The Class of 1918

I like to see old photographs because I like to wonder what these people lives were like.  How did those clothes felt like, How did you make that bow in your head stay put? What did they do with their days? What did they eat? How was the laundry /cleaning/ farming routines?

I found this High School graduation book at a local second hand bookstore, It's from the Winston-Salem (NC) High School graduating class of 1918. Winston-Salem is a little town about an hour drive from Charlotte, it has a big University and some furniture manufacture, I think that back in 1918 it was a farming town, not very big since it had only one High School.

I was looking at the pictures and reading through it and was ready to start cutting some pictures when I came across an article that reads: "A Visit to Winston-Salem of 1940" So remember this is 1918 so this is written by Annie Price Foster, a Senior student that envisions what her town be like in 20 years from then, she describes how big the town has became, what all her classmates have done with their lives, two of them living in Africa helping the poor, another one living in California flying blimps, one more had invented the motor of perpetual movement, but wait, he then went on to invent a car that needed NO HORSES! this of course was the biggest invention of the century. And there was this guy who was living in Washington DC as Senator for NC.

I felt an overwhelming need to know what had really happened to these students. I don't know if those two really went to Africa to help the poor, I wonder how that blimp business went, and we are all still waiting for that perpetual movement motor, (All of us except Mr Bush and the oil companies). So I started this new project of looking up some of these people who have lived all their lives by now. Some of them, if still alive, would be 107! This book so filled with hopes for the future, good wishes for the ones who would graduate the following years, but it's all in the past now, their time is undoubtedly over.

I started with the writer of the prophetic visit to Winston- Salem, she wrote so beautifully, I wondered if she pursued writing? maybe there was a little novel or something from her around, and the internet is such a powerful tool for this kind of investigation...

Annie Price Foster. Doesn't she looks like she could be a writer?

I didn't find anything about her. I wonder if she got married and changed her name?.

I looked up a few more names, and nothing... until...

Sherwood Holleman. (He was supposed to be the Senator living in Washington, DC) I found some genealogy tree and found out he was one of seven children, married a woman named Irana Godwin and had two children: Thomas and Richard.

I am thinking on making assemblage "portraits" of some of them, trying to imagine how they lived, what they loved, where they went after finishing High School.

The best part of the booklet are the advertisements, this one is fantastic:

Coca Cola, I know you are simply delicious... how could I forget you're  also  so easily served! And from now on I'll remember to drink my Coca-Cola IN BOTTLES.

Just a note.. Maybe back in 1918 they were hesitant to drink Coca-Cola IN BOTTLES because they looked so much like Tabasco Sauce?

And of course, Chero-Cola was the most sanitary drink. I wish they still made it today and I wouldn't have to worry about drinking diet coke plus! (with minerals and calcium, yes, but is it sanitary? the jury is still out on that one...)

I wish I could turn back time, put on my feather hat and my beaded outfit and drink some Chero-Cola! sounds delicious!

PS. If you want to use these pictures in one of your collages, you have my blessing to download them and print them out. Just don't forget to drink your coca cola IN BOTTLES!

Comments

[leah]

rosa, this post cracked me up!! thank you for the reminder to drink coke in bottles! :-)

i love imagining the stories behind old photos and i bet you could have a great time researching these folks. great idea for a project!

[Katie]

Hey, I too collect old photos. That is a great find. I have a couple of yearbooks. The one with the guitars is the best. :)

[Carla]

Hey Rosa,
Have you ever heard of the couple & their project known as Bushwick Farms? They took some ideas of people who lived 'once upon a time' and actually created their whole lives, family tree, and traveling road show! Pure fiction...but once you witness their show & telling of their life stories...you get so enraptured & caught up in their lives that it ALL become reality! They are Joe & Violet and they are now living in Brooklyn, NY and have opened a 'tearoom' to share their story! Check it out @ www.bushwickfarms.com
see you...you are always up to somethin'
P.S. I just gave my Spanish students the experience of Coca-Cola in a glass bottle & Jarrito's both bottled in Mexico!! They loved it:)
~Carla

[Kathy LaRocco]

very interesting. i love old photos too...there is always a story...

k

[Jana]

OOoohhhhhhhh I love the Coca-Cola sign!!! I remember drinking Coca-cola IN BOTTLES... so tasty!!!!