Vintage Kids
I was surprised to learn that kids were actually invented sometime in the 1800s (thanks, Wikipedia), but nobody took photos of them until the 1950s. I have two such photos to share with you today.
The place: Somewheresville, USA! The date: who heckin' knows. I assume that this was taken at one of those old-fashioned schools that still used the stocks to punish recalcitrant children. See how mouthy they are after a few hours in the hot sun, right?! To the right we can see the legs of many boys who can't wait for their turn. Nice girls help them, while others pose demurely.
I have no information about this next scan. This might be ALL of the children who attend a small-town school, or maybe it's a bunch of Sunday-schoolers. If you happened to be standing nearby, you could actually hear the distinct sound of squirming. The schoolmarm (to the right) looks like she arrived directly from Central Casting.
22 comments:
Gee, our grammar school only had swings and a slide, to play on.
2nd pic:
Look at that cute brown-haired young man near the back, fourth from the left...see how he's tugging on that cute little girl's red hair-ribbon? I hope they went on to be childhood sweethearts and later got married and raised some cute offspring of their own. Adorable little couple!
I see a future Alice-in-Wonderland ride operator for Disneyland! Very front row, first on the left, seated. What a doll!
Major-
There's nothing quite like a good 'ol fashioned stockade [or whipping post-!] to learn them kids a good lesson if they misbehave-! No miscreants allowed. That's quite the sea of towheads in the second image. They all appear so well-behaved and calm. I'm certain they're all bustin' at the seams to let loose when the bell rings.
Thanks, Major.
Additional Note:
If that 'cute couple' is actually 'brother and sister,' forget what I said above.
In the first photo, the girl on the right has unknowingly dropped her pack of Marlboros. She's gonna be mad later on when she gets a jittery craving for nicotine and can't find her pack of sweet, sweet relief.
This must have been taken during Anthony's earlier years, when he wished things (and people) into the Stocks instead of the Cornfield.
In the second photo, a couple of kids (next to Sue's future Alice CM) are barefoot. Do you suppose they walked 10 miles to school, on a gravel road, in 100 degree heat, with their bare feet?
The front row kid in the white t-shirt is young Ahnold Schwarzenegger, doing a muscle pose for the camera.
The kid with his hands over his ears, in the second row, can't get the sound of squeaky-chalk-on-the-blackboard out of his ears. MAKE IT STOP!
Actually, there are several schoolmarms and schoolmans(?) scattered around the periphery.
About the only things we can say about this photo is that it was taken sometime in the fifties, and probably in a small, rural town. Anything else?
Nanook, just off-camera there is also a bed-of-nails and an iron maiden.
Sue, I was wondering if the 'cute couple' were siblings as well. There is some physical resemblance.
Thanks for the nifty fifties kids, Major. Kids were invented in the 1800s... you'll only get facts like that here on GDB.
Those two young boys next to Alice with bare feet are a standout.
Look at all those children whose lives are already lived. They're all either senior citizens or dead now. Thanks, Major.
Torture devices as playground equipment! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I have three black and white grammar school photos very similar to that second photo, but they are from the early 1900's. They are of my great-grandmother's grade school classes. I've been thinking about sharing them. Maybe I'll do that in September, when it's "back to school" time.
Thanks for sharing these with us, Major!
Lou and Sue, some of that old playground equipment might as well have been torture devices! The steel slide would get hot enough to fry and egg on, and I remember the monkey bars only had a hard rubber sheet underneath, if you fell you’d still crack your skull open. There sure are a lot of blond kids in that second photos.
Nanook, I wonder if that first photo was taken during a field trip? Nothing as fancy as Historic Williamsburg, but along those lines. And yes (see my comment to Lou and Sue), so many blondies!
Lou and Sue, I don’t get a “brother and sister” vibe from those two… I think the boy is just being naughty. But I could be wrong!
JB, the girl who lost her Marlboros knows that a shot of whiskey will help when she craves that nicotine. I’m still unclear as to whether the second photo shows a Sunday school class or a regular school… if I had to bet, I’d say that it was a regular school. Funny to think of kids showing up barefoot, it’s very “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Paging Burris Ewell! What is up with the kid with his hands over his ears? He really does appear to be in some kind of discomfort. I sure wish I knew where the photo was taken, but 99% of old slides are unlabeled, or so it seems.
K. Martinez, while it is sad to think that these cute children are probably mostly gone now, it’s neat to get the look at a time and a place that has vanished from the world.
TokyoMagic!, I’d love to see those photos from your great-grandma’s grade school!
