Calendar on the back wall, but the quality isn’t so hot. 1950s. That’s a clue. I have my own opinion as to what the month is, but would like an independent set of eyes. If we can settle on the month, I can pretty much cinch the year.
I’m seeing it as a February in a leap year maybe?
Well, I’ll be shocked if anyone can hazard a guess at the month with that quality of picture, but I’ve been surprised here before. It looks to me like a 30-day month beginning on Tuesday, assuming the leftmost column is Sunday and the rightmost is Saturday. This would make the following possible:
April 1952
September 1953
June 1954
November 1955
April 1958
September 1959
Leap possibility:
Feb 1956
Now, if you think it looks like it starts on a Wednesday and ends on a Wednesday, then it’s Feb 1956. I think the first falls on a Tuesday there, as the fifth column (Thursday) in the second row looks to be where the two-digit dates start.
Looking at the picture again, I’m betting that it’s not the leap year.
Excellent analysis there pulykamell, it definitely looks like the 10th is the second Thursday, making it a 30 day month. The “1” on the first Tuesday must have gotten lost in the image compression along the way because it really is impossible to see.
Concur that the 10th is a Thursday, making it a 30-day month. Going by the density of the letters and length of the month name, I’m going to put my money on April.
Given the length of the month name (which I can’t actually read), September or November looks more likely.
Wow. Must put on my glasses.
Seriously, we got EXACTLY different analyses on that. 
I see what looks to be seven short words (probably day names) on the top line (which is odd).
Then on the second line a word that looks to be the size of ‘SEPTEMBER’ or ‘NOVEMBER’.
Then on the third line a short word which is probably the year.
There is something circular that is obscuring the center of the lettering.
Thinking the top line might be the name of a local business who distributed the calendar. I can imagine it saying something along the lines of “[Initial] [Initial] [Something] [Something] Co.”
I assumed it’s a 30-day calendar, too, and it’s pretty safe to rule out June.
Some more clues that might possibly help:
Central South Carolina.
Some kids are in long sleeves.
Holiday dates on the calendar?
Oh, are you looking in the white border are, just under the picture? I was thinking the month and year are in the black calendar area, right above the dates. So, the month and the year are all in the same line. I can’t make a guess as to what the month is. It only looks like it’s slightly larger than the year, so April is not a bad guess, but maybe it’s closely kerned characters, and the year is more spread out; or perhaps the compression is futzing with the apparent width of the parts. I’m not willing to bet anything on what month it is.
No, the 1 is there if you zoom in: crop.
The left and right columns are rather blurry, but the first date, the 1, is definitely in the third column, which is probably Tuesday. And it’s definitely a 30-day month. In other words:
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
Looking at the possible months, I don’t think the month name is as short as April or June, although April is a possibility (I count 5 “blobs” in the first word of the title, but the spacing suggests I’m not seeing all the letters. On the other hand, the second “word”, which is presumably a four-digit year, looks not too far off the length of the first word, the month.
Edit: I think the month and the year are definitely on the black part. The surround looks like it could be a decorative border, or maybe an advert of some kind.
But is there seriously not a better scan of this available somewhere?
I was assuming it was MONTH YEAR, if that makes a difference.
It’s not exactly the same, as the pic at the top is different, but the calendar looks very similar to this.
Well, yeah, but. . .
This is a download from a facebook copy–which, you realize, is a fraction of the size of the original, thus poor quality. I could never get a response from the owner about receiving an emailed original.
Another clue: The image owner is 67 or 68, and I think is in the left foreground wearing the jacket, being pointed at by the kid across the table.
Amen. I can see the kids OK, but the calendar is just a mass of dark gray and black to my eyes.
That’s a pretty impressive find. I actually tried to look for the calendar itself, but figured there was next to no chance of finding it. While the one in the lunchroom photo is definitely not the “El Campo” calendar, the design is almost dead-on. Maybe they come from the same printing company?
I’m going to guess September 1953. This is pure speculation, but I’m guessing the left-hand column is darker because it’s a Sunday and a different color than the rest of the weekdays, and it seems to me–although this may be wishful thinking–that the first Monday in that month is also the same color as the Sunday dates, indicating a holiday. Given that the person in question is 67, September 1953 is the only month that fits all the criteria.
That’s just my shot in the dark.