Retro RCDS Back-to-School of the ’50s — Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect

Rumson Country Day School kindergarten class of 1959
Photo/courtesy of Teresa Metcalf

A Rumson back-to-school reprise …

Yes, from the looks of social media and scene on the local streets and school halls around town, everyone’s still getting in the groove of getting back to school.

And sometimes that means taking a trip back to another era in your mind’s eye while watching all the little tykes, adolescents and teens take those treks to the bus, down the street, around the halls or just getting home from a day in the classroom.

Then there are all those photos that keep popping up. Sometimes the newly formed memories just make a person want to dig up a few of their own snapshots from those first school days.

It’s what happened to Rumson Country Day School alum Teresa Metcalf. She found a gem of a kindergarten photo of her class in 1959.

In this classic, it looks like a couple of the girls got blinded by the flash — or they were fluttering their little eyelashes and saying “cheese” when they blinked. Something like that.

Then there was the fashion … Horizontal stripes seemed to be in fashion for the boys. And, of course, girls couldn’t wear pants to school back then, so there were dresses and jumpers. But, if they could have worn jeans, does anyone know what they would have called them? They had a different name. What was the most popular fashion for kids of the late 1950s? How about hair style? Recognize anyone?

Thanks to Teresa Metcalf for this RCDS gem!