School Kids, May 1960
Kids! I don't know what's wrong with these kids today! Say, that reminds me of a song. And it reminds me of today's scans, featuring lots and lots of kids, circa 1960. They appear to be gathered on what might be a school playground (location unknown), but they're just standing around, waiting for something to happen.
As is often the case, the girls gather in their own groups, while boys will gather into their own bunches elsewhere. These slides are date-stamped "May 1960", but of course they may have been taken months earlier. Or not! It looks like it was somewhat chilly, though it was not the dead of winter. I notice that all of these young ladies are wearing skirts/dresses, no Capris or dungarees just yet.
Uh-oh, boys and girls are standing way too close to each other, causing a warp in the space-time continuum. Luckily there is a teacher (?) to the extreme right to make sure that nobody misbehaves. Jimmy Doyle, I'm looking at YOU.
Whew, all the boys are gone now. We all know that girls don't ever get up to anything bad. I really do wonder if this was just a recess period, though nobody is playing. Maybe they're waiting for Conrad Birdie to show up?
29 comments:
Major-
..."boys and girls are standing way too close to each other..." I Know-! Someone could get cooties-! Oh, the horror. Extra points for the blonde hair gal in the first image, as she knows the 'proper' way to stand. [Although she looses points for standing with her arms crossed...tsk, tsk, tsk].
Based on the clothing styles alone, this is definitely not on the west coast - the clothing seems more wedded to the 1950's. (But the "real" 1960's didn't really begin until around 1964, anyway). I do spy a 1959 Chevrolet in the background of the second image, so 1960 certainly works.
Thanks, Major.
Major, I read your first line while hearing Paul Lynde's singing voice in my head. I'M NOT CRAZY!!
In the first photo: The blonde gal in the center is definitely giving somebody the stink-eye! She's holding a very sharp #2 pencil in her right hand... her stabbing hand! I sense a murder about to happen!
Major, it may not be the dead of winter, but it must be close; most of the deciduous trees don't have any blossoms, leaves, or buds. Although, some do. I would guess late February or early March.
Maybe all these students are standing outside as a result of a fire drill? But why would someone take photos of that?
In the second photo: These kids look a few years younger than the girls in the first pic. These must be the freshmen. The cool guy in the center with the pinkish jacket is definitely fresh; a real ladies man; a smooth operator.
Third photo: That's a snazzy outfit the gal in the black blazer is wearing. I wonder what that insignia/patch on her jacket is depicting. It looks European. Maybe she's a foreign exchange student.
Thanks for the class photos, Major.
This reminds me of a school [practice] fire drill. We used to have tornado drills, too. But you didn’t go outside for those.
Now I’m going back to bed to practice my sleep drills. ZZZZZZZZZ
Ok, I’m going back to bed.
Hey, JB, we’re on the same wavelength.
Major, I think Conrad Birdie had already arrived earlier, and was just now leaving. In that last pic, we can even see two of the girls waving bye-bye.
It feels like a fire drill to me, too, although there was a shortage of schools caused by the Baby Boom. It’s possible that these kids are just standing around, waiting for a school to be built for them.
It also reminds me of a historic film I once saw at a film festival of my parents’ hometown in the 1950s. There were a couple of shots of entire entire high school classes just standing together outside, like they’d herded everybody outside and said “OK, now stand there wit a pleasant expression on your face while the camera pans across you, but don’t talk to each other - we want this to look as awkward as possible by the end of the shot.”
JB, I had the exact same thing happen, only it was Charles Nelson Reilly’s voice. I must have been channeling Paul Lynde’s night off (CNR was Lynde’s understudy in the original Broadway production and eventually took over the role…and why I know that is a complete mystery to me).
Chuck, I thought Charles Nelson Reilly was the understudy for Dick Van Dyke's role in Bye Bye Birdie?
TM!, I guess I should have looked that up rather than relying solely on memory. You are absolutely correct.
In the last photo the girl in the green skirt and the Eastland Girls School Uniform coat looks like she’s from the future…. Maybe 3 decades away from everyone else.
Major I agree with your speculation that these pictures may have technically been taken in the 50’s …. The fashions still have the ill fittings and oversized clothing lines typical of pre- 60’s ….. but these are just kids and maybe not the fashion trend setters of their day. I love searching pictures here for details that give the decade or even the year away. When I freelance model build for museums or historical societies I’m careful to make sure the details are correct for the period. I’ve mentioned before how I can’t stand seeing movies that are period and have big inaccuracies - often it’s a budget issue …. But often it’s because the production people were lazy or just didn’t do their research.
