I have a thing for school class photos. No, not the individual ones you get a nice haircut for and sometimes have laser beams dancing through the background. Those are great, but I prefer the group class photos. The ones where if you are the tallest kid in class, you’ll never see your outfit, but your mom makes you wear your nice shoes for anyway. I’ve only ever been in the back row. I would have sold my soul to be the kid that got to hold the letter board.
Whenever I see an old class photo at an estate sale or flea market, I make sure to snatch it right up. Oftentimes the year and location are a mystery to me, but there are typically clues.
This one shows the ladies of the 1929 class at the Jane Hayes Gates Institute in Kansas City. It was a school that helped women further develop the skills we often refer to as “home economics.” What I wouldn’t give to sit in on some of those classes. Along with their bouquets of flowers, you can see they are each holding what appears to be a little diploma, so I’m guessing this was taken at the end of the school year—the spring of 1929. Just think how soon the world would change for every woman pictured here.
I found this next photo attached to the back of another photo I purchased (I have a thing for all photos of all sorts). It just happens to be a class from the very school my son attends now—75 years ago! These children, if they are still alive, are now older than his grandparents.
I also have an amazing collection of my dad’s class photos. You can watch him grow before your very eyes from 1958 to 1964 at Henry Hough School in Kirkwood, Missouri. Can you guess which one he is? Hint: he looks like he might be up for bit of mischief.
Of course, I am also in possession of a few of my old class photos. Seeing each kid in the context of all the others brings forth a lot of buried memories—kid-dynamics that would otherwise be lost to time.
I remember Blake who only ever wanted to talk about Nintendo and cars. I remember the day on the playground when Melanie and Kim suddenly decided they didn’t want to be my friends anymore. I remember that there were two Jonathan’s with a last name that started with an S, so one of them had to go by “Jonathan SCH.” Inconsequential little memories, but when you’re in the business of making books for young people, this is solid gold.
This obsession isn’t new. Let’s take a gander inside this incredible Lisa Frank spiral notebook from 1989 to see where it all began…
I must have been 9 or 10 when I decided I was going to draw an entire school of classes. Obviously it would have to be a girls school because I only wanted to draw girl outfits and hairstyles (my attitude on this matter has changed).
Yes, I came up with the teacher’s names myself. And yes, each and every one of these outfits is one that I admired or coveted.
Drawing class photos also have their appeal because you can get away without drawing any hands or feet. I really only ever wanted to draw heads and outfits anyway (my attitude on this has not changed).
At our little house on the prairie, we are in the midst of some pretty decent renovations, but once I get my walls back I plan on having a “class photo wall.” This lovely print from my dear Dasha Tolstikova was framed prominently in our old apartment and it will be the first to be hung.
Do you also have an affection for class photos? Drop me a line. Maybe we can start a club! And feel free to send scans, art or photos my way, I’m always looking to grow my collection!