in a building that had been built in 1911 and only housed six grades. The 7th and 8th grades were in the high school. The bathrooms, the lunchroom, and the art room were all in the basement, and we had music in a one-teacher school building that had been moved into town and put behind the school. The 1911 building was probably a horrible firetrap, although there was a metal fire escape on the back from the second floor down. The district built a new school in 1956, and we moved in in February 1957, when I was in the third grade. It looked much like the one in the photo, except that we had metal desks. No dress code--nearly all the boys wore jeans. That 1956 building is still in use, along with the 1923 high school. Of ocurse, they house far fewer kids than they did then.
Several years laterI was attending a Catholic school in a much older building further west on Long Island -- still vividly remember our "duck & cover" drills as I was the smart-alack who asked how a wooden desk would keep us from burning to a cinder.
As for the cafeteria, no hot lunch then; if you forgot your brown bag (no lunch money; you were not permitted to leave the premises) you might have been lucky enough to be escorted across the street to the convent for a PB&J sandwich.
The uniforms were ghastly -- white shirt, dark maroon tie with the school shield on it, and dark grey slacks with black piping down the outside seam. Girls wore a white blouse with a snap tie, grey plaid skirt (that was always rolled up at the waist after leaving the house, and a matching bolero. Once out of sixth grade boys wore a blue plaid tie & girls could wear a -- *gasp* -- blouse of color.
Reminds me of another picture here of young girls wearing skirts in the dead of winter; evil little Catholic boys that we were, we'd spend the lunch hour in the schoolyard assaulting the bare-legged victims by snapping rubber-bands on their frozen legs.
Not non-conformism. Safety!I've worked at a school for years and even though I'm not much of a rebel, I've always backed into the parking space. The logic is simple: you have to back up when you arrive or when you leave, and it's safer to back *in* to a space when there are few or no children around (an hour or two before school starts) than to back *out* of a space when children are running all around at the end of the school day (of course, one should triple-check either time). I often back into shopping center parking spaces using the same reasoning: if there's no one around when I arrive, it's safer to back up then than later when there might be a lot of people about. I knew a man many years ago who fatally backed over his 4-year-old daughter in their driveway and that tragedy changed my thinking on this permanently.
Reminds me of...Sutton Elementary School, southwest Houston, 1971 to 1973. The building was built in the late 50s and had those same big windows, but by that time we had the one piece metal desks with the big opening beneath for your books.
Few years laterI was in the first grade in a Catholic school in NYC. We had fire drills but no under the desk kiss your butt goodbye stuff. Nuns ruled the roost in those days. Midget Gestapo agents all in black with a yardstick bigger than them which was used to get you back in line if you misbehaved. I remember the first day of 2nd grade while us kids were waiting for school to open and my mom approached me to wipe my nose and the nun smacked her hand saying "he belongs to us now!" Ah memories...
Patty Duke, Ben Gazzara, Gene Hackman were some of the actors who lived in the area, Kips Bay, and might have even attended my school at one time.
"Snaggletooth"I can sympathize with jimmylee42. I broke a front tooth in much the same way at my school in the fourth grade. It was the winter of '63-'64.
When the weather was exceptionally cold, they would open the gym for the early kids to come inside before classes started. Although the details are vague now, someone said I was tripped by a bully while I was running around. In a family of four siblings my folks couldn't afford to get my missing tooth capped for years. So one of my nicknames throughout grade school was "Snaggletooth"... not one of my fonder memories. I finally got a white tooth cap just before I started senior high after we moved to Florida.
I wonder how my Alabama classmates would remember me now?
Yes, the Memories!I would have been right in this age range, near as I can tell from looking at the kids. That would have made it my first year out of parochial school, escaped from 4th grade under the rule(r)Sister Rita Jean, she who was Evil Incarnate.
Best memory was teacher telling me, "David! Stop moving your desk around. It makes me think we're having an earthqu... Everyone - outside!!"
DaveB
WonderfulGrade school in Alexandria, Louisiana. Very familiar classrooms, with the good Nun up front to keep [or try to keep] us on the right path.
Bayou View SchoolThis reminds me of Mrs Powell's 2nd grade class at Bayou View School in Gulfport, Ms, c.1955.
Fast ForwardTwenty years later I attended a school built in the early 1940s. This reminds me of those old classrooms in some respects with the desks all lined up in rows, large windows and undoubtedly a large slate chalkboard just out of view. I notice that the teacher's chair is a sturdy wooden straight back chair - no comfortable office chairs here! Also, only a two drawer filing cabinet? I don't think I've ever seen one that small in a classroom. I teach school now and while this brings back memories (even the light fixtures), it's amazingly different today.
Green ThumbThe teacher has quite a spartan setup, but I love the line of flowers along the windowsill! What a lovely touch that would be in a classroom.
This was a fun photo and I enjoyed the comments. My parents were born in 1954 and I really like seeing and reading about what that might have been like.
I grew up in that town!I didn't go to this school, but grew up in Smithtown--where this school actually was; not Hauppauge. I was in elementary from 1990-1995, when times were much different. As a teacher I love seeing how it was then.
Love this photo but makes me sadIf I could push a button and go back in time and be someone someplace in the past, I'd be on my way to being one of the kids in that classroom. This is public school education when it was about education.
(The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, Kids)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_5a24730u.thumbnail.jpg "Forest Brook: 1956")
- Class Portrait: 1940
- ... first to dig up a yearbook for this school and ID these kids? It would be fascinating to find out what became of them. Especially Angry ... see the ones who complied: the ones in the front (the good kids) and the girls. The ones sitting in the back (trouble), and most of the ... Posted by Dave - 07/30/2010 - 11:47am -
!["Montgomery High School students." An amusing (or maybe unsettling) class portrait from Montgomery County, Maryland. The Library of Congress says circa 1936; we've found a number of clues that narrow it down to 1939-40. See the comments for details. National Photo Company safety negative. View full size.
A ClueAssuming that's a photo of Churchill, he wasn't PM in 1936.
[Close, but not the smoking gun. - Dave]
DatesI believe the picture of Churchill dates from WW2. What movie is the Erroll Flynn picture from? I think it's "The Sea Hawk" from 1940.
[I was thinking that might be a cropped version of Karsh's famous portrait of Winnie but it's not. - Dave]
Why it's later than '36For one thing, the publicity still of Errol Flynn is from "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex," and that was made in 1939.
[Bingo! Although I'll bet there are other clues as well. - Dave]
One more thing...Bobby Sox.
John Garfielddidn't make his first film until 1938.
W.C.Perhaps that wasn't what you were looking for, but why would a classroom have a photo of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is what he was in 1936.
Class ProjectSo who'll be the first to dig up a yearbook for this school and ID these kids? It would be fascinating to find out what became of them. Especially Angry Boy in the middle. And that girl on the left -- what a beauty.
Angry BoyI was thinking the kid at the back with the glasses looking towards the camera is Angry Boy. He looks like he's about to go postal. Guy in the middle looks like Bursting for a Pee Boy.
Montgomery High MemoriesThis is a classroom in the old Montgomery High in Rockville. The school was torn down after being gutted by fire in 1940.
How Do I Look?Caught the 'Elizabeth and Essex' photo, but being a girl, I checked out the fashions. Shorter skirts, saddle shoes and moccasins worn with bobby sox, and the long hair on half the young ladies point to the very late '30's-early '40's.
Does the kid at the bulletin board have a mustache? Was that allowed?
Held BackI believe the young man in the 2nd row is the most explosive, because he's probably been held back a few times. He looks about 4 years older than the rest (including the guy with the mustache) and appears to be much bigger than the rest. All joking that aside, If this was around 1940, those boys were going to be in a shooting war very shortly. That makes the photo more serious.
Casual or FormalIs there any clue that these students knew ahead of time that their picture was going to be taken this particular day? Although people dressed better in school back then, I'm curious if this is really a candid shot, or if they might have dressed a little differently for this occasion (specifically Bursting For a Pee Boy).
