How Times Have Changed

[swilli41]

The photo below was taken from my '54-'55 junior high school annual and shows the winners of the Pioneer Day costume contest. Note that the Prospector is holding a fully functional 1873 Springfield Trapdoor rifle in .45-70 caliber. No one thought much about bringing the gun to school. Most teachers commented about what a neat gun it was. It wouldn't be wise to try this today.

 

[Roadtrash]

Yeah I remember in high school during hunting season everybody had a rifle or shotgun in their car or truck in the parking lot.

 

[zzzippper]

Bother the rifle, who is the snazzy filly on the right?

 

[model70hunter]

Bother the rifle, who is the snazzy filly on the right?

Some lucky kids great grandmother now.

 

[islamoradamark]

thats a big kitty cat to feed

 

[ATF]

thats a big kitty cat to feed

Yeah not a good idea to walk around with leopard skins either

 

[CajunBass]

Had a teacher in HS who had been a Marine during WWII. He'd been in a couple of the big landings and loved to tell his war stories. Some of them I suspect were true...some were obviously "sea stories." The trick was figure out which was which.

He used to bring in his collection of "junk" as he called it, all the time. Rifles, handguns, flags, helmets, bayonets, deactivated grenades, and his pride and joy, a British Sten gun. No idea where he got it, or if it was "approved" shall we say, but knowing him, probably not. I do remember he talked about shooting it.

 

[Grayfox]

When I was in Jr High, my class did a display of Depression era items for the school library. I brought in several items from my Grandpa's farm including the old single shot 12 gauge that put a lot of food on the table back then.
Sat there right out in the open for a month and nobody thought a thing of it.
I'd hate to think about what would happen if a kid tried that today.

 

[Mickey D]

Bother the rifle, who is the snazzy filly on the right?

Sacajamama?

I said "How".
She said "you know how, it's when?"

 

[Geno44]

I've mentioned this here before but I graduated from High School in 1962. Our Suburban Chicago school had a rifle club and a range in the building. School rules said when carrying our guns in the halls, they were to be unloaded with open bolts. Nobody thought a thing about it. Hillary Clinton, an active student Republican then, attended there as did Harrison Ford.
My guess on the "snazzy filly" would be a young faculty member. She looks a little mature to be a junior high student but we still want to know.

 

[swilli41]

The "snazzy filly" was indeed a student. I started the first grade with her in 1947. She is still alive, well, and attractive, but now has grey hair. The Prospector died in 2001 from brain cancer.

 

[joeintexas]

Interesting thread. During hunting season it was not uncommon to see rifles or shotguns in racks in pickup windows in the school parking lot, after classes were out we headed out to hunt and the interesting thing was we didn't lock our trucks and the rifles were always there when we came out, couldn't do that today for sure. I'm sure in the large cities that would not have been the case but it was in our small town.