Morrisburg high school students dressed up for the annual shot in typical fashion of the times. Boys wore suits or sweaters and ties. Girls wore straight skirts and their hair was almost uniformly a bob, chin-length, often styled in a wave and brushed to the side. By this time, the bob, or shortened hair, was no longer a sign of rebellion as Hollywood actresses had embraced it for years.
The roaring 20s, so named due to rapid industrial and economic growth, was a decade that saw the United States double its wealth. A drought and dust bowl haunted Western provinces and U.S. states but Ontario farmers also enjoyed in the prosperity and increasing commodity prices that slowed the population drift to the cities. Then came October, 1929, and the first market crash. By 1931 Ontario farm receipts were 50 % below 1926 levels. Farmers also overproduced cheese, meat, vegetables and apples.
The 1920s was also a time of cultural enthusiasm in the cities and by the end of the decade, 20 per cent of people owned a car. But for most rural people there was no electricity, no running water and they travelled by horse and wagon. (Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Historical Society photo)