Major, here are those pics of my great-grandmother's class. One is dated 1910. The other wasn't dated, but I think it's from just a couple years later. I circled my great-grandmother in both pics. And this is the same great-grandmother who went to the 1939 World's Fair, but didn't take any pictures!
(Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post.)
Class Photos - Early 1900s
"OK Kiddies...let's have playtime on the 17th Century torture devices! " Pretty sure none of this would fly today, but in some places, these things are still in use. The other children are extras from "The Birds". I can almost hear the "riggley raggedly hey nonanonly... now..now...now..." That doesn't look like Suzanne Pleshette, but maybe it's her stunt double. She might have been busy with "The Ugly Dachshund" at the time...and yes..I know those movies came way after these photos...but...you never know. Before TV and the interspace and everything else, fashions took some time in remote places to catch up. Or is it Catsup? or Ketchup? I'm off to watch "Bullwhip Griffin" now that Ms. P-shet is top of mind.
Bu, Cathy! Wheeeeere's Caaaaathy? Of course, the best line from "The Birds" is, I think you're the cause of all this. I think you're evil. EEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIL!!!!!
TM and Bu, I'm just running out the door, will be gone all day, but I will respond tonight!!
I wonder if anyone could figure out where the first pic was taken. Those are pretty generic buildings for a historical spot. Not many other visitors either. The second may be a Sunday school, the girl sitting in the center of the first row seems to have a tiny bible. Thanks for some fun photos Major.
Ken, I was 4 in 1957, so I could maybe be one of the barefoot boys in the front row. And yes, I'm now a senior citizen, but I'M STILL ALIVE!!... last I checked.
Major, you had a rubber mat under your monkey bars? Why, in MY day, all we had was compacted dirt and gravel. Rubber mats are for sissies. How's a kid s'posed to get a gouged knee and have blood run down to their ankles on a rubber mat?
I'm sure the Marlboro girl has a flask tucked away in her purse.
Yes, it does look very "To Kill a Mockingbird". Except, that book was written in black & white; these photos are in color.
Tokyo!, great time capsule photos. Interesting how some of the kids look like kids today, while others look like 40 year-olds from the 1800s. In the 1910 photo, your great grandma reminds me of Natalie Wood, circa "Miracle on 34th Street".
Bu, Ha! I quoted that same line from the song here several months ago. Can't remember what prompted it now though. And it's definitely "ketchup". ;-)
Tokyo! again, you left out the [SLAP!] at the end of that line from The Birds.
Kathy!, good catch on the small bible. Although, it could be a Book Of Satan... it IS red after all. ;-)
I love these. We should bring back the stocks.
Major, you went to a fancy school, like JB, we had hard dirt under all our monkey bars.
I broke my arm twice before 6th grade. If my kids did that, we would have owned the whole school district.
JG
Torture devices have long been a tradition at playgrounds and parks for the kids!! I was in elementary school through the 1970’s and my school from 1st grade to 4th grade had a very large playground with a great assortment of playground equipment ( funded no doubt by the previous 60’s booming economy) . Beside a double - dip traditional slide, there was a large abstract “slide” - a triangular flat metal slab at a steep angle. The perimeter sides and top had a railing for kids to attempt to climb up the slab and then let go and slide down the silver polished face of the slab.
TO TORTURE CHILDREN ON THE Metal Slab Slide : the slab slide’s face is smooth polished aluminum to ease in sliding down from the upper level: the torture of the children will occur instantly as the children run out of class for recess to attempt to climb the slab slide: unbeknownst to the children , the slab slide has heated it’s polished silver side up in the sun and any attempt to climb in the equipment will be skin to children burning themeselves on a giant hot cookie sheet right out of a giant oven!!
A regional park near my grandparents house had an identical silver slab slide cookie sheet. It too burned many children. By the 1980’s both the griddle pan slab sides were removed and NOT because of children being burned but because the railings around the sloped slab were only about 6 inches high and designed to used as grips to climb high - NOT prevent kids from falling off the top levels about 9-10 feet below.
Who devised this play equipment and how did the schools , parks, pta, community boards NOT foresee these dangers !???
If you’ll excuse me I’m going to play with my 1972 Clicker-Clackers ….
What’s a Clicker-Clacker? Oh : two marbled GLASS balls ( mine had glitter in the glass too!) attached to two elastic strings with a finger loop you get the glass balls to clack back and fifth against each other and great speeeds creating a CLICK - CLACK noise!! I can’t see any danger of kids smashing glass balls together at high speed can you…….???
And seatbelts!??? In the 70’s we kids stood up on the car’s back seat and screamed at our moms to drive faster ! Faster! On the curved and ramped freeway overpasses!!! That was fun!
Mike, HAHAHA! I remember those Clacker thingys. I don't think we partook of those, though.
