Take a close look at this picture. (Click to enlarge)
First, try to guess where it was taken. If you guessed Jerusalem in the 1930s, you ‘re right.
Next, tell me what’s wrong with it. Unbelievable. And we think we ‘re tough.
Third, I wonder if a photo exists of me anywhere from my pole-vaulting days. Landing on big mushy pads. I can say that I water-skiied on the Sea of Galilee, but I never tried pole-vaulting in Jerusalem.
This photograph belongs to a collection of photos from 1898-1946 that I’ve been working on lately.
Is he going face-first?!
I don’t think so.
They don’t have one of those landing pads. Yikes!!!
What’s wrong with this picture?!? The guy didn’t clear the bar! He knocked it off and it’s falling down.
What a wimp.
;-)
That would be far from pleasant.
What’s wrong is that all of those people are lined up to watch to watch a guy try (unsuccessfully) to clear an 8-foot bar.
The landing area is saw-dust, so it was probably kinda squishy. This may not have been so bad since they didn’t have fiberglass poles (which bend and recoil) back then, so their heights were pretty limited compared to today.
I forgot you pole-vaulted, too, Todd.
Danny, lots of times you don’t land on your feet. I think that falling from 9-10 feet high and landing on your side would hurt, even in sawdust.
And why are there lots of observers with kilts on ?
>And why are there lots of observers with kilts on ?
>>>>>>>>
Look close and you’ll see people in kilts have bagpipes. It’s probably a drum and pipe marching group. The British brought this with them and actually left it with the Palestinians.
I was wandering around the Old City back in 1998 (my first visit) in the Moslem Quarter. I heard pipes and drums and found a Palestinian school where their marching group was practicing. Apparently, there was a time when Palestinian youth took this pretty seriously and they had major competitions.
As to the sawdust, when I was in elementary school, sawdust was still common. Yeah, it was hard to land on it (I only did the high jump). Foam pads changed the jumping sports overnight.
actually, i would kinda like to see the next picture in sequence. Ya know like what happened? Did he break something?
Kinda reminds of me of what happened to Josiah during Fall 06
Shireen – I don’t think cameras took pictures that fast in those days. I checked and did not find any other photos of pole-vaulting. I did, however, found a photo that addresses Lisa’s question:
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/matpc/13700/13763v.jpg