Figure 1.-- Here we have a cabinet card portrait of a rural school near Elizabethtown, a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania. We see a small rural school here, although it looks like a substantial brick building. The portrait was taken October 12, 1938. We see 16 pupils and the teacher who are named. The pupils look to run the gammit from 1st-8th grade. The school is identified a Musser's School. The girls all wear dresses. Some boys wear knickers. Notice how these boys wear knickers with ankle socks, something that was common in the late-30s as boys began to stop wearing knee socks. One boy wears overalls as might be expected in rural area. Two boys wear short pants. The boy holding the board wears a sweater. This photograph was taken by the Bishop Studio which was in Elizabethtown. Presumably the school was near by. It was one of the latest cabinet cards we have dated.

Here we have a cabinet card portrait of a rural school near Elizabethtown, a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania. (Elizabethtown, New Jersey is a city, but Elizabethtown, Pennsylvnia was a small town.) Which is why we see a small rural school here, although it looks like a substantial brick building. The portrait was taken October 12, 1938. This would be beginning of the school year. We see 16 pupils and the teacher. The pupils look to run the gammit from 1st-8th grade. The school is identified aa Musser's School. This is rather unusual for a public school. They rarely had possessive names, but that is what is written on the board the boy in the center is holding. And on the back the teacher and children are named on the back of the card. The teacher was Ben Weaver. The girls all wear dresses. Some boys wear knickers. Notice how these boys wear knickers with ankle socks, something that was common in the late-30s as boys began to stop wearing knee socks. One boy wears overalls as might be expected in aural area. Two boys wear short pants. The boy holding the board wears a sweater. This photograph was taken by the Bishop Studio which was in Elizabethtown. Presumably the school was near by. It was one of the latest cabinet cards we have dated. A reader writes about the hisiery the chikdren are wearing. "Did you notice that three of the boys in the front have knit knickers and the knickers seemed to have fallen as the elasticity of the knit band deteriorates with age?" I had not, but ourc readerv us absolutely cottect. Many knickers in the late-30s had knit rather thsn bucklev closures. Also interesting is the hosuiey. By 1938 Ametican boys and girls, were increasingly wearing ankle socks, especially the boys. We think that the children here are mostly wearing ankle socks, but we are a little unsure about the boy toward the right with the banded socks. They seem to have fallen down, but we are not sure that they were knee socks. And we would say that the chubyb boy at the left has rolled down his socks.

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Created: 8:41 PM 6/27/2024
Last updated: 4:11 PM 7/1/2024