# Id this calendar date? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413 "2012-09-11T17:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/21 "2012-09-11T20:32:24Z")
Given the age of the kid, these are the only two possible dates. My first choice: April 1952 The splotch where the month probably is is about 30% larger than the splotch where the year probably is. Not knowing anything about the font or kerning, I just did some experimentation, and found a number of fonts in which the space taken up by all-caps “APRIL” is about 30% larger than the space taken up by “1952.” I couldn’t find any that made NOVEMBER or SEPTEMBER only 30% larger. (From the relatively uniform month splotch, I’m assuming all-caps.) Second choice: September 1953. Less likely but two points that make me not wan to summarily dismiss it: In some format of calendars, the Sundays and holidays are printed in red. You can notice that the column for Sundays is very dark. Similarly, the column for the first Monday in the month is dark, possibly indicating Labor Day. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/22 "2012-09-11T20:36:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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. That may be correct as, according to [this](http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1953&country=1), Labor Day of 1953 did fall on the 7th and that is what it looks like on that calendar. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/23 "2012-09-11T20:37:57Z")
Beat you to your second guess! 🙂 That said, I agree that the size of the first splotch doesn’t reconcile well with the size of the year splotch for September, but compression artifacts can be weird like that and, who knows, maybe the calendar maker didn’t use exactly the same font for the month and year. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/24 "2012-09-11T20:41:18Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > My first choice: April 1952 > > Second choice: September 1953. I was going to try to disprove both of these choices, but I can’t. The first was on a Tuesday in both of those months. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/25 "2012-09-11T20:41:30Z")
I just wish I had access to [enhancement technology](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk) like they do in the movies. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/26 "2012-09-11T20:42:44Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > My first choice: April 1952 > The splotch where the month probably is is about 30% larger than the splotch where the year probably is. > Not knowing anything about the font or kerning, I just did some experimentation, and found a number of fonts in which the space taken up by all-caps “APRIL” is about 30% larger than the space taken up by “1952.” I couldn’t find any that made NOVEMBER or SEPTEMBER only 30% larger. (From the relatively uniform month splotch, I’m assuming all-caps.) If you look on the calendar in **Colophon’s** link, it looks like the letters in the month name are closer together than the numbers in the year. But that one is in lower case though. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/27 "2012-09-11T20:44:54Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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? A Google Image search for “1950s calendar” comes up with several [similar designs](http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/auction/images_items/item_4585_3.jpg). It looks like there was some firm that produced calendars like that for companies to use as promotional items. (Edit - the one linked to is actually from the 1960s, but the point stands.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/28 "2012-09-11T20:48:15Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > A Google Image search for “1950s calendar” comes up with several [similar designs](http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/auction/images_items/item_4585_3.jpg). It looks like there was some firm that produced calendars like that for companies to use as promotional items. (Edit - the one linked to is actually from the 1960s, but the point stands.) Yeah, I tried that exact image search, but I guess I gave up too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/29 "2012-09-11T20:51:22Z")
Any idea where it was taken at? If we could narrow down a city and state, we may be able to find a calendar from a business in that city online somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/30 "2012-09-11T21:06:32Z")
Winnsboro SC. I’ve been in contact with a number of people from there, and they drew a blank on where the calendar came from. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/31 "2012-09-11T21:10:54Z")
The picture on the calendar looks to me like a painting of a wagon train or something similar. I’m seeing horses, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/32 "2012-09-11T21:14:42Z")
The image in the calendar looks familiar. I think I have seen it before, and if I’m right, it shows two guys bird or duck hunting. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/33 "2012-09-11T21:14:58Z")
I’d agree with the “September” identification. It looks like the calendar has the weekend dates “dimmed out” and the first Monday appears to be similar, which would make sense if it’s a legal holiday. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/34 "2012-09-11T22:00:50Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > The picture on the calendar looks to me like a painting of a wagon train or something similar. I’m seeing horses, at any rate. I see horses, too, and was thinking this is some kind of Western themed calendar. Then again, this might as well be a Rohrschach test. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/35 "2012-09-11T22:16:51Z")
My first thought was those were flying birds in the foreground (a pheasant hunt perhaps?), but on second and third thought they could be anything. I even had a thought it might be a harvest painting along the lines of Millet’s The Gleaners or the The Potato Harvest. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/36 "2012-09-11T22:31:27Z")
If the month name is short, could it say “Sept” rather than September? ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/37 "2012-09-12T03:04:07Z")
Already tried putting the picture through TinEye, by the way, no results. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/38 "2012-09-12T03:14:04Z")
This one is close, but not yet cigar-worthy. [http://elcampolivestock.com/assets/images/Calendar-1954-Cropped.jpg](http://elcampolivestock.com/assets/images/Calendar-1954-Cropped.jpg) The only month that works for me, provided it’s in the same series as the pictures provided above, is September 1953. 1. Zooming all the way in, the dates seem to run from having the first be on a tuesday and the last day being on a wednesday. In the time frame, that’s only September +/- 3 years. 2. The second tuesday is much darker - hardly visible - than all the other tuesdays, which would fit since the 7th of that year was a holiday. (Looking at the linked calendar type, the sundays and holidays appear to not have their font filled with color.) 3. I think it’s the same brand of calendar because if you see in the divider between the picture and the date, there’s what looks like a space where the subtitle of the picture is. Check that against the picture of the 1954 calendar I linked above. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/39 "2012-09-12T03:51:03Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > This one is close, but not yet cigar-worthy. > > [http://elcampolivestock.com/assets/images/Calendar-1954-Cropped.jpg](http://elcampolivestock.com/assets/images/Calendar-1954-Cropped.jpg) > > The only month that works for me, provided it’s in the same series as the pictures provided above, is September 1953. Yeah, **Colophon** ’s link in post #15 is to the same website, but the other calendar they have on their webpage (1956). ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413/40 "2012-09-12T03:53:53Z")
The picture of the cowboy catching the horse is called “Turning A Stray.” I can barely make out the letters “Howa\*\*\*” at the bottom right as the artist’s signature. However, searching a bit, I find this entry in the copyright archives attributing a 1953 picture called “Turning a stray” to one H. Relnhold. I’ll extemporate the Howa into Howard. Since the 1954 picture and 1956 are probably by the same artist, if we can find some sort of portfolio we only have to nail the skyline in the original picture and hope that’s attributed to the calendar in some way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-calendar-date/634413.md?page=3)