And why is the kid on the far left reading his book sideways?
I do believethat that is a portrait of Hedy Lamarr next to ol' Errol.
Cross ReaderNotice the boy far left, front row. Everyone else is reading the book normally. He's reading it crosswise or maybe not at all. Maybe he's thinking about the pretty one sitting to his left!
Look BusyAs a teacher, I can make much of what's going on here. Obviously the students were told to look busy. You see the ones who complied: the ones in the front (the good kids) and the girls. The ones sitting in the back (trouble), and most of the boys (with one lone girl peeking) are stealing glances at the camera. Some things don't change.
The ClassThey look so young, but at the same time they look so old!
Other Classroom StarsBetween the two standing girls, Tyrone Power; second to the right of Errol Flynn, Paul Muni and Luise Rainer, stars of 1937's The Good Earth; two more to the right, possibly Miriam Hopkins, but I won't swear; likewise below her looks like Joel McCrea.
School's out for summerThe date of the fire that gutted RM High School was Thursday, March 7, 1940, early in the morning. The blaze was so spectacular that it threatened other parts of the city, and response was called in from six other cities.
The Churchill photoThe Churchill photo would have NO REASON AT ALL of being on a wall in a US classroom unless it was after he became PM in WWII.
[Well, yes it would. In fact it appeared in the January 9, 1939, issue of Life magazine, which had a photoessay on Churchill. A photo from the same session was the cover of the September 4, 1939, issue of Time. Churchill was something of a celebrity in the U.S. well before he became prime minister -- his mother was American. At the start of World War 2 in 1939, when Britain declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, it was generally recognized that Neville Chamberlain was through and that Churchill would be England's war leader. - Dave]
Parenthetically - That girl behind Angry Boy - the one in glasses - is genuinely lovely, and she'd be a knockout if she ditched that “Comrade Librarian” look.
Hottie SpotterThat chick in the front row, far right side is total hottie!
A bit of Hedy in your cellphone!She's downright beautiful, and smart: co-inventor of "Secret Communication System" technology submitted for US patent in June, 1941 and patent was granted in August, 1942.
Back then, this frequency hopping method was well ahead of technology that could support it, but the spread-spectrum principle is used in today in cellphone and WiFi communication gear.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr for details.
Never Gonna Give You UpCould that be a time-traveling Rick Astley, second from the right?
[And right behind him: John-Boy Walton. - Dave]
Yo, tterraceWould have been here sooner, but I had a hurricane to contend with. I think Miriam Hopkins might actually be Claire Trevor. Not sure about Joel Mcrea, but I don't have any alternative candidates to propose.
That's just about the sissiest picture of John Garfield I have ever seen in my short life!
EsotericaNow where else on the web are you gonna get an old classroom photo with two disparate song references to the likes of Rick Astley and Mambo #5?
Mystery Star, neither Miriam nor ClaireThat pic is of Gladys George.
Gladys GeorgeGood catch, Highney. I should have recognized her, since she has memorable character parts in three movies in my collection: opposite Cagney in The Roaring Twenties (1938), as Miles Archer's duplicitous widow Iva opposite Bogart in The Maltese Falcon (1941), and with Kirk Douglas in Detective Story (1951). Rather tragic personal life, unfortunately; check her bio in the Internet Movie Database.
Panama SmithOy, I am chagrined. GG had the best line in the movie (Roaring Twenties) and one of the all time classic tag lines...
"He used to be a big shot."
One possibilityThe fellow with the 'sideways' book could actually be looking at a picture; they were sometimes printed that way when they were much wider than tall, so wouldn't fit otherwise.
That BoyMy family is from Rockville - my grandmother graduated from Montgomery High School in 1933, my mom graduated from Richard Montgomery (the newer name) in 1960, and I have a lot of other relatives who attended that school. I showed this picture to my mom to see if she recognized anyone and she immediately said she knew the "about to burst" boy. His name was Frank (she couldn't remember his last name) and he had cerebral palsy. She remembers that when she was a child, he sold Fuller brushes in their neighborhood.
1940 Richard Montgomery HS YearbookPage 28 of the Richard Montgomery Yearbook -- The Rocket (via Ancestry.com) shows this classroom and a description of "Junior English". The pictures on the wall on the left are the same as those in the photo here, though the back wall has different pictures, and none of the students match up. Page 6 of the yearbook shows a crowd of people watching the school burn and page 8 describes the fire - no one was injured and all the school records were saved.
(The Gallery, Education, Schools, Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/28266u_0.thumbnail.jpg "Class Portrait: 1940")
- Waiting: 1940
- ... the frightened ones?
Did you hear the falling bombs?
Kids Today The next time I see some spoiled kid whine about getting their ... taken away for a day…
Their eyes To these kids, the bombs dropping was real. I'm trying to look in their eyes and see ... Posted by Dave - 06/11/2008 - 4:15pm -
![England, 1940-41. "Battle of Britain. Children in an English bomb shelter." British Information Service/U.S. Office of War Information. View full size.
FrighteningThis is perhaps one of the most frightening photographs I've ever seen.
Blue SkyDid you see the frightened ones?
Did you hear the falling bombs?
Kids TodayThe next time I see some spoiled kid whine about getting their stupid cell phone privileges taken away for a day…
Their eyesTo these kids, the bombs dropping was real. I'm trying to look in their eyes and see fear, but I hardly do. In fact, they seem to be almost amused.
I wonder how I, as a dad, would prepare my children to see the horrors of war. I honestly don't know how I would handle it. That's got to be one of the saddest and most difficult tasks a father must do.
Those frightened facesI just finished reading Judith Kerr's trilogy Out Of the Hitler Time- an autobiography of her childhood fleeing Germany, being a Jewish refugee in France and then England. Her description of the normalcy of life before the bombing, then what it was like to be in a building when the one next door was demolished, was one of the most vivid accounts I have read.
Judith Kerr would be about the age of the dark haired girl in the photo who is on the verge of becoming a young lady.
I wonder what happened to these children. I wonder if any are still alive and if they know they are on the Internet today.
Great picture"The next time I see some spoiled kid whine about having his xBox taken off for a month..."
My thoughts exactly.
And yes, this needs to be set to Pink Floyd music.
FacesI find it interesting to look at the expressions on the kids' faces.
Some look amused, others curious, some worried, one scared. Some of the older kids are holding the younger ones. All are looking up to see if the planes are coming.
The trench itself looks awfully flimsy... makes me wonder how many people died in trench collapses instead of the falling bombs.
Bomb shelterI have seen this picture before. The children are looking at British Spitfires fighting German Messerschmitts. Still a dangerous place to be.
Children of WarNightly bombings of Britain were so numerous that they became expected, even by children. There aren't any "spoiled" kids in this trench.
Maybe they don't look scaredMaybe they don't look scared because this is a staged photo. They are all looking in different directions.
[There's no reason for them to be looking in one direction. - Dave]
British Kids in the WarMy dad (b1928) has many stories of German bombing in Plymouth (UK) that show the mix of fear and excitement that children feel when exposed to danger beyond their understanding. With his friends he collected shrapnel, spent bullets and other souvenirs. He enjoyed the fires, explosions, sirens, searchlights, tracers, exploring bombed buildings, and plane spotting. He and his friends tried to set an unexploded incendiary bomb off by hitting it with bricks and then by putting it on a bonfire. Neither worked! He describes his class rushing as a mob to the windows of their school in Devonport to watch a Rescue Squad remove bodies and body parts from a large public air-raid shelter in the park opposite. Everyone in it, he thinks about 40 people, had been killed by a direct hit the night before. He was taken to see a dead German airman hanging by his parachute from a tree. He thought it was a laugh having all the windows at the back of his house blown out by a near miss. What wasn't funny was the winter nights in a wet unheated Anderson Shelter in the back garden. Or waiting 3 days for his father to come home after a raid (no-one knew where he was because he'd been trapped in a collapsed shelter, fortunately uninjured apart from being deafened in one ear). Nor did he enjoy being evacuated to live with strangers whilst his family stayed in danger. He was close enough to Plymouth to know when it was being raided. There was no telephone and he had to wait for a letter to know if they were OK; getting a telegram was feared because it meant death or injury. Almost no sweets and no imported fruit like oranges and bananas. Rationing didn't completely end in Britain until 1954 and dad still laughs at many WW2 Hollywood films because they get the details wrong by scattering the set with consumer goods that were extremely rare at the time due to U-Boats and a war economy. Incidentally, many thanks to the US for saving Europe then and for many good deeds since. Not the place here but it's sad that the nation that's been the biggest single force for good in the world since 1941 is so widely hated! (If you want to know the answer, it's because Uncle Sam is Homer Simpson. Kind, well-meaning, decent but ignorant, tactless, insensitive, greedy...)
