Here are some pictures from Life magazine on high school students in 1950. It's amazing how much we can relate to scenes from long ago when they are in color! I have posted most of them in here, but if you click on this link: http://www.vintag.es/2014/02/color-photographs-of-students-at-new.html, you can get even larger sizes of the photos.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-voRzgE5LGvw/UwcrqFnWcQI/AAAAAAAAdz4/Hdmx0xU-DzU/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(1).jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aJyAzIPSw-E/Uwcr0KmsRuI/AAAAAAAAd1I/NCnDCMQ0Wsk/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(2).jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rbB7xgSlbvs/UwcsALTJMAI/AAAAAAAAd2g/2ZAjcf6JV-A/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(3).jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7EZGFn1Qiks/UwcsCyLD9BI/AAAAAAAAd28/Z6EcXWsVe-Q/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(4).jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3-mzAguCNg/UwcsEs74rrI/AAAAAAAAd3M/itA4iA-_y5k/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(6).jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghYLRGZ7gKE/UwcsFZeF_-I/AAAAAAAAd3Y/5s7WkDTlBG8/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(7).jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dzsyULz1B6s/UwcsGreCOAI/AAAAAAAAd3g/91CPnx2dumA/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(8).jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EuDc239xsyk/UwcsHJ6L6zI/AAAAAAAAd3k/KibVZpvpAFU/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(9).jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GMCteYtSyi4/UwcrqAwiRYI/AAAAAAAAdzw/oyv2VbeulGc/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(10).jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9rB5OxPbep8/Uwcrqf8mwkI/AAAAAAAAdz0/SLwjyczEc8g/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(11).jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6zfoTmdeuI/Uwcrr80FPnI/AAAAAAAAd0I/ypKhyYBIOg4/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(12).jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1Lso_Imm9tM/UwcrsIrZ2LI/AAAAAAAAd0M/HXZSuh_nkOg/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(13).jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h-BDgSaighU/UwcrwQRDdzI/AAAAAAAAd0w/bQ5FzhXVsxQ/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(17).jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Hxueyg03sA/Uwcryc_NbbI/AAAAAAAAd04/MtuXSsJ9GGk/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(18).jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hyq0ssJuU9U/UwcrzfI8EaI/AAAAAAAAd1A/CEL1T-3MhDY/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(19).jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byKqBpnG91s/Uwcr0w3HUbI/AAAAAAAAd1Q/dPEwYMR3Da0/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(20).jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uw5UAtpFBAk/Uwcr3zgANBI/AAAAAAAAd1Y/SlziKnjhUSc/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(21).jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kI5_4zZN3b0/Uwcr4UY6dHI/AAAAAAAAd1c/b8ELsmBmUsE/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(22).jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pTKNZAo8dk4/Uwcr6fOGfsI/AAAAAAAAd1w/BGAclXaZ38c/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(24).jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBVyFZ7o6lU/Uwcr7w5EzBI/AAAAAAAAd2A/xIMyuWfs_bc/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(26).jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qydQSj3-G6E/Uwcr95sp3WI/AAAAAAAAd2M/0BYRk1pgNHY/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(28).jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cYxJy9sAVXU/Uwcr-1vjiqI/AAAAAAAAd2Y/w-lyo2RV5Zs/s1600/New+Trier+High+School,+1950+(29).jpg

This is a very interesting slice of history. Thanks for sharing. I'm most surprised at all of the boys wearing jeans to school. I always under the impression that probably before the 70s, boys wore slacks to school and only like the "greasers" wore jeans. I hate fashion isn't like this anymore. Everyone does look so classy.

This is a very interesting slice of history. Thanks for sharing. I'm most surprised at all of the boys wearing jeans to school. I always under the impression that probably before the 70s, boys wore slacks to school and only like the "greasers" wore jeans. I hate fashion isn't like this anymore. Everyone does look so classy.


I know, a lot of the students are wearing casual clothes, a very nice style.

They look so young to me! That's surprising because teenagers from the 1950s and '60s always look so old and mature in other media. Maybe it's because they're not as posed and fussy-looking in these pictures. I can even see a lot of them looking bored all slumped in their seats. 

Hey I just discovered you can click on the photos in this thread and they will get bigger!  ;D

I just can't imagine people dressing like this today. It's almost like another dimension, or a fantasy, or something.

I just can't imagine people dressing like this today. It's almost like another dimension, or a fantasy, or something.


I think people today dress more casually.

That is very casual by 1950 standards though with many boys wearing jeans and many styles wouldn't look out of place today. Many schools still required special uniforms, so it depends where you were. Skirts and dresses of course were still the norm for girls/young women, though of course since sewing was much more popular back then, a wider variety of styles/patterns were found. This all changed with the arrival of mass-produced templates in the 1960s. Outside of the photographers, you'll notice no technology to be found as this was several years before the portable AM transistor radios were introduced, the first use of "tech" to be found outside a building.