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Children's Day: 1902

June 4, 1902. "Children's Day on Belle Isle, Detroit." Looks like a good turnout this year. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

June 4, 1902. "Children's Day on Belle Isle, Detroit." Looks like a good turnout this year. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Bucking the fashion trend

Almost without exception, you can tell the women by the white tops -- except the one woman just to the left of center. She would stand out in a crowd, if only there were a crowd around her.

As I look around the photo again, I see a few more women wearing dark colored tops; but white does seem to be the predominant color for the ladies.

A pole

Towards the center of the photo, there is a 3 meter tall pole, with a dirt area extending from it. Next to that is a plaque. Any ideas what it might be? I assume some sort of game or historical artifact.

[Note that there are two such installations, facing one another. Original full size tiff shows no plaque at either. - tterrace]

[Note also the two hoops with nets but no backstop. - Dave]

Sadly, things DO change.

This once lovely park is now in jeopardy, thanks to years of neglect and mismanagement by a crooked mayor (he's now on trial for taking bribes) and incompetent city administration. The State offered to lease the park and fix it up, but the city council voted that down. And a developer wants to BUY the whole island and turn it into a chartered city with expensive homes, shops etc! Oh for a return to the way it was when I was a kid.

Bruegelesque

It's like a modern version of Bruegel's "Children's Games".

Conservatory or Aquarium

The brick building IS the Aquarium. They are connected. This discussion waged strong on a certain Detroit forum site yesterday afternoon thanks to this very post.

Conservatory

That looks like the Belle Isle Conservatory going up. That would be consistent with the opening date of 1903 (the aquarium didn't open until 1904). They seem to be working on the main building, but haven't yet started on the glass domes. It is now the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, named after Ms. Whitcomb bequeathed her collection of 600 orchids.

Aquarium in the making?

Could that be the Belle Isle Aquarium under construction in the background??

I visited it a couple of times in the '80s. Beautiful building, and I understand it's now being reopened after having been closed for several years.

Not just today

Some things apparently never change.

My parents always told me, "Every day is children's day." And I told that to my kids, and now their kids.

Nature calls

As a mother, my first task when taking small children anywhere was to scout out the location of the restrooms. I can't see any outhouses in this vast expanse. If you had to walk to one that DID exist out of range in this picture, good luck! What did these people do??

Men without hats

Not here.

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