This is a children's parade from Jarvis School in Binghamton, New York's First Ward in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Although I can't be certain, I think this is John Korinek, my father-in-law, below. 
The kids have constructed cages for each wagon to hold various wild animals. A giraffe helps them to pull the train.
Here are some additional close-ups.
Be sure to check out Sepia Saturday for more old pictures and great stories.
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Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI agree! For a moment I thought this ws going to be a post for Sepia Saturday (ckeck out http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2011/09/sepia-saturday-92-saturday-17-september.html )
ReplyDeleteOld pictures of children doing traditional things like dressing up just seem to show that children never change. ipads are not needed when you can make your own train to house your menagerie!
ReplyDeleteThis photo seems to capture that true childhood innocence, a time when cardboard was magical:)
ReplyDeletePS Christine, did you see my "epitaph" post yesterday? I thought you would really appreciate it:)
ReplyDeleteThat looks like it was a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteWow so amitious they were!. Thanks for pinpointing some of the parts of the photo. Looks like they all had fun. Thanks for visiting my crazy blog!:)
ReplyDeletewonderful!
ReplyDeleteI thought the kids look sort of pensive. Not wildly overjoyed. I hope they were having more fun than it looks like! Wonder what teacher thought the parade up and over saw the making of it.
ReplyDeleteomg..this is wonderful!!! wonder how long it took for the kids to do this? i wonder if it was a "just because" or if it was some kind of celebration?
ReplyDeleteI love kids being kids! Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThe cowboy in the last image is wearing an outfit very much like the one I had at that age, although I'm not sure if there are any surviving photographs of it. Sounds like a wonderful class project - I count just over thirty of them. I wonder if the zoo had recently visited town? Thanks for sharing such an interesting image.
ReplyDeleteLooks like they are trying to make the most of what they had available for fun during tough times- if that is indeed my father, this image was probably taken within a year of the market crash of 1929, assuming the boy is 4-5 years old. Looking at this image, I can't help thinking of the Little Rascals/Our Gang episode where they built a similar train that was out of control on a big hill- hilarious!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of earlier today and a discussion I was having with others about our childhood radio flyer wagons(which both of us still have!) The guy I was speaking "the handle on mine is bent, and I remember how that happened, we were making a train and hooked them all together and then someone had to pull them and they were to heavy and the handle on mine was bent as a result" and I saw your photo and thought of the long wagon train! aweee what a fun photo/postcard!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lot of work has gone into that, and a lot of fun too
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat photo Christine- I bet they were having a good time until someone made them stop and pose for a picture. I love their hats!
ReplyDeleteSome of them look more enthusiastic than others! At first glance I thought the chilldren had been herded into the carriages too.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a really great postcard! Didn't see a Flexible Flyer in the group - what a trip down memory lane that is ...
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo....right out of Little Rascals!
ReplyDeleteAnother fascinating tour around an old photograph, another blogging tour-de-force.
ReplyDeleteWonderful view into the past! And look at the effor t put into some of those paper hats.
ReplyDeleteChristine, omg ... a circus train! What a wonderful idea for a parade entry. I love this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your input about my pictures being from Joshua Tree National Park. I added that info and a link into my post. Current photos show the trees grown up, but things look very familiar.
Hope your week is great!
Kathy M.
The second photo looks like there could possibly be a real live dog in the wagon. I don't think those little kids could have had much to do in the making of this pretty complicated "art piece". I think it was a complete adult creation. Whoever made it - it's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteBarbara
I hope some of this survived. What an incredible piece of folk art. I imagine the animals were paper mache which means they probably are long gone.
ReplyDeleteMy mother grew up in this period and became an elementary school art teacher, inspiring future children (and myself too) with these same extravagant activities she had enjoyed as a child.
ReplyDeleteVery cute. The pointy hat shot of the two boys looks like they might have been to a birthday party? What a great time the children had doing this. So much more activity for them and so much creativity on display.
ReplyDeleteArchie Techt said it first -- definitely reminiscent of Little Rascals. Really great photograph.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful photograph! Even better that it includes a family member. We weren't that creative as children. But I do remember a friend and myself pretending to be Mary Poppins with our umbrellas. We'd jump off the top of our swingset, umbrella in hand, and try to fly.
ReplyDelete....never got very far! Thanks for the post.