Hero's ReturnJesus, Jesus, what's it all about?
Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape.
When I was their age all the lights went out.
There was no time to whine or mope about.
-Roger Waters
(The Gallery, Kids, WW2)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/8e07558u_0.thumbnail.jpg "Waiting: 1940")
- Beach Policeman: 1922
- ... time!
Re: Sad Just because some bratty little kids dress in very little at all doesn't mean they're pretending to be filming ... Posted by Ken - 08/31/2022 - 12:51am -
![ Commemorating the Potomac Thighway Patrol's 100th anniversary, and one of Shorpy's most popular posts --
June 30, 1922. "Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach after Col. Sherrill, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that suits not be over six inches above the knee." 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
This poor guy would have a stroke......if he could see what our high schoolers are wearing to summer school this summer. I honestly don't know where to put my eyes.
And obesity does NOT stop them from wearing too little and revealing too much. I wish I could "un-see" some of this summer's ensembles! (Rolls of exposed fat, ripples, dimples, man breasts, and so much more...)
Side note: What you are hearing in the media about the increase of obesity among America's young people is true. As they entered the building today with their doughnuts and Gatorades and Rock Stars (breakfast they buy at convenience stores on the way to school!), I realized that the summer FACULTY is more trim and fit than the summer school STUDENT BODY. Of course, we *do* have a lot of coaches, male and female, working this summer, but still...
Oh my God, it's the REALOh my God, it's the REAL bikini inspector!
Bathing Suits RequirementsNo kidding! My grandmother was arrested in the early 1900's for showing too much leg at a beach on Lake Michigan. Great pictures.... Al . Sacramento, Ca.
Modesty, Please!Today he'd be looking for thongs. I wonder what the next step is.
Looking upI'm sure he hated his job!! Yeah right!!
Today he couldlook for bulbous folks who have no business wearing Spandex
My only question is...Where are the beaches in Washington, DC?!?!
[Along the Potomac or Anacostia rivers. This is probably near the Tidal Basin. - Dave]
Beaches in DCIs that the Washington Monument in the distance? With the Smithsonian Castle over to the right? That might put this at the swimming beach where the Jefferson Memorial is now.
Its a tough jobbut somebody's got to do it!!!
heaven forbidmen see more flesh than is already present...they just wouldn't be able to control themselves...monsters that they are...
RE: This poor guy would have a stroke...Awww... but these are sure some nice pictures on this site, eh?
sadthis picture is so disheartening. not saying that measuring women's bathing suits isn't a bit humiliating and patronizingly obnoxious, but why are our teenagers pretending they're porn stars?!
["Pretending"? - Dave]
MemoriesI remember being a kid and having someone measure the distance between my knee and my shorts. Even though you knew what you wore was long enough, it never stopped the butterflies caused by wondering if the man doing the measuring was going to think they were too short! What an embarrassing time!
Re: SadJust because some bratty little kids dress in very little at all doesn't mean they're pretending to be filming an adult movie. I'm sure there are people at the time of this picture who were offended by the girl's skimpy suits, but you don't really have to go off calling them porn stars.
Beach policemanNotice how they aren't measuring the men.
Well, look at the girls.Well, look at the girls. He's more like the "cover yourself up, fatty" inspector. Too bad we don't have those today...
Re: Well, look at the girls.You're an idiot. That's what real women used to look like before the media and anorexia started coming down on everyone. You think they had Twinkies and Ding Dongs back then to gorge on, while sitting in front of the TV? Those girls are not overweight. Your tiny mind has been warped by today's sick society.
D.C. "beach"The area where the Jefferson Memorial is today was once a segregated public beach.
Good Work If You Can Get ItSo, did she pass inspection?
I Knew It!I've suspected for some time that my job sucked. Now I have photographic proof!
The SwimmerI like that she's leaning forward. I'm pretty sure that'll slide the fabric down at least a little. Way to work the system, bathing suit girl!
Double Standards???I don't see any men in the picture, but do notice the boys in the background are wearing essentially the same outfits, which modern boys would consider somewhat uncomfortable, I'd bet.
You can see from the marks……above her knees that she had taken off her stockings only a short time before the picture was taken.
For the sake of HumanityIt's obvious that what our parents taught us didn't matter to us, nor did they care for their parents as well. People had envy for their integrity and honor, and people cared for one another as if they were family, it's sad to see our world slope down to a level beyond wearing bikinis, to a level where we are happy how our children become more and more as adults to copy what we call "celebrities" and where short skirts and show skin. In my search I have found the answer and the solution to this problem, I have found a religion so great. Over time and as skin began to increase people see it as being normal, and that covering up is so abnormal, demeaning and a violation to one's rights, it's the beginning of humanity where Adam and Eve try to cover up, it's in our nature, in reality I found what integrity really means, to me and my family. Although I am double searched at airports because of my religion but in the end I am happy and can lift my head up high, and be proud of our honor, and what we have become in a hateful and evil world.
[So in this evil, bikini-wearing world, you're finally feeling good about yourself? Super. - Dave]
On Our KneesWhen one can determine what the appropriate amount is required to be modest, then the only fashion will be that one definition... A lot of people need to evolve..
Hmmm. 1922?Nice pic - but perhaps the foreground images are a little bright, sharp and contrasty for a 1922 image? And a right click of the mouse and a quick squizz at the image properties reveal the use of a $25,000 Sinar digital camera back - and Photoshop CS3. Surely digitizing with a normal film or flatbed scanner would have been more appropriate? I do hope I'm wrong and that they are the real thing but...... Hmmmm.
[These images were digitized using a Sinar 54 scan back and then adjusted for contrast and turned from tiffs into jpegs with Photoshop CS3. - Dave]
ScannerDon't get your point - I would expect you to use a scanner - either a film or flatbed type - to scan these rather than a digital camera. Just curious to know why all the pix on the site put through the Sinar look slightly unnatural for their time, that's all. Maybe we're all used to faded images from the period.
[You wouldn't use a film scanner because there is no film -- these images were recorded on glass plates the size of windowpanes. Flatbed scanners are more suited to reflective media (prints) than transmissive media (glass plates, film transparencies, negatives). Plus, flatbed scanners would be much too slow. The single-exposure scan back (in this instance, made by the Swiss firm Sinar) is standard equipment in a lot of archival facilities where hundreds or thousands of images have to be processed every day. The principle behind each scanning method is the same, though -- light shines through the transmissive media being digitized and hits a semiconductor array. - Dave]
NecklacesThey have to be mother and daughter, related somehow...Matching necklaces...can we get a zoom in of the Medallions... please.. Dave? (Love this site by the way)
[Those are claim tags for the changing-room lockers. - Dave]
Integrity IS hard to find!It's really sad to be a 21 year old girl these days. Everyone I know is getting on their knees to get male attention instead of being subtle or witty. I'm reading and drinking coffee with my nose in a book. I think I've got the right idea, and my joints are no worse for the wear.
