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November 1935. Prince George's County, Maryland. "CCC boys at work." Another one of those Civilian Conservation Corps projects that involved lots of photogenic exertion. 35mm negative by Carl Mydans for the FSA. View full size.
I immediately recognized the "uniforms" of the CCC. My father (1920-1978) managed to spend two terms (1938-39) at Camp Orleans in northern California. I have a few dozen photos (prints of various sizes) taken there of the camp and its inhabitants at work and play. In my early years his tales of the "3Cs" puzzled me - I thought that it had maybe something to do with the Seven Seas!
The father of a high school friend worked in the CCC and learned to be a cook. My friend said his dad still liked to cook at home but had trouble cutting the portions down because he had learned to cook for 50 people or more at a time.I guess they used to have a lot of leftovers whenever his Dad cooked.
of the famous Joe Rosenthal picture of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
My dad was in the CCC. They earned a dollar a day. There was a depression on and it was required that most of their earnings be sent home to help out the family.
It's been written that the CCC never greatly reduced unemployment, but the program did create many works of lasting value, including many picturesque scenic overlooks and parapets along our older highways. One project I know at first hand is the reconstruction, nearly from scratch, of Mission La Purisima in Lompoc CA, which has since been maintained as a state historic park. I participate in living history programs there. One year, while amateurishly squaring up a spare log with my adze (which actually subtracts wood, nyuk yuk), an elderly gent looked on and commented that they did a better job back in his day. He was part of the CCC crew that hewed all the rafter beams in the buildings by hand. I never would have guessed that they didn't come from a lumber mill. The boss eventually told them to leave them rougher so the tourists would realize they were hand-made.
I am lovin' the musculature on the back of that guy. I can't think of anything more profound to say except, "that's hot."
I thought they used a crowbar to separate the boys from the men. You're just lobbing them out there today, aren't you, Dave?
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