Toward the end of the century, it became evident that these schools were too elaborate and wasteful in construction. In an effort to reverse the trend, an era of standardization was begun which almost resulted in complete stagnation. Sloping roofs were discarded, blank end walls became mandatory, and auditoriums came down from the attic to the first floor. This practice of piling the building high in the air for four or five stories gave rise to the nickname of "a packing box" school.13 World War I, with its wide-spread use of steel construction, introduced a new school design. One-story school buildings came back into vogue with their pitched roofs and there was more of an attempt to integrate the building into its surroundings. School Furniture In this field, steady improvement was being made. The long benchlike desks and seats of the pre-Civil War period had given way to separate or individual desks for the students. The desks and seats displayed at the Vienna Exhibition in 1873 won acclaim from other nations. The Austrian report furnished an excellent description of the furniture displayed by the United States: The American seat was noticeable. This seat was placed on an iron base, on which it could be folded; it was made of beautiful broad, polished laths, which, in order to prevent overheating, did not fit closely together. The table top is movable forward, and covers a small recess for books. The arrangement was of a compact form, having a seat for one row of boys backed by a desk for the next row, and thus the support of the desk in the rear served as a back for the seat in front. These backs were rounded, slanted backward and comfortable. They could be folded up entirely." This double or combination desk with cast iron frame and wooden top became well standardized in America over the next few years. By 1891, practically all the desks were of this type. Then in 1906 the first pedestal-supported combination desk was produced. Designed by a St. Louis architect, it offered an improvement in height adjustment and greater ease in sweeping. Its big disadvantage was its immobility. Following the pedestal desk, ordinary wood chairs with tablet arms were used. The first really movable seating was developed by Moulthrop, a New York school principal. It was a wooden chair-desk with a book drawer under the seat and an adjustable top. Moulthrop then went on to develop the "Universal" desk, having seat and desk 18 Walter H. Kilham, "Aesthetics in Schoolhouse Design," The American Journal of Education, Vol. 72 (1926), p. 39. 14 U.S. Commissioners to Vienna, op. cit., Foreign abstracts, p. 444. The "Triumph Study" Desk. ONLY IS INOMES FROM THE EYE TO THE BOOK. Notice the natural, easy, and healthful position of the Scholar. "Triumph Study Desk" showing conventional combination desk of period from Baker, Pratt & Company, Catalogue, New York (1879) p. 21. separately and adjustably supported from a movable frame. It has been continually changed and refined up to the present time.15 A revolution in the manufacturing process of school furniture was also occurring. Before 1900, most of the school desks and seats were manufactured locally or in nearby towns; no large, centralized factories existed. Then at the turn of the century, Thomas M. Boyd of the Sidney School Furniture Company conceived the idea of establishing a large public seating industry. It was an era of mergers, so during the next six years, Boyd consolidated some 25 school, church, and opera seating companies into the American Seating Company. Its larger manufacturing operations made better furniture available to the schools at inexpensive prices." But even though school furniture had made spectacular gains, there remained room for steady improvements since the turn of the century. John Dewey envisioned needed reform when he described the ordinary classroom in 1900: . . . with its rows of ugly desks placed in geometrical order, crowded together so that there shall be as little moving room as possible, desks almost all of the same size, with just enough space to hold books." Blackboards and Slates Blackboards The blackboard continued to be a popular and widely used instructional implement during this period. A school catalogue of 1881 described its importance in these terms: ... No one article of apparatus for the schoolroom is more indispensable than the blackboard. It is the TABLET for recording mental processes of It is the MIRROR reflecting the workings, character and quality of the individual mind. It is the chief auxiliary of the teacher; the AID-DE-CAMP, the MONITOR, the GUIDE." the pupil. ... There were some improvements introduced. Blackboards were now framed, put on rollers, or would even rotate within the frame. Some were made of heavy paper that could be rolled up after use. Companies still advertised blackboard preparations for the teacher with a do-it-yourself inclination. With a gallon of this preparation, a slate surface could be applied "to plaster, wood, paper, and in fact, any surface to which paint may be applied" by anyone "who can handle a paintbrush and read the English language.' 99 19 15 Henry Eastman Bennett, "Fifty Years of School Seating," The American School Board Journal, March 1940, p. 42. 16 Ibid. 17 John Dewey, The School and Society, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1900, p. 48. 18 Andrews & Co., Illustrated Catalogue of School Merchandise, Chicago, 1881, p. 73. (Emphasis is the author's.) 10 Boston School Furniture, Illustrated Catalogue, Boston, Solon Thornton, Printer, 1870, Where the common chalk crayon is used, a convenient and durable crayon holder is a necessity; but those who use the Dustless Crayon will need no contrivance of this kind to prevent soiling their hands while working at the blackboard. The crayon holder, illustrated above, is adapted to receive an entire crayon (which should be inserted small end first). It is light and pleasant to touch, and cannot soil the dress or fingers, while it is short enough to be held easily and naturally in the hand, as a crayon. Being made entirely of wood, it will not scratch the blackboard. In utilizing the small pieces of crayons which cannot be held in the fingers it will quickly save more than its cost. Price, per doz. 75 cents. Sample mailed for ten cents. Price. 5. One side of the frame is marked off into inches, eighth and sixteenth inch measurements like a rule. The other side of frame has the measurements of the METRIC SYSTEM up to 20 Centimetres. 6. The frame is finely finished and varnished, which can be said of NO OTHER SLATE. 7. The Slate itself is of the best this or any other country. Prices of the New quality of stone to be found in A" Slates: -Per Dosen. SIZE Slagle. 83 40. Double. Dos. in Case. Dombi $4 80. 6x 9. 800. 600. .18. 7x11 8 60. 7 90. 10. Per Cage We also furnish them in Assorted Cases, containing one-half single and one-half double slates. 7211; 6 do 8213, Dumble Slates, Slates and Slate Accessories from Andrew's & Co.'s Illustrated $38 80 However, these simple techniques were on their way out. The blackboard industry began to use complicated methods of pressing boards together (hyloplate) and slate application. Near the turn of the century, the natural slate, though expensive, began to replace the inferior wooden blackboards. The blackboard has not disappeared from even the most modern of American schools today and probably never will. However, in the early 1920's, there began to be complaints by educators of blackboards wrapping around the whole schoolroom. Studies verified their suspicions that only a small fraction of the blackboard space was ever used. Thus, today the blackboard has given way to the bulletin board, picture space, project space and other mediums of visual instruction. Slates Slates continued their popularity during this period, especially in rural areas where other writing materials were not so easily and cheaply obtained. As late as 1881, the Andrews Co. School Catalogue devoted two whole pages to advertising school slates. Little technological progress had been made in their manufacture; they were simply slate stones encased in hardwood frames. However, because of their cheapness, they served a good purpose in their day. One could be bought for as little as 404, depending upon size, and a dozen or two could be purchased at a special price. The main criticism against slates was that they were dirty, noisy, and hard on the students' eyes. These factors and the appearance of cheap, clean paper and lead pencils doomed the slate. By 1900, slates had disappeared from nearly all the schools except those in the most remote rural regions. Paper Paper, Pens, Pencils, and Ink The impact of cheap writing paper on the schools certainly was considerable, though hard to measure. The growth of the paper industry alone indicated a rapidly expanding market. In 1860, there were 555 paper mills in the United States. By 1870, the number had jumped to 667, and by 1880, to 742 mills. 20 In the 1890's, there was a concentration of capital and consolidation of individual firms into large concerns. Though the number of mills decreased during this period, output increased significantly. 20 Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, The Book in America, New York, R. R. Bowker Co., 1939, p. 140. |