Washington PolicemanThe policeman in question is a member of the United States Park Police. At the time they were under the control of the Bureau of Public Buildings and Grounds. They eventually were transferred to the National Park Service when the Bureau of Public Buildings and Grounds was reorganized to create the General Services Administration.(GSA got the buildings and the Park Service got the grounds).
Some Warning, PleaseDave! Please! I had to clean my morning tea off my monitor. Too funny!
Fat Was Beautiful"Plump" was a compliment in those days. Look at the first 10 Miss America winners (not to mention Playboy centerfolds). The current idea that "Bony is Beautiful" is of fairly recent development and is a forced denigration of all that makes women biologically successful.
(For the "Yeah...sour grapes" crowd, I'm 5'2" and weigh 97 lbs. I wish I had a little more padding.)
Pull over miss!Pull over miss while I wrap my fingers around your knee cap! I bet his mother, his wife, his children, and his in-laws are so proud. How does he explain to his children what he does for a living? Yes, my dad measures women's bathing suits at the beach. Sooo funny. Nope, Madonna wouldn't put up with this. Note the little boy carrying (I think) a brownie camera in the back.
See him in actionYou can see our man in action in this YouTube movie, round the 3:10 and 3:40 mark.
Presidential dippingI notice the location may be along the Potomac. A trivia fact is that President John Quincy Adams loved to swim nude in the Potomac.
Reminders of mini-skirtsForty-six years after this, I was a freshman at Fort Knox High School. While the fashion was for skirts to be several inches above the knee, at FKHS, if they thought someone's skirt was too short, they would make her kneel on the floor. If her skirt didn't touch the ground, they could send her home to change. The very young VP was generally the one who did that. Since I had grown four inches taller in the previous few months, but my dresses hadn't, I did my best to avoid him!
Taking no chancesThe young girl on the extreme left is definitely not going to drown as she is wearing TWO, not just one, inner tubes around her waist and keeps them on either in or out of the water. Better safe than sorry.
Touch my leg??!!Is this the origin of the expression "cop a feel"? Just wondering.
A perfect illustrationof bureaucratic inefficiency. What's with the tape measure? If the law says six inches, all he needs to measure with is something six inches long, that he can press against ladies thighs. Hmmm....
[That wouldn't have made as effective a photo. This was shot for newspaper distribution. - tterrace]
Oh, it would have made an effective photo alright! I doubt they could have printed it in the newspaper, though.
Not Park PoliceHe is wearing a Metropolitan Police badge.
Very PresidentialI always wondered what FDR did in the 20's before becoming president!
The measure of a manMr. Sherrill had definite ideas about things --
"But this did not satisfy them""They wanted to play golf on the same days and at the same time as the white people." Imagine!
[Really. The nerve of some people! - Dave]
Get Back in Your BurkaWhy the ladies don't kick sand in the face of this doofus is a good question. I'm guessing the boys standing just behind are wearing suits just as short.
1963This very thing happened to me in high school on Long Island!!
I think I know what job I want when I grow upThe boys may be thinking this is the job for them!
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Curiosities, D.C., Natl Photo, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06624u.thumbnail.jpg "Beach Policeman: 1922")
- School's Out: 1942
- ... consider it is over 80 years ago!
That's a lot of kids for a rural area. From what I could find, the school building, and the ... shoes in school, and I lived in Louisiana! The barefoot kids aren't carrying any shoes so I assume they came to school unshod?
... Posted by Dave - 08/11/2023 - 6:25pm -
![July 1942. "Dunklin County, Missouri. Children leaving school." Acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size.
What a Great Photograph!Not much more to say than what a fabulous shot this is! A truly timeless photo especially when you consider it is over 80 years ago!
That's a lot of kidsfor a rural area. From what I could find, the school building, and the school district is gone. But its memory lives on in its own Facebook page, Bucoda Public School District No. 57. Interesting reading.
Shoes?I certainly went barefoot in the summer on occasion as a kid but I don't remember anyone without shoes in school, and I lived in Louisiana! The barefoot kids aren't carrying any shoes so I assume they came to school unshod?
Happy DaysA smile on every face! As old as I am, I can still remember the feeling of bursting out of the schoolhouse for summer vacation. Wonderful feeling. What a variety of kids here. Some barefoot, some in bib overalls and all of them trim and slim.
TV, phones and computers will change that.
Enjoy the summer kids.
[Actually these kids are just starting school. - Dave]
Explosive joyWow, those kids are exploding out of that school! Such a high degree of happiness in every single face. What a crazy amount of energy. And I love the bare feet, too.
Barefoot studentsI notice that several kids are running toward the camera barefooted. Would this be something common in the 1940's in Missouri. Might be fun, but in a crowd of running kids with mostly shoes on, I would have been worrying about my feet!
Reminiscent of a Paul Detlefsen Painting
Third ClassThe 102 by 80 foot building was still quite new in this picture, having opened in 1940. No mention if any of those feet were unshod.
Many have commented on the youthful enthusiasm, but a 1929 article on attendance hints at the challenges in a poor, rural school of the period; the class sizes - first 51, second/third 32, fourth/fifth 30, sixth/seventh/eighth 47, HS 7 - might seem bizarre until one realizes why: people dropped out (the huge dip after first shows how many and how early.) Unlike today, where school is seen as a place to escape from, it must have been a place to escape to...albeit briefly.
Bucoda AlumsI gather the school itself is gone, but there is an active Facebook group for alums: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1219721161462592
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Education, Schools, Kids)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-8d07576u1.thumbnail.jpg "School's Out: 1942")
- The Children's Army: 1942
- ... of War Information. View full size.
Back when kids had imaginations.... They don' need no stinkin' Nintendo.
So ... spotted the bike. Great color for the early 40's!
DC Kids I love this picture.
So much. ... Posted by Dave - 04/14/2022 - 2:26pm -
- Ghost Town: 1942
- ... changed.
(The Gallery, Arthur Siegel, Detroit Photos, Kids) ... Posted by Dave - 05/09/2024 - 9:18pm -
- Pie Town: The Musical
- ... on Pie Town.
Pie Town: The Musical Those poor kids. Look at how dirty most of them are. And no shoes!
Never Happier. ... Pie Town is in New Mexico. Where are the Hispanic kids. I guess they didn't attend school?
Hispanic kids? The Pie Towners ... Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 3:58pm -
- A Dickey Christmas: 1923
- ... Happy New Year Shorpy!
(The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo, The Dickeys) ... Posted by Dave - 12/20/2023 - 3:34pm -
![One Hundred Years of Yuletude: "Dickey Christmas tree, 1923." The family of Washington, D.C., lawyer Raymond Dickey, whose off-kilter portraits (and non-triangular trees) are a beloved yuletide tradition here at Shorpy. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
Times and tastes changeAt first glance, it made me think of a huge spider web. Strangely, most of the ornaments don't look much different from what we might have on our trees today. I notice the lack of lights, though.
It's in the details...I find in very interesting that people who live in older homes today panic about even the smallest scratch in their hardwood floors when its very obvious that this middle-class Washington family clearly had no such worry.
Also, is anyone able to identify the toy train track in the background? It looks like wind-up track, perhaps O-scale?
ExpressionsEvery member of this family wears the exact same expression. From my own middle class perspective it seems to be a pleasant tolerance of all things beneath them . . . which are many and include the photographer and all of us some 85 years later.
HaggardThe mother looks so different from the previous photo. Poor gal.
So much to take in.When viewed full size, there was just so much to take in...the crazy tree, the intricate sleeves on Sister's dress, the odd pose of poor Mother--practically stuck into the boughs (not to mention her too-tight shoes!), a hint of model railroad track, the wallpaper & border--just SO much!
But the number one thing I could not stop thinking...why are everyone's eyes so sad? Don't they know it's Christmas? (Maybe this the custom of the day, to look somber in a holiday photo? Whatever the reason, their melancholy expressions are in contrast to the joyful occasion.)
