Fork Mountain School, West Virginia (historical location), October 31, 1911. Scanned from a silver/sepia print. My grandmother, Myrta Shafer, all of 24 years old at the time, is the school marm standing by the tree, next to the girl who seems so intensely grim. I know that my grandmother was a teacher, and as I have been unable to identify anyone else in the photo, I assume that this was her class (my father, her oldest child, was not born for another six years). 1911 was the first year that costumed trick-or-treating was recorded in North America, so I doubt these rural children were preparing for a night of confectionery extortion. Perhaps their stolid expressions simply reflect their prospects, growing up in the devastated tinderbox that was Tucker County in 1911. View full size.
Fork Mountain School, West Virginia (historical location), October 31, 1911. Scanned from a silver/sepia print. My grandmother, Myrta Shafer, all of 24 years old at the time, is the school marm standing by the tree, next to the girl who seems so intensely grim. I know that my grandmother was a teacher, and as I have been unable to identify anyone else in the photo, I assume that this was her class (my father, her oldest child, was not born for another six years). 1911 was the first year that costumed trick-or-treating was recorded in North America, so I doubt these rural children were preparing for a night of confectionery extortion. Perhaps their stolid expressions simply reflect their prospects, growing up in the devastated tinderbox that was Tucker County in 1911. | Click image for Comments. | Home | Browse All Photos