Check Me Out

In my quest to archive all my old photos, I ran across this one.  This was taken May 20, 1972 as I modeled the graduation cap and gown I would be wearing for my graduation in June of that year ~ 38 years ago this year.   Back in the day you didn’t buy a flimsy cap and gown….this was the real deal and quite heavy.  I remember I wore a pair of cut off shorts and a halter top underneath it to the graduation ceremony.  We weren’t required to dress up like they are now….of which I am relieved because it was quite warm.  Our graduation was held outside in the football field of Princess Anne High School that evening ~ the kids sitting in chairs on the field and family/friends in the bleachers.  When we walked the stage, we got a plain white piece of paper tied with a ribbon instead of our diploma.  To get the “real” diploma, you had to turn in the cap and gown to your homeroom teacher after the ceremony. 

This was an original Polaroid Land Photograph ~ and for those of you that weren’t around then (or may not remember), these photos came right out of the camera after you took the photo.  You would wait for it to  develop ~ sometimes it happened quicker if you fanned the photo in the air.  🙂  Once the photo developed, you would peel the backing off of a very stiff piece of card stock to reveal a very sticky surface and apply your photo to it.  The card stock also had a place to write the subject, names, date and an address.  The result was a quite sturdy photograph in an instant.  This is also the reason you can see the brown edges on the photo…you had to have a really steady hand or get really lucky to get the photo on the sticky surface just right.  If you didn’t, the sticky substance would gather dust and dirt over the years….but it does give it a nice vintage border after all these years. 

I thought the framing on this photo was interesting after I scanned it….I purposely left it a little cock-eyed.  If you find it interesting too, feel free to download this .png copy.  The white area in the center should be transparent….I believe I saved it correctly anyway.   🙂

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