A Japanese Class Photo

 

I don't do it often because shipping has a tendency to be expensive, but from time to time, I go on eBay and purchase photos from overseas.  So, is this a Japanese class photo or the staff of the local building supply store?  I'm betting it's a class photo with the older-looking men as faculty, and the younger-looking guys, the students. Anyway, I don't speak or read Japanese, so the caption that's on the back may tell the real story, and for anyone who can translate, do me a favor and leave one in comments. 

Bullies

 

I know what it's like to be bullied so I can recognize what's going on in this photo.  The white line on the right of the print and all those little white spots are from dirt on the negative.  

School Play

 I hope the little girl on the left grew up to be a great actress so she could go back home and remind people, that once upon a time, she was almost cut out of the picture.  There's a very faded processors stamp on the back, which is mostly unreadable, but "Decatur, Illinois" can be made out.  

Graduating In Peace

I'm not quite sure what this picture represents.  Maybe a prom photo or homecoming.  It's a bit out of focus, but once I blew it up, it looks like the sign above the stage reads Classes with some dates.  I'm not 100% sure, but I'd say 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1941.  Perhaps it means that those four classes raised money to pay for the auditorium.  In any case, there is a photographer's stamp on the back, "ARTHUR W. F. LOWENSTEIN, MORO, ILL. OCT 22 1945"  If I'm reading it correctly, the class of 1941, the last one listed on the sign would have been the last graduating class before World War 2, and the Class of 1946 would be the first to graduate after VJ-Day. 

I couldn't find anything about the photographer, but Moro is near St. Louis, Missouri. 

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection-Learning to Swim

Well, this one was a pain in the ass to scan.  Believe it or not, this was once the way swimming was taught, and for all I know, it's a method that's still being used.  As a matter of fact, I once found myself on my belly, on a gym floor, practicing the crawl.  Problem was, I had been swimming for almost a decade.  I can't remember if I got splinters or not.

There aren't any photos on the reverse of this album page.  Click on The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels for more photos and more info.

Japanese Students

This shouldn't' be read as an endorsement of eBay.  Like many others I've had a few bad experiences with the site.  Still, as a collector of old photographs, and as someone old enough to remember a world with out an internet,  I'm always amazed that I can buy a photo from Japan and have it delivered to my door in less than a week.

Anyway, both of these pictures were pasted on the same card, one on the front, and one on the back.  I scanned the card in hopes that someone can translate the writing and leave it as a comment, and then did the photo alone.  The back of the card, with the second image, is just plain green with neither writing or textured surface, so who knows if the card was meant to have photographs on both sides.  Since nothing was lost, I just scanned the photo.  The card is just a bit bigger than wallet size, so maybe a parent just glued the second shot on the back to keep pictures of the kids all together.

Co-Ed Team Or?

This is another of those photos that poses more questions than it answers.  With trainers Mike Brown and Tarzan Miller, this has to be some sort of team photo, but what kind?  If it's a co-ed team then it's a rare thing from the era.  I've never heard of any sort of school sport that had both male and female members.  Perhaps Judge Coffey was the boy's basketball coach, and Muggsy was the girl's coach.  I went to a very small school, and our basketball team only had ten members.  The six boys and six girls in this photo, would be just enough to put out a starting line up with one bench player, so it's possible, but unlikely.  It could be boys team and cheerleaders.  My guess is that this photo is from the fifties, well before Title 9, so there would have been no requirement for a girls team of any kind.