Here are a bunch of photos from the mid-1940s, and there is an interesting story behind them.

My mother and her three girlfriends were very intelligent, independent single women. In 1945 (I'm pretty sure that was the year), the four of them decided to hitch-hike around the US. With their backpacks and canteens, they hit the open road. They took a lot of photographs - unfortunately none of the pictures have any identification on them! A few were obvious, but most were not. I do know that at some point they ended up on the campus of Notre Dame. The pictures are rather small, so it may be hard to make out the detail. (My scanner can't do high-resolution images.) Here are two photographs to start with; I'll add whatever information I can.

Cast of Characters:

Mom, who would have been around 24 at the time.
Gloria, my mothers best friend. Grew up across the street from my mother. Gloria was around 23.
Estelle, Gloria's younger sister. She was around 21.
Sabine, one of my mother's closest friends. I believe she was around 23.

The two photos:

Top: Thumbs up! L. to R.: Sabine, Estelle, my mom (who only stood around 4'9" - if she wore heels.) My mother wrote on the back, "This is how we got places - didn't do badly either!!"

Bottom: Standing: Gloria, my mom. Sitting: Sabine, Estelle.