2/12/16

Double HOCKEY STICKS!


Sepia Saturday suggests golfers this week. Alas, I have no photos of golfers that I can remember. But woman with hockey sticks? I've got hockey sticks!

Both of these shots come from the photo album created by Betty Schnabel's mother, Louise. I have no idea where either of these shots were taken, but don't they look lovely in the first one. The second one they look like they're a bit more serious about playing than posing. And Betty's mother is in the second one behind the word "Candy." No idea what that means. And I'm confused how this is the 1919 hockey team if it was shot in 1916. Any suggestions?

Click on image to see it larger.

Click on image to see it larger.

I can remember playing hockey in high school. It was ludicrous. We went out onto a wet field in the winter wearing white Keds. And of course they watered the lawn each morning before we went out, even if had just rained. And then our shoes and socks would sit in our locker each day growing mold. We'd come back the next morning (I had PE first period which was the worst!) and have to put the wet shoes back on. I'd always try to bring a dry pair of socks. We all ended up putting our socks on followed by plastic bags followed by stinky shoes. The whole locker room smelled like a toxic waste dump.

And then there were the shin shields which were useless. The buckles were so loose that as soon as you ran down the field the shield was covering your calf. It wasn't a pretty sight. Lots of black and blue shins during hockey season. I hated it and always hoped I'd be on the best team so I could stand at the back and "guard" the goalie. I was very good at standing behind everyone letting them break into a sweat. I should have been given an award for that.

Don't get me started about swimming during the winter at first period. Only two hair dryers for over 30 girls in the late '60s when everyone had long hair. Complete frizz each day for weeks. There was no hope. I hated PE and by my senior year I'd developed a really bad attitude. It was my only time in high school where I let be known I'd had enough.
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25 comments:

  1. Your yarn about first period PE is special! I hated it too. Two good group shots.

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    1. There was something torturous about it at that hour. One year I got so sick and run-down from being wet in the cold that my doctor got me out of PE and I got an extra study hall. That was good. Glad to know a fellow PE hater.

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    2. I’ll join the haters group too please. I remember that my legs were always black and blue and that the pain was so much worse in the cold. Shin pads - pah!

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  2. Louise E Bigalow, attended the University of California in Berkeley. She was in the class of 1919.

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  3. You got shin guards for PE? We didn't. All I remember is that I could never understand the difference between one position and another; consequently, I never knew what I was supposed to do. I was glad when the Field Hockey unit was over and we could move on to Modern Dance or basketball.

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    1. Modern dance? Dang! We never got that.

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  4. What terrific contrast! Did the earlier team play with mussed-up hair, battered blouses, and fierce win-at-any-cost faces? The 1916/19 girls look like they were formidable opponents. Maybe they had a really really long season.

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    1. It is confusing. The first look so genteel. The second could get rowdy in a second.

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  5. Love that first photograph in particular. They look so smart with pristine hair styles. Like you I hated hockey. I was always scared of getting hit by the ball or a hockey stick, especially as I wore glasses. It was often raining, and as the class was end of the day, we had to trudge home wet, muddy and miserable - and hoped we wouldn't meet any boys we fancied!

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    1. Mine was in reverse and we knew we'd meet all the boys with our hair wet and any makeup we'd put on before school now either gone or running down our face. It was ugly.

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  6. "... the women students at Berkeley had already begun making progress toward an organized intramural program with the founding of the Sports and Pastimes Association in 1906. The association was the forerunner of the Women's Athletic (WAA) and, under the aegis of the women's Department of Physical Education and the Associated Women Students, introduced a schedule of interclass competition in basketball, field hockey, and crew in 1916."

    http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb&chunk.id=div00105&&doc.view=entire_text

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    1. I knew Louise went to Berkeley, but it sounds like she, along with the other ladies, punched through the sports glass ceiling. Good on for them!

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  7. The sophomore hockey team, class of 1919. Or, shot in 1916, printed in 1919.

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  8. I was hopeless, hated all ball games. Only loved Tennis later. Always loved skiing and ice skating. Your memories are humorous and well told.

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    1. I'm afraid I always had a bad attitude when it came to organized sports. I'm not happy in anything that's group organized. I do my best swimming. A real fish to water. And I too loved skiing but my knees are sure paying for it now.

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  9. I have never played field hockey. The second team looks like they just came off the field whereas the first team dressed up for a yearbook photo.

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    1. If it were the same ladies I'd say before and after shots.

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  10. Here is another photo -

    http://www.berkeley.edu/images/event_images/WomenHockey1916_468.jpg

    Looks like the same women in the second photo playing on the same field.

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  11. I love that first photo too!

    I got caught 'forging' mums signature to get out of PE!

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  12. I played hockey for over 30 years and still have the scars from mixed hockey to show for it. However it was the ladies lacrosse team at St Andrews that inflicted more punishment in the challenge matches with the men hockey side.

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  13. I vaguely remember playing field hockey but as soon as possible I only took swimming.I didn't mind the damp hair or walking home in the cold winter after going to swim team practice.

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  14. I played goalie for my field hockey team -- the only position that didn't involve lots of running. But our locker room smelled, too. Awful. Just awful.

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  15. I hated the PE swimming class for much the same reasons you did...plus we had to wear tank suits and I was a "late developer." But I did love field sports, and enjoyed chasing that ball and hitting it for all it was worth in hockey games, even went for varsity for a while in college.

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  16. I love the first photo. I too hate PE and the lousy tunics we had to wear. They were uncomfortable and we had to have black stockings with them too which meant garter belts. Ugh. Your hockey game description is great.

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