U.S. School Clothes: Pierce Elementary School (Florida)


Figure 1.-- Pierce Elementary School was located in West Pasco County, Florida. It ssems a typical souther elementary (primary) school in the rural South. The image here which we believe is from 1951-52 shows a first grade class. The boys all wears jeans which was very common at American elementary schools. The girls dresses. One boy is barefoot.

Pierce Elementary School was located in West Pasco County, Florida. It seems a typical souther elementary (primary) school in the rural South. An image from 1951-52 shows a first grade class. Stripped "T" shirts seem very popular. The boys all wears jeans which was very common at American elementary schools. Notice the one boy who has flap pockets. The girls all wear dresses. One boy is barefoot. That was unusual by the 1960s at American schools. The school was located in a rural area, but even in rural areas coming barefoot to school had declined sharply.

Location

Pierce Elementary School was located in West Pasco County, Florida. It is a Gulf-coast county, mid-way down the pninsula north of St. Persburg. I don't know anything about the county at this time. It appears to be a largely rural county.

The School

It seems a typical souther elementary (primary) school in the rural South. An elementary school is the most common term in America for primary schools. They are also called grammar schools. It was probably a grade 1-6 school. I do not know if it had a kindergarten.

Chronology

I'm not sure when the Pierce Elementary School was founded. We note images from the 1920s, but the school was presumably founded earlier. We note the boys in the 1920s wearing a variety of outfits. A few bous were wearing sailor suits. Several boys wear collared shirts. One boy wears an Oliver Twist suit. One boy wears overalls. The other boys wear both short pants and knickers. Many of the boys are barefoot. The girls all wear dresses. An image from 1951-52 shows a first grade class (figure 1). Striped "T" shirts seem very popular. The boys all wears jeans which was very common at American elementary schools. Notice the one boy who has flap pockets. I was a Cub Scout in 1953 and the Cub pants at the time had pockets like that. I never had other pants like that though. Notice that the boys have tucked in their shirts, even "T" shirts. The girls all wear dresses. One boy is barefoot. That was unusual by the 1960s at American schools. The school was located in a rural area, but even in rural areas coming barefoot to school had declined sharply. We at first mistakenly dated the image 1963. A reade writes, "I think you have the date wrong. Below the picture it says "Pierce Elementary first grade, future GHS class of 1963." So if they graduated from GHS in 1963, they would have been in 1st grade in the 1951-52 school year. GHS would have been the abreviation for the local highschool--Gulf High School. The style of clothes is much more like the early 50s than the early 60s." I think our reader is correct here. The clothes do look more like the early 50s than the early 60s.

Historic Pictures of Western Pasco County

Here is a fascinating website about Western Pasco County. There are many images, including historical images from West Pasco County schools like Pierce Elementary Schools. .






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Created: 3:32 AM 6/26/2005
Last updated: 3:15 AM 9/24/2005