View Full Version : New old photo
I've just sent in a photo of Reay School circa 1900 to the photographs section.
Please guide the more elderly to this picture and let's see how many names we can up with.
http://www.caithness.org/schooldays/reay/reayschool1900.jpg
Gosh! They don't look a very happy bunch do they? ;)
Billy Boy
24-Apr-06, 20:25
the teacher on the left look's like a bulldog chewing a wasp lol:lol:
connieb19
24-Apr-06, 20:25
I don't think people were supposed to smile in photos in the olden days.:confused:
I wonder why that was?
Don Quixote
24-Apr-06, 20:26
the teacher on the left look's like a bulldog chewing a wasp lol:lol:
... have you seen the one on the right with the beard????
I don't think people were supposed to smile in photos in the olden days.:confused:
I wonder why that was?
Probably the thought of someone posting their photo on Caithness.org in a hundred years time put them off :)
George Brims
24-Apr-06, 21:20
I don't think people were supposed to smile in photos in the olden days.:confused:
I wonder why that was?
It may have been to do with the fact that exposure times were so long with the photographic emulsions of the day, and small aperture lenses, that you had to hold very still for quite a while as the picture was taken.
On the other hand it may just have been the old-fashioned idea that a smiling child was a badly behaved or disprespectful child. That nonsense lasted a lot later than 1900.
Is that golach in the front row?
I don't think people were supposed to smile in photos in the olden days.:confused:
I wonder why that was?
Because the dentisted were scares in that day lol
Maybe they are concerned about the prospect of "hot spots" on their beach.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
24-Apr-06, 22:32
the teacher on the left look's like a bulldog chewing a wasp lol:lol:
See the wasp that he was chewing on,look its landed on the nose o' the wee lassie on the second row.:lol:
Bingobabe
24-Apr-06, 22:40
Its more like children of the damed.lol:evil
Billy Boy
24-Apr-06, 22:44
See the wasp that he was chewing on,look its landed on the nose o' the wee lassie on the second row.:lol:
she must of just spat it out like spit the dog:eek:
Hallo Casey,
What a great photo many thanks for sending that in, and if you dont mind I'd like to copy it off for my own Family album.
We dont often get the chance to see such an old school photo and this one reminds us what a big occasion it was when a Photographer turned up at school ! The teacher would have told the children weeks in advance and warned them to turn up all neat and tidy on the day.
When the Bid Day arrived I expect the poor dears were up even earlier than usual to get all their chores done and to make sure that they were all scrubbed and combed. Their best clothes would have been set out the night before - likely borrowing a shirt from a brother, socks from sister etc.
As they left for school their mother would be shouting after them ''Keep yourself clean, dont get mud all over your clothes today!''
In the classroom the teacher again warns them to behave, no fidgeting or giggling..... and then the Photographer arrived. What was he going to do? This would be a first for most of the children and the experience was all quite frightening. Outside they were put in their place and the Photographer set up his camera..... what a strange thing that was. It would take ages for the cameraman to get it all right, back and fore under the black cloth, what on earth was he doing? The children sat waiting, and waiting. Then, they were warned once again not to move - for ages it seemed. and suddenly, BLAST ! It was all over.
And what fine looking bairns they all were. Which one I wonder, is the Bard who wrote such wonderful poetry about Caithness and Caithness folk. Which one was the Caithness Vionlist.... which one became the doctor, the Nurse or the next teacher the future farmers and mothers?
Those children saw two world wars, some of them Serving and alas never returned to their homes.
They did not smile on that day, likely they were far too nervous at this strange new experience . But I feel they are smiling now as they look down on us, maybe they even look in to Caithness.org Message Board and wonder at all our bad spelling and dreadful grammar after one hundred years of education!! And what do they make of children today who sit in their own little rooms surrounded by all the latest electronic equipment and moan 'Mammy I'm bored.'
'Bored !!' that's a new word to the children of 1900 for they were too busy to get bored. Indeed after a day at school and so many family chores they still had time to play out in the fields with the animals and flowers, smiling and laughing.
They became our grandparents and we love them all.
Yes, I remember the first time I saw the school photographer! I wondered what on earth was going on behind that big black cloth and it didn't look like any camera I had ever seen before!
And yes, I agree with your story of why they were not smiling! They had probably walked to school in their bare feet, carrying a peat for the fire and maybe even feeling hungry. The very idea of standing still for a long time waiting for the exposure and maybe not even knowing what it was all about would make them feel wary as well as feeling very shy.
Trinkie, I like your idea of them looking down at us now and pitying us for not having the freedom that they had. No strangers lurking around, no dangerous machinery to keep them away from the fields and nothing inside the house to keep them from enjoying the fresh air and freedom. Mothers didn't have to keep them in sight all the time; all they had to do was put the food on the table and wait for the stampede of hungry children!
And yes I do know they had a hard life but there it was also an uncomplicated one with none of the modern day stresses of racing to all our sports, dancing etc., and making sure they had the latest toy and "cool" clothes. They had their own ways of amusing themselves, in between helping with the work of course. I admire them for surviving the hardships and making their way in the world.
Ann
Hallo Casey,
What a great photo many thanks for sending that in, and if you dont mind I'd like to copy it off for my own Family album.
Does this mean that you know somebody in the photo??
buggyracer
25-Apr-06, 10:18
Because the dentisted were scares in that day lol
And they are not now??
Hallo Casey,
No, I'm sorry I dont have any names for you. But give it time, someone may come up with something here.
Good luck,
Trinkie
darkie@dreamtilt.com.au
28-Apr-06, 07:13
Does this mean that you know somebody in the photo??How did you get the school photo from here into the school section I have a couple in the Photobucket but I dont know how to get then in the right section Tryed to e-mail them to Bill but I dont know if it worked,the first time they were to small sent what I thought were bigger but have not heard back Robin http://forum.caithness.org/images/icons/icon6.gif
I emailed it to Bill first then once it was in the photos section I right clicked and selected properties insert filename into your message and that's you.
If you want a pic to show in your message but not necessarily be entered into the photos section, this can also be done from photobucket by selecting the content of the Img box and pasting it into your message
The wee faces in this pic remind me of a certain photo of my mother as a 3 yr old in 1928. She'd been told to sit very still while she got "shot", and the look on her face shows her fear.
She laughed about it as an adult, but remembered it as the day she thought she would die.
Bingobabe
28-Apr-06, 22:34
Its more like children of the damed.lol:evil
It appears i have offened someone so im sorry if i did it was meant as a joke sorry.:confused:
darkie@dreamtilt.com.au
29-Apr-06, 05:45
Thanks Casey will have to get broadband i think will be easier to uploadmwith the responce you got from your photo maybe I should post a couple here there are a lot of Glebers in there http://forum.caithness.org/images/icons/icon6.gif
sassylass
29-Apr-06, 06:05
Maybe they are squinting and scowling because the glare was in their eyes. Photographers used to face folks into the sun, to get more detail.
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