Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: competitions

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of shape up! (people exercising) . This is an early twentieth-century real photo postcard with the name "Lambert Weston & Son, Folkestone" embossed in the lower right-hand corner (the embossing isn't really visible in this image, unfortunately). The photo shows a number of men who are getting some exercise by running a footrace. The runners, strangely enough, are wearing neckties and white shirts more suitable for an office than an athletic field. A large crowd has gathered to watch the competition, and a large round building is visible in the background. The building in the background appears to be one of the Martello towers --"small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century"--and might be one of the towers that are located in Folkestone, Kent, England.

Maypoles on May Day for the ABC Group (4/24/2017). Mouse over the image above to see close-ups of the maypole on the left and the maypole on the right . This real photo postcard shows the organized chaos of May Day festivities at a playground or schoolyard--location and date unknown, unfortunately--where two groups of students are dancing around two maypoles as other students and adults view the proceedings. Could this be a maypole dance competition between two classes or schools? Are the two groups racing to see who will be the first to finish weaving their ribbons around their maypole? It's not clear whether this is a competition, but it's interesting to note that older boys are holding up each maypole while girls wearing dark-colored skirts dance around one of them and girls in light-colored skirts dance around the other. Also, many of the boys standing in the background beyond the maypoles are wearing shirts emblazoned with the letter E, so I suppose it's possible that the clothes are athletic uniforms reflecting different classes or schools. In any case, even if we can't tell exactly what's going on, the image provides an intriguing glimpse at a May Day celebration from days gone by.

For more information, see the full version of this photo .

For more information, see the full version of this photo .

Posted to the Vintage Photos Theme Park on the way "back to school." For a close-up of the students in the middle of the crowd , mouse over the image above or select the thumbnail image below.. A real photo postcard showing the "Annual Chapel Fight, U. of P., September 24, 1915. Photo by Richards." The "Chapel Fight" (or "Chapel Rush") was one of a number of traditional male student competitions that took place at the University of Pennsylvania and many other American colleges and universities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The competitions pitted one class against another, and similar annual events at Penn included a " Bowl Fight ," "Poster Fight," and " Push Ball Fight ." It's not obvious from the photo what the goal of the Chapel Fight on Friday, September 24, 1915, was. Some of the students at the center of the fray are wearing white undershirts and seem to be missing their hats, coats, and outer shirts, so perhaps tearing off clothes was one way to win the contest, as it apparently was in 1909 (see account quoted below). Also visible in the photograph are students wearing "beanies," hats that freshmen were required to wear. Students fought hard to defend the honor of their classes, and injuries resulted from some of the scraps. Student fights came to a tragic end at Penn when one student was killed and several were injured during the Bowl Fight of 1916 . The following account from The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta , vol. 34, no. 2 (Nov. 1909), p. 184, describes the Chapel Rush that took place at Penn in 1909. It also mentions the Poster Fight. "The university opened September 24, but no regular classes were held until September 27. Friday morning [October 1] immediately after chapel exercises, the annual Chapel Rush between the sophomores and freshmen took place. The freshmen won the first half of the fight, touching the door on the H[o]uston Club , which was guarded by the sophomores, in less time than any former class. The second half of the fight was in favor of the sophomores, the freshmen being successful in tearing the clothes off the president of the second year class in a limited time. On the Thursday night previous, the Poster Fight took place and the freshmen accomplished a victory contrary to precedent by tearing the sophomore poster off the rear door of College Hall."

See the full version of this real photo postcard for additional information.