In the back yard of my home on S Street SE in Anacostia, DC in the 40s, wearing my May Day outfit. (Note the can at the back gate—a forerunner of the garbage disposal— and the first spring flowers in the right corner.)
In the Merry, Merry Month of May
I knew you would want to see this photo of me, possibly age 8 or so, wearing my May Day dress. It was our way of welcoming spring to the Earth. We did it by dancing around the flag pole in the school yard, holding onto long ribbons.
The occasion required mothers of girls to make a long, white dress, nosegay, and hat, that looked much like the fascinators worn by the Royal family today. Undoubtedly, in the 1940s we were ahead of our time at Benjamin G. Orr Grade School.
The parents of boys got by with just a white shirt and tie. No sewing or chapeau required.
Another backyard pose on the same day. Does anyone recognize the model and year of the car parked in the alley?
Regardless of the weather, we all joined our sticky little hands and pranced around the cinder-paved school yard. We stepped spryly to the sound of merry tunes coming from a 78 rpm phonograph turned up to full volume. Afterwards we’d have cupcakes rather than the usual milk and graham cracker snack.
When it was cold on May 1st—as it often was in Washington DC that time of the year—we wore sweaters over our outfits. Not even a few drops of seasonal rain could dampen our spirits. We were kids and it was spring, meaning we could count the days until school was out.
Special Occasions Called for a White Dress
