"My Record Book" compiled by Annunzia "Nancy" Arnao, 1928 graduate of the South Philadelphia High School for Girls
Blue cloth 3-prong binder with printed cover; 94 scrapbook leaves with printed section headers and additional ephemera laid in. Pages are fragile and tattered at the edges, many loose from the binding, as typical. Rubworn and overall a bit misshapen from its bountiful contents, haphazard but satisfying to navigate. The the bulk of content comes from around her graduation in 1928, with material extending from roughly 1926-1931.
One of our favorite examples of such albums, thanks to the 50+ devastatingly great vernacular photographs and Nancy's copious, often moody self-portraits. The portraits of the women form a veritable catalog of bob hairstyles and the album vividly captures the life of a teenage girl in 1920s South Philadelphia, including close ties to the Italian-American community and trips down the shore (Wildwood, of course).
Other scrapbook ephemera includes party favors and invitations, some dried flowers, souvenirs from trips. Newspaper clippings include local Italian-language periodicals; by contrast, flourishes of French add a little je ne sais quoi to some of the girls’ inscriptions.