What’s Going On in This Picture? | March 30, 2015

By The Learning Network
What’s going on in this picture? Look closely at the image above or view it in a larger size, then tell us what you see by posting a comment. On Tuesday, we will reveal more about the image and its origins at the bottom of this post. The New York Times

Updated: March 31, 2015

Students

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

  • What’s going on in this picture?
  • What do you see that makes you say that?
  • What more can you find?

2. Next, join the conversation by posting a comment below. (Please remember not to post your last name.)

3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the @ symbol to address that student directly.

Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On Tuesday, we will reveal more information at the bottom of this post about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?

More?

Updated: March 31, 2015

This week’s image comes from a Feb. 12, 2014 post on the Lively Morgue, a Times Tumblr that features images chosen from The Times’s “morgue,” a physical library of photos and newspaper clippings dating to the mid-19th century.

The original caption reads:

Aug. 7, 1940: The competition of the “Anything on Wheels” East Side doll carriage race, open to girls age 2 1/2 to 7 years old, “was somewhat slack,” reported The Times. “The humor of their undignified situation completely incapacitated many of the contestants. Others, refusing to appear undignified, maintained a prim promenade gait in spite of urgent rooting from 150 bystanders. The victor, who managed to reconcile decorum and speed, was Roberta Morton, 7, of 627 East 16th Street. Her reward was a large baby doll.”

Comments are no longer being accepted.

VTS Moderator March 30, 2015 · 7:16 am

Welcome to today’s edition of WGOITP?!

There is plenty to look at and think about in this image! Zooming in and out will likely assist with determining more about where this took place, when, and who’s in the crowd. Remember to include the observations that provide evidence of what you decide is going on. Tell us what you see that makes you think as you do.

We hope you will read the comments of others either before or after you come to your own conclusions. If you want to agree or disagree with someone—or build on their ideas—sign in with your own blog name and include theirs in the body of your response with an @ sign in front—like we do in our posts. That’s how you tell them you’d like to “talk.”

We look forward to reading your comments and will respond to as many as we can. Sometimes they come in so quickly that we lose ground, but we read every one in any case and appreciate the chance to know what you think. So let’s get going!

Marie March 30, 2015 · 7:48 am

It’s some kind of a race where the children are having fun. It’s from the 1950-60’s. All the ladies and girls are in dresses.

Eric March 30, 2015 · 8:06 am

Looks like a multi stroller drag race that has been poorly organized

benjamin March 30, 2015 · 8:11 am

I think this is to teach kids how to raise children like pushing a cart with a fake baby in it or there just running with with a cart and a toy in there hands

Jill March 30, 2015 · 8:12 am

I think that this picture is during the baby boom because there is many smiling on the faces of the adults and they’re encouraging their kids to race. Maybe this was a game used for entertainment during this time.

Tor Q. March 30, 2015 · 8:12 am

I believe what’s going on in this picture is that it’s an old commercial of those carts for little children, bringing back memories for those who are old and bringing them joy. Just for the fact that we’ve advance a lot within a century, it brings back happiness.

Thomas March 30, 2015 · 8:13 am

I see a crowd of people gathering together to see a relay race between their kids having baby in the stroller the whole time without making it fall out. I say that because i see a baby in the stroller and on the far side i see a little girl taking off already. Also they are at a childrens center for girls because i read it on the sign behind them on the building.

Isis March 30, 2015 · 8:14 am

In the picture i believe that these little girls are racing with a baby carriage and it may be a real baby or a baby doll in it .

James March 30, 2015 · 8:15 am

It looks like people are walking through the streets for some kind of freedom.

syann March 30, 2015 · 8:15 am

I see little girls pushing a stroller with a babydoll in it while their parents stand back and support them and cheer them on. I guess its a babydoll race for my inference .

kylie March 30, 2015 · 8:15 am

Taking place in 1940s-1950s after the great depression. There is a sign in the back on a building that says childrens center, many little girls are racing with their baby carriages there is probably a prize for who ever wins at the end thats why everyone is so excited. I think this is after the great depression because every little girl has a dress on, if it took place in the great depression they most likley wouldnt be wearing that.

Breanna March 30, 2015 · 8:16 am

What’s going on in this picture?
Answer: Children are racing while their parents cheer them on and watch them
What do you see that makes you say that
Answer: children are holding a basket and they are in a ready position stance
What more can you find?
Answer: you can find that some kids are ahead of others.

Dylan March 30, 2015 · 8:16 am

What’s going on in this picture is that the parents are smiling and sending their kids off on a race pushing carriages, and it’s supposed to be a fun event. I can tell this because the parents are laughing and look like they are having fun. This could have been during the great depression because it could have been a way to try and cheer the children up.

denard March 30, 2015 · 8:16 am

i think that parents are showing there kids the responsebility of being mother and raising a child i think this because there are parents that look like they are realseing there children into adulthood

Mya – Lee March 30, 2015 · 8:16 am

I see that the photo monochrome and has only one race in the picture. I also see mostly women cheering on girls that are racing baby strollers. I infer (more like hope) that these women are having a race to support feminism.

Arieona March 30, 2015 · 8:16 am

I think that the little girls are racing baby carriages with babies inside. It makes me think this because the little girls look like they are in a racing pose and they have the baby carriages in their hands like they are ready to be pushed. Also I don’t see any babies being held so I assume that they are in the carriages.

Gabi March 30, 2015 · 8:17 am

I think that these kids are having some kind of race. I believe this because there seems to be what looks like an annoncer with a megaphone. I think that maybe this is a little after the Great Depression because the adults are using the kids as entertainment because they don’t have an occupation to keep them busy.

Caleb W. March 30, 2015 · 8:17 am

I Think they are having a race.Kids are lined up straight across on what looks like the starting line. The way they are standing and looking make it seem like they are racing.

Tyler March 30, 2015 · 8:17 am

Whats going on in the picture is kids are having a race with baby strollers. What makes me say that is because i see people standing around watching, and i see a man with some type of megaphone yelling something, also i see one kid starting to run.

Regjznae March 30, 2015 · 8:18 am

In the picture it appears to look like girls having a race of some kind. I say this because in the picture it looks like they are about to start running and if you look in the left corner of the picture, you’ll see a man that looks like he’s cheering them on. Also, looking at the ground you can see that there’s a line that may have been drawn for the event.

Harrison March 30, 2015 · 8:18 am

I think it is parents trying to teach their how to care for when they have kids of their own.

Precious March 30, 2015 · 8:18 am

I think that the the little girls are having a race on which baby can run the fastest pushing a stroller to the finish line on Avenue B. I say this because it is people crowding around watching and some little girls are running. I can see that is was probably in the 1950-60 because the females have on dresses and the picture was in black and white.

NT March 30, 2015 · 8:18 am

In the picture, little girls are racing to win. This may be an annual race or event that place in this particular city. I say this because the girls are smiling and having fun, while their families cheer them on. The girls are racing with strollers.

Ben March 30, 2015 · 8:18 am

This picture looks like some kind of race with strollers

Faith D March 30, 2015 · 8:18 am

I think in this picture there are kids doing a carriage race.