It
is true to say of my old family photographs - and from what I have seen
over the years, the same is true of most other Sepians (I love that
word but it was invented by Ticklebear and not by me) - that photographs
from the first half of the twentieth century either feature one's
relatives in their Sunday best, or in their overalls. Well so often in
Sepia Saturday we have turned our spotlight on the Sunday finery, so
this week I want to focus the spotlight on the humble overalls (and,
workwear of all types). Now regular Sepians who are members of the Royal
Houses of Europe - and there are several of them, aren't there your
majesty? - may have trouble finding a working relative, but I suspect
the rest of us won't find it too much of a challenge. And you can always
interpret my archive theme image - which is from the collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia
- in any way that you want to. All you need do is to post your post on
or around Saturday the 8th December 2012 and add a link to the list
below.--Alan Burnett
y
My husband will not wear blue jeans today because he said he had to wear them when he was a little boy and he will not wear them now.
He will not wear shorts either.
I love him dearly but he has bowed legs.
I think that is why he will not wear jeans or shorts.
As evidenced in this photo of 1939 overalls were worn by little boys as well as adults.
Probably all the girls dresses were homemade from feed sacks as that was the normal material used at that time.
The feed sacks were sold by the local Mill for sewing purposes as they had never been used.
This school, Mayes School, was founded by Fred O Mayes db
1891 who was a teacher and principal in Washington County.
There is an entire area of Springfield Kentucky called Mayes subdivision that was sold to contractors for the building of homes after all the Mayes family died out.
That is where the old school was located.
I remember playing on that vacant land as a young girl.
The teacher pictured is Regina Rudd, my great aunt on my father's side.
She was one of three sisters of my grandfather's who were teachers.
This probably was a one-room schoolhouse as the students look as if they are all different ages.
It must have been very warm weather as the students in the front have no shoes on.
Go here for more Sepia Saturday interpretations of Alan's prompt picture.
Did you know that overalls have been around since 1750?
There were worn by the British army and called "slops".
They didn't look much like our overalls today
that came ca 1850--100 years later.
y
My husband will not wear blue jeans today because he said he had to wear them when he was a little boy and he will not wear them now.
He will not wear shorts either.
I love him dearly but he has bowed legs.
I think that is why he will not wear jeans or shorts.
As evidenced in this photo of 1939 overalls were worn by little boys as well as adults.
Probably all the girls dresses were homemade from feed sacks as that was the normal material used at that time.
The feed sacks were sold by the local Mill for sewing purposes as they had never been used.
This school, Mayes School, was founded by Fred O Mayes db
1891 who was a teacher and principal in Washington County.
There is an entire area of Springfield Kentucky called Mayes subdivision that was sold to contractors for the building of homes after all the Mayes family died out.
That is where the old school was located.
I remember playing on that vacant land as a young girl.
The teacher pictured is Regina Rudd, my great aunt on my father's side.
She was one of three sisters of my grandfather's who were teachers.
This probably was a one-room schoolhouse as the students look as if they are all different ages.
It must have been very warm weather as the students in the front have no shoes on.
Go here for more Sepia Saturday interpretations of Alan's prompt picture.
12 comments:
I've seen photos from just before WWII where children we barefoot too - because they hadn't any to wear. Hopefully things are different today.
My grandmother used to wear flour sack dresses as a little girl. Her father worked at a bakery and must have been able to bring home the flour sacks.
Love this photo, QMM! A nice little bit of history, you've provided with thw feed sacks information, and who knew the British Army wore something called, "slops"? Before you we're here to tell us? See, that's one of the things I love about Sepia Saturday.
Those kids are just wonderful; simple dresses, overalls...your great aunt certainly had her hands full, didn't she?
I was unable to read what a stop-loss pocket is but I guess it is a pocket with the proverbial hole stitched? And I would never have dared to call the British Army a sloppy army ;)
That's a great photo, Peggy. Did you notice that every single one of the children is looking directly at the camera? And all are serious.
Yup, they remind me of shots of my father in his overalls. He wore them to school and he wore them on the ranch. Sometimes with a shirt, sometimes without. Sometimes with shoes and sometimes...well you get the picture.
Would the expression "looking sloppy" come from those slops you referred to?!?
:)~
HUGZ
Great overalls photo! I did not know that about the history. I don't think I ever had any overalls but I still wear jeans.
Monica T a.k.a DawnTreader
You always add so much to my knowledge of the theme and this again is the case with overalls. I had no idea about the "slops" connection, thank you Peggy.
I love school photos because you can glean so much about the community of the time. Excellent contribution for the overalls theme!
A neat post. Overalls for children are practical because they are so adjustable. I bet some of those boys got several years out of a pair.
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