I just watched the Masterpiece Theater presentation of THE CHAPERONE. It was produced by Julien Fellows of Downton Abbey and supposedly the save same production crew ( who is highly historically accurate) but in the Chaperone …. Man there were some big mistakes !!! The story takes place in 1922 in Wichita Kansas and New York City…. The trains they show are European - British …. The passenger car interiors are British ….and in a flashback scene of orphans being put on a train ( in 1904) there is the sound of a diesel locomotive horn ( the kind from the 50’s or 60’s ) There are Automobiles from post 1922 and bright blue U.S mailboxes on the New York streets ! u.s mail boxes would have been a medium green in 1922 …olive green after 1944.... dark blue after 1955 and the blue we see today was introduced in 1971 ( hmmmm same years as Disneyland and WDW!!) you can imagine all the 1978 style clothing in Grease drives me nuts! In the early 90’s there several 1800’s style barrels with metal rings all around LIBERTY SQUARE at WDW….. which would have been incorrect type for the 1700’s …. But what was really inaccurate was the stencil lettering on the barrel exteriors “Sloane Salt Works , Death Valley CA”)
Chuck, I learned that factoid, and some other VERY important things, from watching reruns of "Match Game" on a regular basis! Gene Rayburn (from "Match Game") actually took over Dick Van Dyke's role, when he left "Bye Bye Birdie" to go do "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
In photo 3, at least two girls are in matching blazers with badges and green skirts, it’s a uniform of some kind.
Im going with the “waiting for school construction to finish” theory.
Fascinating mystery pictures, thanks Major?
JG
Nanook, that was the time when a strain of “megacooties” was making the rounds, so it was no joke! Why girl who is standing properly probably has a switchblade hidden in her perm. Thanks for narrowing down the date a bit with the car ID!
JB, I always hear Paul Lynde’s voice, he tells me to do things. Terrible things. See? You think that the blond girl looks stabby too. Yes, it sure looks chilly, though there is not two feet of snow on the ground, so maybe it will be warming up soon enough. Look for crocuses in your garden! A fire drill is a good guess, but it’s impossible to say. And why would somebody go around and take pictures of the kids during a fire drill? I wish I knew. I noticed the blazer on that girl, definitely looks like a “school uniform” sort of thing, though she’s the only one wearing anything like it.
Lou and Sue, what did you do for tornado drills?? Hide under your desks? Was there a big basement that held hundreds of kids?
Lou and Sue, you might be psychic twins.
TokyoMagic!, the saddest moment in a life would be when Conrad Birdie leaves. But it was better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all.
Chuck, where do babies come from, anyway? My guess is “from Canada”, but I can’t be sure. I can just imagine that historic film with the kids not knowing what to do when a movie camera is pointing at them, especially in the 1950s. Hell, I don’t know what to do NOW. In a panic I usually start to speak Klingon. Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam! I’m glad to hear that Paul Lynde and CNR never shared the stage on one night, that would be TOO MUCH TALENT in one place.
TokyoMagic!, now that I think about it, I have never seen Charles Nelson Reilly when he was younger, I feel like “Lidsville” was when I became aware of him. And “Match Game”.
Chuck, always check “FactBot3000” before you type, just like I do.
Mike Cozart, the funny thing about those fashions is that I have observed the way people dressed at Disneyland. In 1955, almost every woman or girl was wearing a dress or skirt, but by 1957, a dramatic shift to pants had already happened. You still saw dresses, but I think it was on less than 50 percent of the females. And of course only a year or two later, women had almost completely switched to pants. I have to wonder if older folks shook their heads in bewilderment? Somehow I am not surprised that The Chaperone had mistakes, it seems that many TV shows and movies get sloppy about the details. Interesting that it takes place in Wichita and NYC, of all places. Presumably it is filmed in Britain, so no wonder the details are wonky. Remember in the first “Captain America”, when he’s running through the streets of New York? It just looks weird… I think they filmed those scenes in Liverpool of all places, with digital images of the Brooklyn Bridge inserted in the distance.
TokyoMagic!, I can’t imagine Gene Rayburn singing and dancing, much less acting. Is it just me, or was he an odd looking fellow?