I mentioned here before that we had a set of the original 1970s Lawn Darts; the ones with the sharpened metal tips, like real darts. Only, they weren't sharp enough to suit us; they sometimes failed to stick into the ground. So we filed the tips even sharper and pointier. They stuck real good! I don't recall any of us being impaled with them. We grew up around archery equipment, so we were taught to be careful with things like that.
I also LOVED to (literally) play with fire as a kid (maybe 7 to 10 years old). Sort of unsupervised science experiments. Never started any wildfires or burnt anything down. I was pretty careful and had some common sense (see Lawn darts and archery stuff above). I did get a rather nasty blister on one of my fingers once, though.
@ Bu-
If you're going to mention The Birds, let's not forget to 'plug' another Disney connection: Dal McKennon.
Mike and JB, I recently read an impassioned defense of Lawn Darts and "dangerous" playground equipment as a necessity for kids to learn the concept of danger and limits and negotiate disputes among themselves rather than always assume safety and an authority figure to settle everything on their behalf.
It's odd to think the things I did as a kid in the 1980s would be unheard of today.
TokyoMagic! Your family photos are priceless. Thank you for sharing them.
Mike, we had Click-Clacks, too. I was in 6th grade. What could be more dangerous than a Click-Clack?? A school yard full of kids with them. They were the big thing for a while.
Mike, I love your car-ride story. And before seat belts, I do remember slamming into the dashboard (actually it was the glove compartment), a time or two. Never got hurt bad. Does anyone recall their parent (probably their mom), while driving and having to stop hard - putting their hand out in front of your stomach area - as if that would keep you from slamming into the dashboard (glove compartment), again?!?! Good times. Miss you mom!
"We grew up around archery equipment, so we were taught to be careful with things like that."
JB, recently we got together with one of my husband's childhood friends and they were reminiscing. One day, when around Jr. High age, they took the friend's archery stuff - bows and sharp arrows - and shot arrows straight up into the air, to see where they might land. Why? Because. I guess one or two got stuck in neighbor's roofs, and were left there.
Dean, thanks for sharing that great piece. That described my childhood, after we had moved out of the city and into the "country," when I was 8. As soon as all of us neighborhood-kids finished our morning chores, we'd meet and make plans for the day. Never sat still. There were trees to climb, a creek to explore, fields with wild strawberries and some other wild berries that we'd eat...lots of fresh air, sunshine and imagination. Our group was boys and girls and we'd have a blast. Sometimes our moms would pack us lunches and we'd be set for hours. hmmmmmm...I'm still in touch with at least 10 of them, and summer's just starting...it's getting me thinking...
Thanks, Major, for hosting another fun day!
JB and Sue, I'm glad you enjoyed the vintage photos of my great-grandmother's classes. I have 3 or 4 similar ones of her daughter's (my grandmother) school pictures from the 1920s. I'll have to post those at a later date. Again, maybe in September with some other vintage school items, like her high school report card from the 1930s. My family saved stuff!!!
JB, I now see a little of the Natalie Wood resemblance in that one pic, but I didn't until you mentioned it. And yes, I forgot the "SLAP" at the end of that quote. And that's the best part of the scene!
I remember the Click Clackers, but not the glass ones. I remember them when they were made of acrylic, but they were still banned from being brought to school, because unruly kids at some schools were using them as weapons.
I also remember the hard packed dirt under our school's jungle gym, and other playground equipment. We did not have a rubber mat!
JG, my brother broke his arm while playing on some of the school equipment. We had gymnastic "rings" on the playground, but nobody used them for the proper gymnastic moves. The older kids would boost each other up to them and then they would swing back and forth and eventually let go, to see who could jump the furthest. When my brother was in 6th grade and I was in 4th, he broke his arm as he landed on the ground, while trying to jump the furthest. Those rings actually did actually have sand underneath them, but it didn't keep his bones from breaking. I still remember very clearly that the bell had just rung, for everyone to go back to class. I was just outside the door to my classroom, and my brother ran by me holding his arm, but instead of being straight, it was "zigzag" because of the break through both bones in the arm. He looked at me and said, "LOOK! I just broke my arm! I just broke my arm!" I think he was in shock. He ran up to the office. A few minutes later, I was in class, and we could all see the principal and the secretary walking my brother across the front lawn of the school to the principal's car, so that he could drive my brother to the hospital. My mom didn't sue the school, because it was my brother's own fault. They did tell all of the students that the rings were no longer to be used in that manner, but they didn't remove them until many years later.
TokyoMagic!, thank you for linking to those photos of your great grandmother’s class! 1910, wow. Love the big hair ribbon, I think I have photos of my grandmother (born in 1905) with similar large bows. I love family history pix like yours!
