Friday’s Faces From the Past – Whitehouse, NJ – 1920s

"Three Married teachers - Mrs. Alpah, Mrs. Conover and Mr. White, 1926" Whitehouse, NJ — “Three Married teachers – Mrs. Alpah, Mrs. Conover and Mr. White, 1926” Whitehouse, NJ

For my posting today, I gathered up some old family photographs from the 1920s and scanned them in. I always like looking at the details in old photos. These pictures are of classmates, friends, and teachers from the Whitehouse School in Readington Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, from bygone days. Enjoy!

Teachers of the White House Grammar School, 1926

Class of 1926 of the White House Grammar School — 1926 – White House Grammar School, Readington Township, Hunterdon County, NJ

1928 - "Anna, Gladys, Genevieve, Mary and Stephanie." - Whitehouse , NJ — 1928 – “Anna, Gladys, Genevieve, Mary and Stephanie.” – Whitehouse , NJ

Steve Mirota - 1922 — Steve Mirota – 1922

Friends and neighbors - Front, R to L - Elia Del Carlo, Mary and Genevieve Mirota. In back - Edward Del Carlo and Joe Mirota - 1926 — Friends and neighbors – Front, R to L – Elia Del Carlo, Mary and Genevieve Mirota. In back – Edward Del Carlo and Joe Mirota – 1926

Many of these Whitehouse Station students walked to school, year after year, and had perfect attendance. I remember one story that their moms would bake potatoes in the morning, and the children would put them in their pockets to keep their hands warm while walking in the winter. The baked potatoes would be part of their lunch, since they lived too far away to walk home for lunch. Many of the children had to go right to work after graduating from grammar school to help out their families during the Great Depression.

Whitehouse, NJ - June 23, 1929 - "Standing, L to R, Tessie, Stanley, Julia, and Mary. Some of the graduating classmates. Sitting, L to R, Francis, Marie, Eddie, Stephanie, Helen, other friends from church." — Whitehouse, NJ – June 23, 1929 – “Standing, L to R, Tessie, Stanley, Julia, and Mary. Some of the graduating classmates. Sitting, L to R, Francis, Marie, Eddie, Stephanie, Helen, other friends from church.”

While gathering these pictures, I checked the Historic Newspaper Archive on Genealogy Bank for any articles on the Readington Township Schools during the 1920s, and found this article from 1927. Many of the names below are still familiar ones in Readington Township.

Sunday, June 26, 1927, Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ), page 8. Source www.genealogybank.com — Sunday, June 26, 1927, Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ), page 8. Source http://www.genealogybank.com

Friday’s Faces From the Past is a blogging prompt suggested by GeneaBloggers. Thanks for taking a look at some of my cherished photographs!

4 thoughts on “Friday’s Faces From the Past – Whitehouse, NJ – 1920s”

What a great post: I love the photos. So many hopeful young faces, you want them to have gone on to enjoy good lives.

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Thanks, Su! I know what you mean about their hopeful faces. Many were from farming families and quite often I would hear them say, “Make hay while the sun shines!” They would say it of course when they were cutting hay, but also to remind my generation to have a good time. They were the salt of the earth!

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Hi, I am late reading this one, another good one from you. My dad told me the same story about his mom giving hot baked potatoes to my dad & his brother to keep their hands warm on the walk to school, and then to eat them for lunch. Only difference is they had a bit of salt wrapped in wax-paper so they could salt their lunch potatoes! This was during the Depression and in Ohio.

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Maryann Barnes says:

November 4, 2013 at 7:53 AM

Thanks for your comments! That touch of salt and wax-paper sounds perfect. Our Depression-era parents understood the simple joys of life.

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