Jingle BellsPoor Mom. It sure looks like the photog positioned her just a little too up close and snuggly with that tree. Her expression does not reflect a comfort zone with it. More like fending it off.
TracksJust noticed what appears to be a model train track on the floor to the right. Wonder if a wee little Christmas choo-choo was part of the decorations, or a gift done opened and set up. Remember a very simple Lionel train set my brother and I got for one Christmas. No idea where it ended up.
OrnamentsMy family owns ornaments exactly identical to about a third of the ones on the tree. My mother always said they were old, but I didn't think they could be that old!
Hmm...Has anyone noticed that the middle child (oldest son) is not the same kid in both pictures? Rather odd, I thought.
[The oldest boy is standing on the right in this photo. Still confused? - Dave]
The DickeysThe fellow with his arm around the young woman is obviously her husband.. Note wedding ring. Also she appears to be with child.
[Nope. He's her brother. - Dave]
1915, 1923If nothing else it shows those two boys are definitely brothers. The younger boy in 1923 looks just like his brother did in 1915!
That Tree!Why do I feel like I'm looking at the same one in all these pictures?
ETA: I wrote this comment in 2014 and it's still true in 2021.
It's a Well Known FactSmiles were not invented until 1933.
Charlie Browncarries on the Dickey Christmas tree tradition today.
Christmas traditionsHaving been born a Chanukah person, but linked to a Christmas person, I have celebrated Christmas for two thirds of my 60 years. My wife's family is Central European, so they gather for the main event on Christmas Eve. Over the years, their trees have run the gamut from huge misshapen Dickey trees to scraggly Charlie Brown Ion Dept. trees to the current style of "perfect" suburban mall-lot trees. My idea of a gentle Christmas is good company and family, a glass of eggnog and rum, fading afternoon light, with Bing Crosby or Burl Ives playing softly in the background. I wish the very best of the holiday season to my fellow Shorpsters, with special thanks to Dave and tterrace for creating and maintaining this marvellous photographic treasure house and community.
WallpaperDon't think I've ever seen a wallpapered ceiling before.
Christmas just isn't Christmas......without once again witnessing Rose Dickey's slow descent into madness.
Merry Christmas ???I don’t see much merriment here. This conclusion is encouraged by the “noir” lighting for the photography. Sad, very sad.
It's complicatedI am struck -- make that dumbstruck -- once again by Mrs. Dickey's "hairstyle", by the size, shape, and ornamentation of that tree, and by the sleeves on that velvet dress. You can't make this stuff up, folks. Merry Christmas anyway. And if you'll forgive me the segue from Dickey to Dickens ... God bless us every one.
Alice Smiles!So I went back and looked at all the Dickey Christmas photos on Shorpy, and was reminded of grown-up Alice's job as publisher of Seventeen Magazine. A quick Google search produced this:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1953-press-photo-alice-thompson-3...
Nice to see a smile after all those gloomy Christmas photos.
Names and AgesJust to put some names and ages to our annual Dickey Christmas family, they are:
Raymond B Dickey, 45
Rose M Dickey, 43
Granville E Dickey, 20
Alice E Dickey, 17
John M Dickey, 11
Raymond R Dickey, 5
The ages may or may not be precisely exact, but accurate within a few months.
DO NOT MOVE !DO NOT SMILE !
RE: TracksI'm a Lionel collector, and can say that those tracks are for a non-electric train set, probably wind-up.
It's All In the Composition As a semi professional (meaning I've sold a handful) photographer,
who doesn't always get it right himself, I must say this is just about the
the most poorly composed family portrait I've ever seen ... and I love it!
I do have some concern for Mrs. Dickey as well, but I'm 98 years too late.
Pursed lipshide many secrets: https://www.newspapers.com/image/79911246/
(And for those w/o access: it's the 19Mar13 front page coverage of the escapades of the eldest son [then ten year old] Granville, who had run away from home...to another state !)
The old girlThe old girl kinda reminds me of Grandmama of the Addams Family.
Maybe --it'll be different next year.
Better than BeautyWe have noted that daughter Alice Dickey (later Alice Thompson, then Alice Beaton) became a power in the women's magazine world, as editor of Glamour and of Seventeen.
She also co-authored 'Better than Beauty: A Guide to Charm', which was reprinted as recently as 2007 and is available as an ebook today. Did Alice's conception of charm derive from her family?
The flip side of a Dickey ChristmasThirty years after this Dickey family Christmas photo was taken, my mother's family celebrated Christmas in New Mexico, where she was from, and her family still ranches. I wouldn't be born for another two years. Still, this photograph is a sweet reminder of the Christmas chaos of my childhood. If only the Dickey children had been given a chance at it.
Redecorating!I just went through all of the pictures (Yuletide Tradition) and it looks as though the Dickeys redecorated with new wallpaper every 2 - 3 years. This confirms why house renovators often find layers upon layers of wallpaper!
My WishAs always, my hope is that every Shorpy-ite has a merrier Christmas than the Dickeys. Thanks to all who contribute to the community here.
Dickey-ish treeThis is Christmas in Brooklyn circa 1954, a few years after I came along. Left to right are my Dad in his chunkier days, my Uncle Gerard (currently a spry and gregarious 97 years young), and my Grandfather Manuel. I don't have any specific memories of the Christmas trees my grandparents put up but from the few pics I've come across it appears they, like the Dickeys, favored the 'wide as it is tall' variety.
OuchPoor Mrs. Dickey has some swelling in her right foot/leg ... as evidenced by the flesh pushing doughily through the cutouts at the top of her shoes, which appear a tad bit too small to begin with. And then there's the fact that she had to hold that branch down with two fingers lest it thwack her in the face.
The Meaning of ChristmasSigh.. I love Christmas time.. when Shorpyites from all walks of life put aside their differences and unite to ...
critique the Dickeys. LOL.
I myself relish hunting for clues to their social/economic means. On one hand you have the annual very very large Christmas bush which seems very lavishly decorated. Rose and Alice's dresses look like they might be silk and velvet.
But previously, Shorpyite "Doug Floor Plan" revealed that the Dickeys took 4 boarders into their 5 bedroom home around this time (1920). This would seem an economic drop from 8 years previous ( 1915 ) when there were 4 of them living in a 4 bedroom house with 2 servants.
Maybe that would account for Rose's "slow descent into madness"??
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Shorpy!
(The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo, The Dickeys)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/30612u.thumbnail.jpg "A Dickey Christmas: 1923")
- First Avenue Kids: 1938
- ... Administration. View full size.
Timeless, smiling kids - this almost looks like it could have been taken yesterday!
(The Gallery, Kids, NYC, Sheldon Dick) ... Posted by Dave - 10/10/2018 - 10:24pm -
- The Fistic Arts: 1924
- ... (below, hand raised). - Dave]
Tough White Kids This was a segregated event. If it had been open to everyone, there may have been different story here.
The Dead End Kids Funnily enough, the kid boxing on the left looks like a young Jimmy ... Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 6:04pm -
![March 22, 1924. Washington, D.C. "Theodore Roosevelt III, boxing." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
TR3Despite the asbestos, our young pugilist lived to the ripe age of 86, dying on May 2, 2001. Probably climate change that got him.
But ...Sorry if don't see the family resemblance, which kid is TR3?
[He's the boy in the dark top. His father Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was one of the instructors at this session (below, hand raised). - Dave]
Tough White KidsThis was a segregated event. If it had been open to everyone, there may have been different story here.
The Dead End KidsFunnily enough, the kid boxing on the left looks like a young Jimmy Cagney. Oh, and the look on the face of the boy seventh from the left is priceless, though they all look like they're rarin' to go.
Stand tall, young man!Seventh kid from the right seems to standing "tippy-toe" so he can be seen behind the pugilist on the right.
What I noticeAll that asbestos. Cute shot of the kids, too.
Boy 5th from the rightThis isn't what was advertised in the brochure!