Bu, I actually wonder if there aren’t still places with stocks for “funny” photos? Universal Studios used to have a setup where you could put your head and hands in the stocks, with fake feet at the bottom that looked like the soles had been tarred. Oh man, that song from “The Birds”, that’s a great scene, but the song is a bit much after a while. Also, if elected President I will ban the word “catsup” from ever being used.
TokyoMatic!, any movie that has somebody say “Eeeeeeeviiiiiiil!!!” moves right up to the top of the heap for me. If an actor wants an Academy Award, they should just find an excuse to say it. Are you listening, Vin Diesel?
Kathy!, I admit that I was hoping that somebody would say, “I recognize that area!”, but so far, no such luck. Good eye on the tiny bible!!
JB, when people ask me, “What is JB really like?”, I tell them, “Well, for one thing, he’s alive”. I feel like that’s important. I think we had the rubber mat because our monkey bars were built on asphalt, not dirt/gravel. And trust me, if you fell on that rubber mat (which I did), you were probably going to be hurting. I’m sure I cried at least once, and my brother broke his arm. So it was not for sissies! Now I’m trying to remember if I pictured the scenes from “To Kill a Mocking bird” in color when I read that book. The movie has clouded my recollection.
JG, maybe your school imported hard dirt from Paris! Ooh-la-la. Funny that you mentioned breaking your arm right after I mentioned my brother breaking his arm. I still remember my mom trying to bathe him by putting a wonder bread wrapper around the cast with rubber bands.
Mike Cozart, yes, so much of the playground equipment from my childhood was like what you described. Lots of unforgiving hot metal that had been out in the California sun for hours and hours. Our school in Huntington Beach had a monkey bars setup that resembled a submarine, and at the top of the “conning tower” was a wheel that you could spin (similar to the kind you spin on the Teacups). It was weird because kids would climb up there, and never give up their spot for the entire recess, just because it became the coolest place to be. No idea WHY, it wasn’t that fun. We also had swings that hung from large arched steel pipes, and kids would just climb up the arches to the top. Teachers would try to stop them, but every day somebody would do it. As a kid it seemed like it was 30 feet up, but it was probably only 10. I remember Clicker-Clackers, my sister had a set, but I thought that they were plastic. Did they really make them out of GLASS??
JB, my sister loved her Clicker-Clacker, I don’t think I was ever able to make it click (or clack) for more than a few times in a row. We had lawn darts too, and I don’t remember anybody ever getting hurt, though in retrospect it’s kind of a miracle that we didn’t kill each other. I love that you guys actually sharpened yours to make them MORE deadly. Did you coat the tips in curare as well? And yes, we kids loved to play with matches, our favorite thing was to pile as many matches as we could get and then to light them, and watch them go WHOOSH. It was like a mini Fourth of July. Some fun!
Nanook, what did Dal do in “The Birds”? Did he play a bird?
Dean Finder, I wonder how many kids have actually been seriously hurt by lawn darts? Maybe a LOT, I have no idea. Or maybe it’s just some adult taking one look at them and thinking, “Those are a bad idea”.
Lou and Sue, it’s kind of surprising that they would allow Click-Clacks in school, I think that nowadays they would have been taken away and put in a drawer. There was a yo-yo craze when I was a kid, and the teachers took away every Duncan Butterfly yo-yo they found. It made all of us really mad. SO UNFAIR! I don’t remember my parents putting their hands on our stomachs to prevent us from flying into the dashboard, but I do remember sitting on the metal part of a seatbelt and having it scorch my leg because the metal was 8000 degrees. Ha ha, your story about playing with arrows sounds legit. My younger brother and his friends used to put on safety goggles (hey, at least they did that!) and chase each other around the yard shooting BBs at each other. I also think of how we would take our bikes around Huntington Beach, it seemed like we would go for miles, and be gone for hours. We’d even lay our bikes down on the sand to play in the ocean, and nobody ever stole them!
TokyoMagic!, it’s always so kind of strange to see my grandmother when she was a little kid. Her family had a pony, I think they called it something like “Attorney General”, maybe that’s where I got inspired for “Major Pepperidge”? Those Click-Clacks, I’m sure I whacked myself in the face more than a few times. But there were girls at school who make them click like crazy. Swinging on gymnastic rings sounds like the kind of dumb thing we would have done too. We definitely would launch ourselves from the swings at their highest arch, but at that point our playground had nice soft sand. You could still hurt yourself if you landed incorrectly though. When my brother broke his arm, I don’t think the idea of suing the school even occurred to my parents. My brother was just being a kid, and kids do dumb things.
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