They were way ahead of their time: with cardboard boxes on their heads, they kept their distance, any droplet infection had no chance.
The 1963 photo shows school children at Emerson Elementary School in Maywood, Illinois.
Their heads were put in cardboard boxes during outdoor classes.
For health reasons.
However, the students were not threatened by a pandemic or risk of infection - it was about protection from glaring rays.
A total solar eclipse was announced for July 20, 1963 in the USA.
In a sense, the event cast its shadow: the media warned of the dangers of looking directly into the sun.
Even the popular comic series »Peanuts« took up the topic - and that day left Linus standing in the rain under a thick blanket of clouds.
The concern: During a partial solar eclipse three years earlier, numerous people in the USA had injured their retinas when they looked unprotected into the sun.
This time too, many Americans did not want to miss the spectacle in which the moon slides between the earth and the sun and covers it for a moment.
The "Life" magazine devoted a photo report to the security aspect.
Fifth graders from the Emerson Elementary School presented a sophisticated eye protection variant: Using cardboard boxes and knives, the students were supposed to show the "Life" readers how to safely view a solar eclipse.
»Sofi glasses«, as they were later sold millions of times, did not yet exist.
So under the guidance of the Society for the Prevention of Blindness in Illinois, the students built
sunscopes
.
They worked on the principle of a pinhole camera and projected an image of the sun - upside down and reversed, which does not reduce the enjoyment in the event of a solar eclipse.
Crafting instructions for a square skull
First, you cut a hole in one side of the box with a knife, big enough to stick your head through.
On the inside opposite the face, a white sheet of paper was glued as a projection surface and a small hole was punched in the cardboard wall behind the head.
It had to be high enough so that rays of light penetrating there could hit the leaf over the head.
The smaller the hole, the sharper the image on the paper.
It was therefore recommended to stick a piece of aluminum foil over the hole and pierce a tiny hole with a needle.
All other possible points of incidence of light had to be covered with black adhesive tape.
With the cardboard on your head, you turned your back to the sun and saw the phenomenon in the sky in front of you on the wall of the box.
Without danger to the eyes.
Imitation could fail today because children are no longer allowed to bring knives to school.
The photo also shows the superiority of the teaching staff: they are apparently invulnerable - and look straight into the light.