Photo of The Month – Apr 2010

Shop Class

Picture contributor: Sarah Huss Mayse

Obviously it's picture day for the yearbook, for all the boys (14 of them) are wearing ties--although tucked neatly into their white dress shirts. They're posed behind various floor-mounted woodworking tools. The instructor, Mr. Frye, stands by solemly in suit and tie. — Shop Class

Unwilling to go through life without knowing how to build a bird house, or needing an easy class to improve their grade point average, many of our high school boys elected to take “shop.” However trivial their projects, at least they learned how to use power tools safely. This year, 1950, Guy Frye (right) was the shop class instructor. In a year or two, Henry Elmore would succeed him. Our crack research team was unable to find a single former shop student who became a cabinet maker.

In those days girls didn’t take shop, although a few boys took home economics (but as far as we know, none became housewives).

Foreground: Jimmy Hawkins, Jimmy Greene, Mr. Guy Frye.
Second row: Bobby Jeff Hames, Henry Campbell, Lee Beason, Bobby Blanton.
Last Row: Jack Monroe, Harold McMurray, Frank McGinnis, Robert Waters, Clyde Jackson, Faye Padgett, Bill Scruggs, Roy Lee Harris.