JG, oh yeah, now that you point it out, it does appear that at least two or three girls are wearing that same outfit. My mistake! Damn you, FactBot3000! I’m taking you to the scrap heap. Still, why are only a very few girls wearing that uniform?
There are only a few girls in uniform because the tailors were almost as slow as the construction crew.
Thanks for the suggestion on the FactBot3000, Major. Looks like I’ll be able to pick up a used one real soon for next to nothing.
Sue & JB…like my grandpappy, Old Reliable, used to say: better psychic twins than psychotic twins.
@ JB-
That 'smooth operator' chap may have to turn back his "cool credentials" membership, as the pull and slider of the zipper on his jacket is practically at the collar. No, no, no... very un-cool.
@ MIKE-
The 1959, two-tone Chevrolet next to the row of bicycles in the second image places these scenes no earlier than the fall of 1958. So... take your best guesses. I agree, the clothing is decidedly non-1960, as most of the outerwear looks more at-home in the mid to early 1950's. (Perhaps it's 'retro dress day' at school-?)
So many home perms...
Major, tornado drills consisted of curling up in a ball, facing down, with your hands clasped behind your neck (to protect it), against the wall in the windowless school hallways. As a kid, I only witnessed one funnel cloud starting to form a tornado (that never ended up touching the ground), and have, in my more-recent years, heard two tornadoes pass nearby, during night storms. Now, we just go into our basement, but don’t curl up in a ball against the wall. Growing up in my area, I have zero fear of tornadoes, but I know some people who are terrified of them. You have to worry more about the lightning, in our storms. Our electrical box, at the back of our yard, was hit once, and blew out stuff in our house. Our house alarm control box ended up with a crazy zigzag pattern etched inside of it—from the lightning strike.
Sue: growing up in California we of course had Earthquake drills. I remember in 1st or 2nd grade during the last week of school before vacation ( I was in year round school) my class and a few others were in the Media Center ( the 70’s term for the library) and during the drill while the kids were under tables and desks the custodial people and some of the teachers knocked some things over and banged on things to make noise as if caused by the quake … they also yelled out things like “oh no!! That wall is falling over!!!” And things like that. I remember being nervous … but knew nothing was really happening …… HOWEVER lots of the kids especially the younger ones FLIPPED OUT!!!! They were screaming and crying and really upset!!! Some were so upset and crying they had to be kept in the media center and over some time we’re slowly brought back to class. They were really traumatized.
Chuck, I’d forgotten about the tailor shortage of the post-war era. Men had to go to work without pants on! Sure, they liked it, but that’s beside the point. I hope you have better luck with your FactBot3000 than I did.
Nanook, sometimes it is more cool to be UNcool. That’s what I tell myself, anyway. And yes, that day was probably “Wear Your Older Siblings’ Clothes” day.
Dean Finder, only their hairdressers know for sure!
Lou and Sue, I guess you have to do something if a tornado is headed your way, but we’ve all seen how incredibly destructive a big tornado can be. I’ve always kind of wanted to see a tornado with my own eyes, except… well… those things are dangerous! I think I’d feel safer in a basement. Our house in Pennsylvania was not hit by lightning, but a bolt must have struck very close, I still remember the incredible BOOM and feeling the whole house shaking!
Mike Cozart, jeez, I had earthquake drills, but they didn’t yell things and knock things over! You had all the fun. They should have yelled, “Oh no, it’s actually Godzilla!”. That was around the time of the Sylmar quake, which I remember vividly - only that hit at around 6 in the morning, so we weren’t in school yet. Maybe that was for the best! I can only imagine that more impressionable kids would have been freaked out by the commotion caused by the teachers, who’s idea was that?!
Sue, amazing you saw only one tornado. Being a So Cal kid I never saw one until 1960 when we were in a Kansas City motel on a family road trip and saw six, all at the same time, around us in every direction. A major outbreak.
I thought it was kinda cool but my mom was really freaking out. To try and calm her the motel manager said the motel was built between two rivers where Indians camped because tornados never went there. Yeah, right. But she bought it.
In California in the 60s we had "drop" drills. At any moment of the day a teacher would loudly say "DROP!" This meant to get under your desk and put your head down covered with your hands. I remember it happening in a room that had no windows and they turned the lights out and it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!
GROUCHO: "Well, you wouldn't get much enjoyment out of that."
We had fire drills and civil defense drills in New York, but no earthquake or tornado drills. I guess we could have had blizzard drills. Kids a couple of years older than me still remember one big blizzard where the buses couldn’t get through and the kids had to stay in school overnight, but I guess I dodged the bullet on that one.
