It took a minute to figure out which school safety patrol these boys belonged to. The gas station and houses looked a little familiar, but it didn’t have the feel of Broadway about it. I like that you can see the driver in the car on the left and that the girl’s right shoestring is flapping.
St. Mary’s Mass schedule
The frame with the St. Mary’s Cathedral school in the background helped nail it down. It was the corner of Sprigg and William that I’ve written about before.
Sherer’s Mobil Service Station
The sign above the door says S.H. “Bud” Sherer Dealer. (It might be “Bub.” It’s hard to tell at the angle).
Station and houses are gone
This April 17, 2011, aerial shows that the station and the houses on the corner are all gone.
Photo gallery of St. Mary’s School Safety Patrol
Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery. Here was Trinity Lutheran School’s Safety Patrol, including a video.
The symbol/logo on the back of the safety patrol vest reminds me of the radioactive symbol. Cold war hysteria or just trendy logo design?
Cheers,
Matt
It took many years before girls were deemed worthy enough to do safety patrol work which is funny when you think of how many more girls do babysitting and other jobs involving safety of others at a very young age.
Girls didn’t know how to swagger like boys did when they were wearing the Official Safety Belt.
Roadguards in roadguards out roadguards running all
about. Reminds me of the military.
I did get a stint in at St Mary’s around 1960. The “patrol boys” did get out of school a little earlier to be ready. The trick was to learn how to roll up the white belt and pin the badge. The belt was derived from the military. The Sam Browne (British) officer developed the cross strap to stablize his side sword to draw out. In WWI the US adopted it and later only for officers. My dad was in the color (flags, rifle, etc.) guard for the Golden Trooper Drum and Bugle Corps. Then it was a dress belt. The white, cotton, school crossing guard safety belt was featured on a 1952 AAA commerative stamp. Carrying a really big stick was helpful with the authority figure swagger.
Pay closer attention to the Saftey Patrol boys and you see evidence of the level of training they received. Even though not in uniform, the other patrol members are readily identified by the fact that they are at Parade Rest in the background. The flaggers, when not stopping vehicle traffic are at Parade Rest with their flags out to their right, protecting against crosswalk traffic. The Travelers Protective Association made it a point to train the boys properly and emphasized the seriousness of their position.
Matt, the TPA logo is different from the Fallout Shelter symbol; the Fallout Shelter symbol is a three triangle stack in a circle, the TPA logo is three pie-shapes with one on the bottom.
If I remember correctly Jane, in the 6th grade at Lorimier School, either there weren’t enough boys, boys didn’t want to do it or they got in trouble and they had the girls doing the crossing guard duties. I remember being on guard in the afternoon when the little kids got out, about 1:30 I think. That was neat because you got out of class to do it. Also the cement trucks coming up Independence hill had trouble stopping at the stop sign and taking off again. Tried to wave them through when there wasn’t anyone waiting to cross but most of them stopped anyway.
These photos bring back memories. Growing up, our house was just across William St where the empty,brown lot is in your photo. We jay-walked across the street and home. We were all in school there when you took these photos. Lila would have been about 12.
You JAYWALKED?!?!
The next knock you hear will be a member of the St. Mary’s School Safety Patrol with a citation book in hand.
I tell people often about how these guards marched out and stood at attention. Isn’t a shame the difference in respect of authority today?
Appearances can be deceiving.