Before the school bells ring - Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster
These days, it is very difficult to avoid all the back-to-school hype that is present in advertising and in the retail stores. Have you ever wondered what the case was in the month of August in our yesteryears?
In looking at past issues of the county’s print media in the digitized newspaper archive of Huron County, available online through the Huron County Museum, it would seem that back-to-school advertising took a while to become common, only starting to show up in the weekly newspapers of this area in the 1920s.
Our first settlers’ children did not have schools, so they acquired their learning from their parents and most of this education would be in basic life skills. The Bible was the first (and sometimes only) book used for reading instruction. As the tiny, rudimentary schools were built, the students would attend in the same practical clothing that they wore every day at home. Simply put, there was no need for a back-to-school sales blitz. As older children grew, their handmade clothing was handed down to the next-sized sibling, and so on, until the material was completely worn out. Collars could be turned to prolong wear and suit coats could be cut down for a smaller wearer or even made into a vest.
There was no scrambling for the latest designer label in those days! Because most items were home-made (or by a seamstress if the family could afford it), the first advertisements that could be construed as school-related offered yard goods. By 1905, mass produced, ready-to-wear clothing was becoming more available, as well as affordable, and the McKinnon and Co. store in Blyth was selling boys’ tweed knickers at the price of 35 cents (reduced from 50 cents).
Fast-forward to August of 1925 and take a peek in the Blyth newspaper where we find the Standard Book and Stationery Store selling scribblers, rulers, inks, slates and pencils. A slate was a thin slab of dark stone that had a wooden frame around it. A slate pencil, probably made of shale, was used to make letters and numbers on the slate. Students could do their spelling words or math sums on the slate and then erase them to do other work.
My father, who went to school in that era, told me that each student was responsible for bringing their own rag and water holder to use to clean their slate. He was a great proponent of doing mental arithmetic, maybe because he disliked cleaning his slate.
Basic school supplies were in short supply. Paper was a valuable commodity and was used sparingly. Some old letters bear this out as, not only were the sentences written side-to-side, but were also continued up and down on the paper - difficult to read, but economical.
The first advertisement that I found which specifically targeted the back-to-school crowd was from the W.D. Fair Co. of Clinton. This business inserted a rather bold advertisement in the Aug. 25, 1925 edition of the Clinton News Record with the heading of “Don’t Blame the School Teachers”. It stated that if students failed to receive honours in their school work, then the remedy was the purchasing of good quality textbooks, pencils and scribblers from their establishment. Parents were advised to “be ready when the bell rings”.
By looking at a random sampling of newspapers through the years, I came across an advertisement from the Stewart Bros. store in Seaforth, dated Aug. 23, 1935. Its style, wording and size showed a more commercial effort to cash in on the back-to-school marketing that has evolved through the years. If the prices look good to our eyes, we should also take into account the fact that a general labourer of that era earned 35 to 40 cents an hour.
Moving up to 1940, Olive McGill in Blyth had boys’ zippered windbreakers for only $1.49 and girls’ plaid dresses for 59 to 95 cents each while, in Lucknow, Templeman and Company had rayon and wool tartans at 75 cents a yard, stating that plaid was ever popular F. R. Smith in Brussels, in 1950, was advertising high school and public school texts, as well as fountain pens for one dollar and mathematical sets and school bags in “exciting” colours. The trend was turning to more manufactured goods available for school use.
The Arcade store in Blyth in 1960 was right into the current fashions with blue denim jeans for boys, oxford shoes and high bulk Perry Como sweaters. The young ladies were not forgotten as they could purchase striped slim jims, orlon cardigans and pullovers, as well as twister socks. Down the street, the Needlecraft Shoppe had dark cotton dresses and fall car coats. Not to be outdone, Madills had slim slacks in green or black. They also sold children’s shoes by Savage, Sisman, Wragge and Humberstone.
To end our little journey through preparations for September classes, we look at the offerings of the Stedmens store in Clinton. They had yard goods for sale, particularly crimpknit and backed wool. Crimpknit clothing had a reputation of rarely wearing out, which was likely their downfall.
Getting students outfitted with clothing and supplies has been a perennial occurrence throughout the years. Recent reports indicate that the costs of markers, paper and like supplies have increased greatly in just the past year. Perhaps some parents may be wishing they could turn the clock back to an earlier time.