Some schools required you to wear a gym uniform, some schools had co-ed classes, and most had some pretty hard physical hurdles that we don’t see quite as much if today. Hard work was just part of the normal phys ed classes we were used to as kids. From climbing ropes to studying ballet, there quite a few challenges in decades past that kids these days aren’t engaged in.

For kids during World War II, the boys in P.E. classes were sometimes put through cadet-like training in case the war was still being fought when they graduated. This goes above and beyond anything most high school kids have experienced today. What a different atmosphere from today’s world! Have a look back at what P.E. was like back in the Old Days.

Circa 1900. Via/ State Archives of Florida
Circa 1900. Via/ Library of Congress
1910s. Via/ Library of Congress
1910. Via/ Library of Congress
1910. Via/ Flickr
1939. Via/ Library of Congress
Learning the fireman’s carry during wartime, 1942. Via/ Library of Congress
Via/ Library of Congress
1943. Via/ Library of Congress
1943. Via/ Library of Congress

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