Educated GuessMy money is on the kid with the dark gym clothes being the budding Roosevelt pugilist, unlike the rest with plain old white shorts and shirts, Teddy the Third paid attention to style....you betcha.
A lot to live up toTR3's grandfather was the youngest President of the U.S. and a Nobel-Prize winner. His father was a General and Medal of Honor winner. Can you imagine trying to live up to that legacy?
Wonder who had the equipment contract?I guess they didn't believe in sharing boxing gloves -- almost everybody has a pair on. Part of what made Everlast the company it is today.
TR Sez:Bully!
TR3's cause of deathPerhaps he died because he couldn't stand the new Age of Snark that our culture has entered. 20th Century America was a lot more sincere in its public correspondences and utterances. Even the satirical statements of Will Rogers were gentler, cleaner and funnier than any of the comedians that you see in stand-up or online today.
I wonder how many of those children survived WWII. They all would have been of service age at that time.
God bless their manly, determined little hearts.
(The Gallery, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo, Sports)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/10824u.thumbnail.jpg "The Fistic Arts: 1924")
- Christmas in Miami: 1954
- ... resolve as well, that would brook no shenanigans from the kids (including grandkids). Or am I wrong and she was a pushover for Dave's ... Posted by Dave - 12/26/2023 - 11:25am -
![ A holiday chestnut worth reheating over the Shorpy Duraflame.
"Christmas 1954." My grandmother Sarah Hall (1904-2000) in her living room in Miami Shores four years before I was born. She made the mantel decoration, which saw service for many years, with Brazilian pepper berries from a big tree in the backyard, mixed with pine cones, all attached to a chicken wire frame. Grandmother, handy with a needle and thread, also made the curtains. She was, needless to say, big on Christmas. 35mm Kodachrome. View full size.
A lovely ladyand a tastefully decorated room!
Creative and ClassyThat is a seriously tasteful room. The tailored window dressing helps to tone down the old style furniture. The subdued red and white decorations and lights with natural elements look almost modern. I absolutely love the fabric on the sofa.
Martha Stewart was only thirteenYour beautiful grandmother was way ahead of her time in creating an exquisite home environment through her own resources of sewing, collecting and impeccable taste. The atmosphere in this room is timeless and the decor is of superior quality and subtle uniqueness, but the sparkling antique crystal and ceramics are showstoppers. The polished marble, shiny mahogany and immaculate order of her living quarters is very impressive. I could never live in a place like this because I'm basically a hopeless slob and have been told by most of my close relatives that because of me "we can't have anything nice." This is nice. And by the way Dave, you are SO YOUNG. I figured you to be about 80 yrs. old up until now, so Shorpy has a long life ahead of it as long as you keep it going. Merry Christmas and thank you for spreading so much happiness around.
BeautifulThat's all; just beautiful! Merry Christmas!
Wow, just wowAwesome, Dave. Your grandmother was quite a seamstress, decorator, and had great taste in furniture. My grandmother was a great seamstress, too. She sewed clothes, quilts, sleeping bags, doll clothes, costumes, you name it. She had all kind of gadgets, like a eyelet press, for making belts, and a hem marker, a thing that combined a yardstick standing vertically on a base, a bulb and hose, with a container filled with talcum powder. The container slid up and down the yardstick, and when the bulb was squeezed, it would make a nice horizontal line (to mark the hemline) about an inch long. And of course, I enjoyed playing with that.
Kodachrome masteryThe technical details of this shot interest me. First of all, it looks like it was illuminated by photoflood, with both main and fill lights. The main is indicated by the sharp shadow on the marble of the fireplace; the presence of a fill somewhat off-angle from the main is shown by the double shadows on the bric-a-brac shelf and the pine cone thing around the mirror. The distance of the photofloods was accurately calculated so as not to overwhelm the regular bulbs in the lamps. The white balance is right on, indicating a probable use of Kodachrome Type A, or tungsten-balance photoflood emulsion, ASA 16. Using my trusty Kodak Master Photoguide from 1962, when the original Kodachrome was still available, the exposure calculator for the film and two bulbs at roughly the apparent bulb-to-subject distance here indicates an exposure in the area of f2.8 at 1/5 second or the equivalent. In other words, a carefully set-up shot by someone who knew what he was doing. May even be professional; at the very least, an advanced amateur. (Still, exposure bracketing would have been advisable; do any other shots survive?)
Pine Cone ThingShe made her own curtains lined in contrasting colors and she also made the amazing mirror surround? I am totally in awe.
Merry Christmas to Dave, the mysterious Ken, and unacknowledged contributors whose photos are buried in the Member Photos Section. Best regards also to Canada, tterrace and the Farkers whose work makes me gasp with laughter.
Thanks, Shorpy!
[Grandmother also made her own clothes. Not to mention togs for the grandkids. And then there was the crocheting -- much crocheting. Shorpy says you're very welcome! -Dave]
Nice AntiquesMerry Christmas, Dave, and let me join the others in admiring your grandmother's great taste and sophisticated decorating talents. That's a smart and very urban color scheme for 1954. The tailored curtains are revivals of a Federal period window treatment, seldom done with this degree of precision. And the antiques are like familiar neighbors to me. Out of curiosity, were they mostly family pieces from up North, or did she collect them? The little sofa and round parlor table are 1860s; the fancy side chair by the fireplace is Boston or Philadelphia, about 1845; the worktable at left is probably late 1830s; and the molded clear flint glass lamp bases are probably Sandwich or Cambridge whale oil lamps of about 1850. Here's a similar pair with their old pewter wick holders still intact.
Stylish GrandmotherDave some people have it and some don't, your grandmother had plenty. What a beautiful home I especially love the table on our left. We can all see why you love photography this shot may have been your genesis.
Merry Christmas and thanks again for our favorite web site!
Understatement"Big on Christmas' indeed! A very, very Merrye Christmas to all the Shorpy "family"; it's been a fun ride once again, and I look forward to splendid new adventures in 2012.
A Beautiful Lady... who kept an immaculate house.
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA
Class actDave what a beautiful grandmother and setting. I was born earlier that year. Thanks for all you do and Merry Christmas!
Your turnIt's great seeing your grandmother, Dave. Now can we Shorpy fans see our Shorpy webmaster?
[We've already seen me. - Dave]
PicklesI was a month old at the time this photo was taken. I am so impressed with this beautiful room. Seems to me that in that time period, white walls were the norm so she was really going new places with that lovely color. I also like her collection of cranberry glass, especially the pickle caster on the left. Hope it's still in the family. Thanks for sharing, nice to see how things looked at the time I made an appearance.
Can't beat 35mm KodachromeBeautiful classy lady & home. I love the white dipped pinecones. I too have many 35mm slides my grandfather took the colors are so crisp on them when developed into pictures.
Class and BeautyMuch less of this today. What a time. Merry Christmas!
Those drapes!As someone who has made pinch pleated drapes, I am in awe of your grandmother and her drapes. Wow, what a wonderful job, what a wonderful room, and what an interesting person she must have been.
Lovely decor!A magnificent room (and stark contrast to the wildly colorful and eclecticly overdone Minnesota family I love following here). I bet the rest of the house was equally impressive. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Impeccable tasteReminds me of my Nana's house; not only did she have the same bowl as the one on the bottom right shelf, but it also appears that, no matter how sophisticated the decor was, it was never a "Don't Touch!" room, but rather cozy, welcoming and comfortable.
W O W ! ! ! for the lady. and the photographer?Impressive!!! everything is in place and looking flawless.
Also, was the lucky husband also the photographer? very nice photo
One Impressive LadyWhat an amazing woman with great talent. I'd love to sit in that room and just take it all in. Tasteful and artistic. A lost art at Christmas.
Grandmother's favorite?With a second look at your Grandmom's face, while lovely, I sense a strong resolve as well, that would brook no shenanigans from the kids (including grandkids). Or am I wrong and she was a pushover for Dave's charms?
