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September 1941. At the state fair in Rutland, Vermont. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration.
I love this one too, although a bit less than the one with the giant schnauzer !
Ray B.
Is the lady in the black dress holding a cell phone? Are those two men security agents protecting the time travellers from harm? Probably just a coin purse but if it is a cell phone who is she gonna call?
[Amazing. - Dave]
I've loved seeing these pictures from the Rutland fair--I live probably two miles from the fairground where they were taken and attend the fair every year. It's funny to see how people used to dress up for something that's all jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies today. (I daresay I've ridden on some of the same rides as these kids!)
Those dresses appear to be flour or feed sack material. My grandmother had many quilts that incorporated flour or feed sack, which was a fairly dense cotton printed material. It was usually printed in shades of pink and aqua-blue with rather girlish designs. People used printed fabric for feed sacks right up through the war as saving material was patriotic and frugal. And of course before then in the Depression there wasn't much choice.
I am waiting for the man on the right to say "good evening"
I can relate to this picture because I came from a large family and my mother made her dresses and ours. Young ladies did not wear jeans, pants or shorts to school or church, etc. only when playing. It brings back a lot of memories. Thanks.
In the 1950s, my mother would make dresses for me and my two sisters, using the same fabric but a different pattern or rick-rack.
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