May Day Mayhem

Maypoles on May Day for the ABC Group (4/24/2017).

Mouse over the image above to see close-ups of the maypole on the left and the maypole on the right.

This real photo postcard shows the organized chaos of May Day festivities at a playground or schoolyard--location and date unknown, unfortunately--where two groups of students are dancing around two maypoles as other students and adults view the proceedings.

Could this be a maypole dance competition between two classes or schools? Are the two groups racing to see who will be the first to finish weaving their ribbons around their maypole?

It's not clear whether this is a competition, but it's interesting to note that older boys are holding up each maypole while girls wearing dark-colored skirts dance around one of them and girls in light-colored skirts dance around the other. Also, many of the boys standing in the background beyond the maypoles are wearing shirts emblazoned with the letter E, so I suppose it's possible that the clothes are athletic uniforms reflecting different classes or schools.

In any case, even if we can't tell exactly what's going on, the image provides an intriguing glimpse at a May Day celebration from days gone by.