[Grandmother was sugarplums and poinsettias 365 days a year, as all eight of her grandkids would attest. - Dave]
Fave time of yearThe Shorpy Christmas photos have begun! This is my favorite time of year!
Ok, Christmas 1954Think it’s time this picture gets retired. Looks like many rooms at Christmas I recall back in 1954. Very nice but the gushing comments appear a bit overdone. Hummm wonder way.
[Brilliantly put, although you probably meant "why" and not "way." - Dave]
I beg to differ with Carol McCIn the mid-fifties, white walls were not in. That was later, around 1960 or a bit later. Our house had dark walls like this (I was seven in 1955): brown and dark green if I remember rightly.
Deck the HallsGlad to know she got to live a long life, another 46 years from then on! A later photo of her would be nice, as well as an early one (wedding, for example)?
Classy Christmas !!Dave, your Grandmother was obviously very talented, and a very classy Lady.The art & style she put into this room is wonderful.
Merry Christmas to all here at Shorpy. Thanks Dave for all you do to allow us to see great pictures like these daily.
Two things!This fascinating photo of a classy person has two elements I find remarkable. First, that built-in shelving and the way the wallpaper (it looks like wallpaper to me) works with it. [The walls are painted textured plaster. - Dave]
The second is the use of color in this room. Not only are the main colors perfect and soothing, but the contrasting colors work so well. For example, the red edging on the drapes and the pale-green fronts on the shelves. Those subtle touches really set off the main colors and add elegance.
SWANK!!!
Thanks, Dave, for sharing this and for all you do for us!
GorgeousLady and decor. We should all be so lucky to have such in our lives.
BeautifulWhat a beautifully appointed home. And we all know she was the architect of it all.
Class All the WayYour grandmother was certainly talented! I also really like the interior colors. With very little adjustment I could live in this decor!
Another PhotoI’ve seen other photos of this room, including this one.
When we aspired to qualityIn addition to the elegant items made by Dave's grandmother Hall, her other furnishings reflect her eye for quality. The end table at left has a keyhole, and probably locked. The settee and chair appear to be rosewood. The end table at right has a white marble top, which complements the fireplace mantel. I can't identify any items on the shelves for certain, but they're nice. I suspect the next generation in Dave's family was happy to have these items passed down to them.
Now I'm gonna grouse like the old man I am -- there are several traits young people have today that I like and respect; but I despair that the young people I've encountered have no appreciation for quality furnishings. Anymore, I end up telling them, "If you want a piece of black pressboard furniture, there's an Ikea in Plano. The reason it's so heavy is that's the weight of the glue holding the woodchips together. Solid wood furniture doesn't weigh as much."
Giving today's designers a run for their moneyI love your grandmother's aesthetic, beautifully done.
A holiday chestnutDefinitely worth reheating. We can see this photo has been commented upon for twelve years now, and that it has been presented to us for pleasure and comment in 2011, 2014, 2017, and again now. It brings us together at Christmas, we here in Shorpy-land, and it makes me grateful for this online community of people who take pleasure in this site and who make the effort to express their feelings and knowledge to the rest of us. This year I note those near the bottom in the comments section, back in 2011, who no longer seem to be with us: Vintagetvs, OTY, pattyanne, Born40YearsTooLate, switzarch, CarolMcC. I miss these former Shorpsters, they and stanton_square, Mr. Mel, aenthal, and many others. Some may have given up following the site or stopped commenting, some may have passed on. Thanks to Dave and tterrace for bringing us all together, and best wishes of the season to us all.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, Florida, Miami)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/xmas_1954_Grandmother.thumbnail.jpg "Christmas in Miami: 1954")
- Lil Swingers: 1905
- ... front.
Liability Can you imagine the lawsuits if kids played on this today?
Upper class kids As the boy and girl to the right show, these are well dressed kids. ... Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 7:25pm -
- When We Were Young: 1911
- ... tallest girl's scarf blowing in the wind.
Heartbreak kids My heart aches for these kids and this picture, so close to the picture of Norma Shearer, points up the ... Posted by Dave - 08/22/2012 - 8:37pm -
- Box Car: 1940
- ... Building:
https://www.shorpy.com/node/24973
Kids being kids Give a kid some nails, a hammer, scrap wood, a few old wheels and watch ... Posted by Dave - 05/02/2022 - 9:40am -
- Corn Fight: 1939
- ... Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Now kids ... Kids! Put the corn down now! People are starving in China!
Margaret and ... Posted by Dave - 09/08/2021 - 1:59pm -
- Migrant Mother: 1936
- ...
You commoners deserve your fates.
where are her kids now? where are her kids now?
Grandson Here's a link to a site presumably written by ... Posted by Dave - 05/04/2018 - 10:37pm -
- Tot Box: 1936
- ... the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
Kids and Boxes I've always maintained that parents and grandparents waste money by buying presents for their kids up to the age of about 3.
Without fail, when I see one of those ... Posted by Dave - 10/25/2014 - 11:00am -
- Free Ice: 1900
- ... NY in the midst of a summer heat wave, neighborhood kids would raid the back of the open ice delivery truck while the iceman would ... a block of ice to home ice boxes. Another source for kids, of small chunks of ice, was in milk delivery trucks while the milkman was ... Posted by Dave - 11/28/2018 - 10:09am -
![Circa 1900. "Heat wave. Free ice in New York." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Byron for the Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Great TimingMy friends back East say it brutally hot just now, Hudson Valley included.
More than just comfortI would bet that most of these people are not going to use this ice for chilling their drinks. They're probably going to use it to keep their food from spoiling.
One thing about the present day is we continually go from hot to air conditioned environments during a heat wave. In New York, no matter how cold it gets outside, the subway cars are usually cooled to the point of refrigeration. This keeps our bodies from becoming acclimated to the temps. These folks have been in the heat and have become somewhat adjusted. The clothes they wear are probably all cotton or linen, both of which have the ability to wick the sweat away and help cool the body. I'm sure they're pretty miserable, but coping.
You'd get a line for free ice right nowWith temperatures hitting 101 degrees, in the middle of a l-o-o-ng week of 95+, you'll get plenty of people willing to stand in line for bags of free ice.
Ice cubes in a bowl + fan = poor man's air conditioning.
Thanks, Dave, for reminding us that some things never change, like NYC heat waves in the summertime. The children who grew up standing in those lines supported the construction of municipal swimming pools during the New Deal. They remembered!
Nostalgic and VintageI absolutely love old photographs, the older the better. You get to experience people, places and things frozen in time.
Sure this isn't Japan?The policeman looks like he's wearing white gloves. That would suck on a hot day like it appears to be in the picture.
Hot CommodityLater on, someone realized they could spritz it with food coloring and some flavored syrup and charge for it.
The Iceman (and Milkman) ComethBack in the 1940's in Newburgh NY in the midst of a summer heat wave, neighborhood kids would raid the back of the open ice delivery truck while the iceman would be tonging a block of ice to home ice boxes. Another source for kids, of small chunks of ice, was in milk delivery trucks while the milkman was delivering his wares.
Weather's nice here in Monterey.It might have gotten to 65 here today.
Staten Island FerryWhen my parents married in New York, in 1953, they stayed with a friend in Harlem. It was so hot and a neighbour was having a rent party so my parents took the Staten Island ferry back and forth all night long. Cool and quiet, compared to their friends' apartment.
I lived on City Island, in the Bronx, for two years and with no air-conditioning, and the ceiling fans not being up to the job, it was like trying to sleep in pea soup.
Trying To Imagine...what NYC must have smelled like with all of those sweating people and piles of horse manure in the streets makes me not want to go back in time to experience what is going on in the photo. This is a first in all my time as a Shorpy fan.
Melting PotTemperatures in Manhattan will probably go over 100 degrees today. It has been in the high 90s for the last few days and will be in or around the 100 degree mark for the rest of the week. There will be no free ice and the local utility, Con Ed, has started cutting back on the power so the air conditioners are not performing to spec. I think I'll go to a movie today, their sign says they're 20 degrees cooler inside. Incidentally, movie theatre air conditioning goes back to 1925 when Dr. Willis Carrier cooled the new Rivoli Theatre on Broadway.
