Archive Fever
Visual essays, photos, and ephemera from youth cultures by blog editor Kelly Rakowski
Bryn Mawr Babes
May 14, 2012 — by
A recently graduated Bryn Mawr senior has been trolling her archives and collecting gems from the college’s storied past on a tumblr, Vintage Bryn Mawr. More…
Tip it, Frosh!
May 11, 2012 — by
Syracuse University has archived the unsavory life of a SU Freshmen. Back in 1883 a tradition began when all first year students were required to wear a green or orange beanie. When an upperclassmen demanded, ‘Tip it, Frosh!’ – the lowly freshman would tip his beanie in respect. Though humiliating at times, it helped build class camaraderie. Besides beanies, SU has archived handbooks, buttons, and photographs of activities that encouraged and demeaned Freshman all at the same time.
Above: First year students in their beanies, 1960s
The 9:30 Club
May 4, 2012 — by
The 9:30 Club, in its original location at 930 F Street, was a seminal all-ages nightclub that fed the the 1980′s DC hardcore scene. The club was known for fostering young talent like Black Flag and X and admitting punk fans as young as sixteen. It was also notoriously smelly. In 1994, the Washington City Paper held a competition to accurately describe the stench. More…
The Girl With The Curl
May 2, 2012 — by
August 5, 1922: Seventeen-year-old Eva Fridell wins the Washington Tidal Basin Beauty Contest at the Washington Bathing Beach in Washington D.C. Talk about flowing locks! More…
My Daguerreotype Teenager
April 20, 2012 — by
The daguerrotype was the first commercially successful photographic process that immortalized many types at the turn of the century. Here’s a collection of young students, posed stiff and smile-less for the camera in 1840. And if you don’t get the title reference check out My Daguerreotype Boyfriend—handsome young daguerreotypes.
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