This photo is one of many taken by local photographer Weldon Shaw during the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. His specialty was high school sporting events and other local activities and personalities. The photo was taken in 1948 of a Marysville High School basketball game against Delaware. Shooting the ball is “The Way It Was” columnist Bill Boyd (who missed the shot – MHS lost the game by four points).
Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories. With Marysville and Union County celebrating Bicentennial anniversaries in 2019 and 2020, respectively, these articles help depict what life was like in those early years.
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There is a treasure trove of Marysville history that is missing. It’s a photographic record that spans somewhere around three decades. It all started during the 1930s when a man named Weldon Shaw and his wife, Freida, operated an insurance agency at 122 South Main Street. The Shaws ran that insurance business together for years.
Although insurance was their business, photography was Weldon’s avocation. He carried a camera with him almost everywhere he went. He took photographs at the Union County Fair, parades and just about all other local events. Then, in 1942, he added a photo studio in the back of his insurance business.
As World War II was getting underway, Weldon also worked for some time at the Battelle Institute in Columbus. My sister, Maryann, was one of the “carpoolers” who rode with him. Whenever he saw something that would make an interesting photograph, he stopped the car and shot some pictures. And sometimes he had his carpoolers pose in the shots.
Weldon belonged to some photography organization. In fact, I think he was its president. Near the end of summer he invited the members to come to Marysville to attend a special day at the swimming pool. It was packed with swimmers, and the photographers spent the day photographing the activities. There were shots of bathing beauties and divers. There were pictures of kids building human pyramids in the water. And the event went on all day long.
When I was in high school, during the late ‘40s, Weldon and his camera were at just about all high school events. During a basketball season, he sat in the front row and snapped action shots. The next day he sold prints of those photos. I think the price was somewhere around 20 cents each.
I bought the photo shown with this column the day after our game with Delaware in 1948. The good guys are in white. I was shooting the ball, and John Dayton is to my right. Bud Hoffman and John Evans are also in the shot. I wish I could tell you this is the shot that won the game for us, but I missed that shot. And to make it even worse, we lost that game by four points.
Over the years, Weldon built a cache of thousands of Marysville related photographs. When he passed away, the business was sold. I once tried to track down those photos, but I wasn’t successful. Maybe they will turn up someday. I hope so, and I’m sure the Historical Society would like to have access to them.
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at bill@davidwboyd.com