This 70-year-old National Geographic states that the thigh panel on tight sealskin trousers are “a fashion must in Greenland.” Composed of bits of brightly-dyed leather in mosaic patterns, they add pop to any thighs, and compliment the two pounds of beaded collar forcing their shoulders down.
These Eskimo women are cited as Angmagssalik in the article. That’s a rough word, folks. You know how it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople nowadays? Well, in this case, it’s Tasiilaq, not the antiquated term Angmagssalik. So Tasiilaq it is!! If that’s too much for your brain on a Tuesday, I feel you.
Back in 1964, nobody cared what Mrs. Robert F. Young’s first name was. Ladies essentially lost both their first and last names and simply became Mrs. Spouse’s Name. That would suit me just fine, as my husband’s name is easy to say. Perhaps y’all should start calling me “Mrs. Jimmy” from now on. In any event, these were still the days when readers had loooong attention spans and were willing to spend not only an hour on a magazine article, but several minutes on an ad.
Today we continue with more amazing pics from West Texas Teachers College. I may not be a fan of West Texas, but I sure like their yearbooks.
The first image was captioned, “The Ruff Nex in Edmund.” Well, I tell you what, if I had been born during the first world war, I gladly would have joined one of these fellows for a ride in his Packard and a Clark Gable movie. And if it were the one second from the right, we might even go get a gin fizz afterwards.
The next foursome of gals were called “Four inmates of Randall Hall.” Did you ever see a group of folks more comfortable in their own skin? Again, remember to click to enlarge.
Yesterday, we visited West Texas State Teachers College for a glimpse of campus life. As you can imagine, with images ranging in size from a stamp to a business card, the resolution can be sketchy. But amazingly, some images are crisp as a kettle chip. Feel free to click to enlarge.
Prohibition was over, yes. But the Depression was still in full swing, with 20% unemployment, compared to today’s 3.8%. Not being able to support a family might be a justifiable reason to drink, which probably contributed to the formation of a group called Alcoholics Anonymous that year. In addition, The Social Security Act was signed. Wikipedia fun facts include these bits of trivia:
Airplanes were banned from flying over the White House.
Porky Pig made his debut in Looney Tunes’s I Haven’t Got a Hat.
The world’s first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City. Really? OKC?
Humorist Will Rogers was killed when his plane crashed shortly after takeoff near Barrow, Alaska.
The China Clipper took off from Alameda, California to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean; the aircraft reached its destination, Manila, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail.
Meanwhile, fortunate young Americans still attended college, like these students at West Texas State Teachers College. As you know, my favorite parts of my many yearbooks are the candid shots. Many of them are only two inches high in brittle paper collages, but with the power of zoom, we can get a great sense of the campus culture.
Come back soon for more 1935 pics; this yearbook is a treasure trove!
P.S. They really don’t use books any more. At least not here. Our school district leases Lenovo laptops to students once they enter middle school and they can continue with the same one for years. Families pay for them yearly. Back in my day, we were issued used textbooks and we covered them with paper ads, such as Mrs. Baird’s bakery or Big Red. We had to fold them just right at the corners to keep them in place.
This is one I’ve actually kept for 40 years. Any of you recall doing this with paper bags?
At this point, WWII was in the books, and the era of photography had changed as well. More formal portraiture had made way for commonplace settings, examining the ordinary, such as these folks at the beach.
I can’t say that personally, I’ve ever seen people wearing winter clothes to a beach, much less a business suit. Even the children building sandcastles are wearing long-sleeved, button-down shirts. I guess the day was made more for being outdoors than for a brisk swim. I love these expressive matronly faces, but I also wonder if it was hard to procure sunglasses at the time. Surely, they could have used some!
In the background lies the luxury hotel called The Grand. When it opened in 1867, it was the largest hotel and the largest brick structure in all of Europe! Now, to the Americans, that’s ancient. But over there, I suppose 1867 was just a couple blinks ago–and it certainly doesn’t conjure up memories of a post-Civil War era for them.
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Myself, I don’t care for hotels–for the midnight slamming doors, kids running up and down halls, the thin walls, the questionable cleanliness (especially the bed quilts), the half-ply toilet paper, the items I have found on carpet, including both metal tacks and bullets at a certain Hyatt. But I can appreciate the architecture. And while this hotel has faced all kinds of health issues, from cases of gastroenteritis to Norwalk virus to dangerous levels of bleach in the water, the most interesting tidbit is as follows:
In September 2006, the management installed extra netting and spikes on the exterior of the building to deter nesting seagulls. The birds, which are regarded as a nuisance in parts of the town, had been disturbing guests with mating calls. Their droppings were also responsible for a significant proportion of the hotel’s cleaning expenses. (Scarborough Evening News)
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