Fishy, indeed!We are experiencing a real heat wave in New York today. I don't for a minute believe that the photo was taken in a temperature that comes close to our 100+
Look at the barefoot boys on that sidewalk -- there's your proof.
I got news for yahFree Ice? That's nothing special. Every February there is tons if it in New York. You just need to plan ahead a little.
Hats Year RoundUp until the 1950's or so, you will notice that headgear was always part of the dress code. My dad wore a hat most of the year. It had to be hot and uncomfortable.
Something's FishyI can't believe all their icemakers went out at once.They need to call the super and complain.
Take it offThey sure are wearing a lot of clothes for a heat wave. I'd lose the jackets and long sleeves.
Barefoot tykesThat sidewalk had to be hot!
HatsA few years ago I bought a straw hat and It seems to actually make you feel cooler on a hot day.
Cool LidOnly a straw hat would make sense, or maybe one of these.
Poor timingHow about some lovely pictures of deep snow, ice-covered lakes, or something to make us feel cooler in today's hot weather?
The Long Hot SummerLooks like the cop has had a long day. As hot has his uniform is, my hubby now has to wear pretty much all that, except in polyester and with an extra 35 pounds of equipment, plus a bullet proof vest. It's been hovering around or at 100 lately here in Maryland, and his vest doesn't have time to dry out from sweat one day before he puts it on the next. So next time you see a cop sitting in his car with the AC on on a hot day, think of that guy up there! He could use a little break! (I hope he got hold of some ice chunks.)
Waaaaah!I love reading about the New York heat waves with temperature in the 90s or even 101 (!). If it was in the 90s in Austin, we'd all be wearing parkas.
Most of these people want Gordon Park!As in the last picture.
Even in these Victorian times you can see signs of the heat, the cop wiping his brow, most men in the derbies have them way back on their head to let the heat out, and the straw hat man doesn't because they let heat out, just as the Mexican and South East Asian farmers learned from history.
I loved the snow cone comment, probably very right, why give the melting ice away if you can sell it!
Hot mamaSo I can see why they had the long pants, skirts and hats, but couldn't she have left the shawl off?
Hey, Austin tipster We NY/NJ SMSAers feel the same way about you guys when your highways are shut down after 4 or 5 inches of snow. We laugh at your puny "frozen precipitation levels" that seem to cause such chaos!
Have you ever been on the Lower East Side, and seen these turn-of-the-19th-century former tenement neighborhoods? They are still standing: five- and six-floor walk-ups, built with no help from Mr Otis, crowded together on narrow streets.
Even today, Austin's population density of 2600 people per square mile is less than 1/10th of New York City's (26,100). Crowding ten times as many people into every square mile raises the ambient temperature of NYC exponentially. When the weather report says "90" in a town of crowded, narrow streets with ten times as many people, it is a medical emergency.
Be grateful that, in your hometown, such temperatures make you reach for a sweater. It's not a sign of how much tougher Texans are in comparison to New Yorkers. It means that you are fortunate to live where the historical development patterns have provided you an environment where weather extremes aren't so dangerous to human health.
547Was looking for clues about the location of this picture and noticed the clothing store has "547" on the awning (alas no street name). Looking closer you can see that "547" is also written on the inside of the awning and reflected in the store window. But the reflection isn't backwards ... so perhaps it was written backwards so that people facing the window could see the non-backwards number in the reflection? Very curious.
[The "547" on the outside of the awning would be backwards on the inside of the awning because it's the same "547" showing through the canvas. - Dave]
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Stores & Markets)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a09036a.thumbnail.jpg "Free Ice: 1900")
- Winsome Ragamuffins II
- ... future" look, which is what America is all about.
Cute kids Since the first picture of these kids I've wondered if maybe the photographer dirtied their faces up for effect. ... Posted by Dave - 09/03/2010 - 2:39am -
![April 1940. Dubuque, Iowa. "Children who live in the slums." Our second look at this towheaded twosome, a sort of proto-Opie and his sister. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Better!They look a lot happier here. Why does that comfort me?
Also? Check out the buckles on the little girl's shoes. FABULOUS. I'll bet she loved them.
We Were Poorbut we didn't know any better. This photograph is definitely my favorite of the two. It's showing them with a winning smile and a "we can make a better future" look, which is what America is all about.
Cute kidsSince the first picture of these kids I've wondered if maybe the photographer dirtied their faces up for effect. Guess I'm of a cynical nature.
[You should read up on John Vachon. - Dave]
Re: Cute KidsMaybe the dirt is the reason for their smiles, no? All these years removed, it's not always easy to remember the fun of being carefree, running and exploring the outdoors from sun up to sundown -- but it's there, tucked away. Something tells me there was no need for the photographer to apply any more dirt than was already on those adorable faces!
Sad or happy, these children tug at my heartstrings!
Not always a hindranceMy mother, born in 1919, grew up poor and also with a crossed eye, she always said it developed her backbone in life. My father found a doctor in 1957 to correct it. Many photographs later she was convinced it was fixed.
SweetThe reason my eyes tear up when I look at this photograph is because it makes me remember how sweet and innocent my own children where at that age.
Texas CitrusWhat a neat connection with the pictures of the other children from Weslaco & Harlingen, Texas, posted earlier. That fruit box is from the Rio Grande Valley, maybe even from the farms/orchards worked by the FSA workers. Small world.
One day at a timeI'm convinced this is a young Bonnie Franklin.
These children were loved.These children may not have lived in the best house in town, but they look well-fed and adequately clothed and shod. Believe their parents did what it took to keep those little folks cared for and cared about. And I weep for my little children, who always lived in a nice house and always had at least enough, but whose mother abandoned them years ago, when my daughter was 8 and my little fellow 5.
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Kids)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/8a05452a2.thumbnail.jpg "Winsome Ragamuffins II")
- Errand Boys: 1901
- ... View full size.
Trust the horse If the kids forget how to get home, you can trust the horse(s) to know where their next meal is coming from.
Mature kids I wonder how many parents today would feel comfortable handing over the ... Posted by Dave - 07/12/2018 - 1:39pm -
![Columbia County, Pennsylvania, circa 1901. "Hanging rock on the Susquehanna, near Danville." A scene last glimpsed here. 8x10 glass negative. View full size.
Trust the horseIf the kids forget how to get home, you can trust the horse(s) to know where their next meal is coming from.
Mature kidsI wonder how many parents today would feel comfortable handing over the car keys to their 10-year-olds and asking them to run to the store for bread.
Indian HeadI know this rock formation very well. I grew up near where this picture was taken. Much closer to the town of Catawissa than Danville.
Mature horsesThose parents probably had a great deal of confidence in the team of horses as well as the kids. We used to nod off while riding and the horse continued on home all on its own. Try that with a Toyota.
In any event, there were adults here, at least one, while this photo was taken. He's behind the camera.
Mature Kids, or smart "cars"?Very few modern cars know the way home, unguided.
Soon will be different!
CozyNot quite as tight as it used to be.
[Scroll back up to the caption, click the link where it says "last glimpsed here", and you will see several more contemporary views down in the comments. - Dave]
Upstream from DanvilleThe long multi-span bridge in the background looks like the Reading RR's Cataswissa branch crossing from Norca on the Catawissa side to Rupert on this, the Danville side. I agree, the railroad track must now be where the North Branch Canal used to be.
(The Gallery, DPC, Horses, Kids, Railroads)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-4a16437a.thumbnail.jpg "Errand Boys: 1901")
- Cot Napping: 1942
- ... I can say is, "I see London. I see France -- "
Lucky kids When I was in kindergarten in 1960, we had to take our naps on a ... just a comic, jeez.
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, NYC) ... Posted by Dave - 10/02/2023 - 12:40pm -
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