This school portrait show the teacher and her 4th grade class at the Bellevue school in Illinois. This would be children 9-10 years old. The portrait is not dated, but we would guess ws taken in the late-1930s, although the early-40s is possible. Bellevue is a small town in Peoria County, Illinois. It is located in central Illinois, a farming area which is why you see all the overalls. Today Bellevue is a part of the larger Peoria metropolitan area. There is a saying in American politics and culture, "Will it play in Peoria?" This meant that Peoria located in middle America was a good test of American tastes and values. The phrase originated during the vaudeville era of the earl-20th century as big city enteriners could easily travel around the country. It was popularized in movies by none other than Groucho Marx. America has changed a lot since then, but the election of Donal Trump shows that it has not entirely lost its currency. The boys wear a few T-shirts, but mostly collared shirts which the boys all ticked in. As far as we can tell, the boys all wer long pants, quite a few overalls. Notice how one boy has cuffed his overalls. We suspect that this was a size issue and not fashion. The 1930s was the last decade we commonly see oiveralls. They rapidly disappeared in the early-1940s. The girls all wear prim dresses. The names of the teacher and children are written on the back.
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