All those pleated skirts are pretty, until you remember that this was before synthetic fabrics were common enough that you wouldn’t have to iron those plates every day.
I see we have a couple of members of the Junior Babushka Club! I remember one recess period on a cold day when I had forgotten my hat and my teacher loaned me a spare babushka.
The couple of uniformed kids are a bit of a puzzle. I wonder if they were part of some student organization, like the Glee Club or the debating society. Or maybe this school normally had uniforms and this was taken on a “casual day.” (I’ve had a few friends who went to uniformed schools where they were given an occasional day off.
Mom’s public school had a strict dress code; skirts for girls, dress pants for boys. One day a month, they had a fundraising thing where you could pay a dollar to wear jeans, but Mom was in the secretarial training program and they weren’t allowed to participate. And in the Baptist school where I spent the primary grades, there were so many rules about “modest” dressing that even the high school cheerleaders wore skirts that covered their knees. When I hear about modern kids protesting their dress codes, I just tie an onion on my belt and tell them to get off my lawn.
Oh, and also, I would call twins on those two curly-haired girls on the left in the first picture, but they don’t appear to be quite the same height. Maybe sisters in different grades.
I read that Dick van Dyke had never done any real dancing before being cast in the stage version of Bye, Bye, Birdie. The choreographer saw him goofing around and improvising a few steps, and thought he had potential. I guess some people really are just naturals.
I don’t remember earthquake drills in school, but the fastest I ever ran was out of the basement of the unreinforced masonry house that my first office job was housed in.
I was filing blueprints in the basement when the Coalinga Earthquake came, 1980 or 81, and somehow I was outside like a flash.
Dads cousins from Nebraska were blasé about tornadoes and terrified of earthquakes. They said California was going to break off and sink.
JG
Melissa, "I just tie an onion on my belt". Ha! I've never heard that one before. (What does it mean?)
Mike, you had sadistic janitors and teachers. LOL! Those poor kids. We've never had earthquake drills, but we've had earthquakes in the Midwest. A few years back, one woke me up and it bounced me in the bed several times. I'm a light sleeper and instantly knew it was an earthquake and was fascinated, as our earthquakes are seldom, and usually just slight 'rumbles.' But not that one. I found out later that day that the epicenter was about four miles away, and 3 miles below ground. It wasn't a big earthquake, but I happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Earthquakes don't scare me, either. You know what does? Sink holes. They are creepy.
Major, YES, lightning strikes are LOUD. And the tornadoes (that I've heard) rumbled like loud thunder that was constant and would not let up. Not quite a train sound, as what other people have described.
Grant, seeing 6 tornadoes at one time is wild!! I guess I'm not afraid of them because we do have a basement. But a lot of folks in my area don't. Not safe here without one. Everything above ground level can get blown miles away. I truly do keep my favorite keepsakes (letters and cards I treasure, etc.) in the basement, for that reason. Even my WDW and DL slides and photos. But, they are in boxes up high, in case of the basement flooding. That's a whole 'nother topic. (That happened to my dad's basement and you should've seen me scrambling to save his Disney stuff....)
Melissa, I recall having to wear skirts in public schools until high school. On bitter cold days, we wore long pants under our skirts and then changed at school. Ugh.
JG, hahaha! I still hear folks in my area saying they would never move to California because of the earthquakes. Just heard someone, the other day, state the OLD STALE joke that they should buy land in Arizona so that they will have oceanfront property after The Big One.
(Earthquakes wouldn't stop me from moving to California.)
Fun day, fun photos. Thanks, Major.
Grew up in California and the Midwest and lived on both the East Coast and in the Caribbean, so tornadoes, earthquakes, and typhoons don’t frighten me - I’ve survived them all. The only thing we had drills for that really scares me is nuclear war. Well, that and carneys. Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands.
JB, here’s what Melissa was referencing. Makes me laugh every time she does that.
Sue, earthquakes wouldn’t stop me from moving to California, either, but the cost of the daily work commute back to Illinois would.
Thanks, Chuck. So, I guess the onion thing is just one of those crazy things that 'old people' say when talking about how things were in the old days. And the saying doesn't exist outside of The Simpsons?
It does now, but only because of The Simpsons. Kind of like how “d’oh,” “cromulent,” and “embiggen” have entered general usage because of that show.
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