Technological advances in paper manufacturing during this era brought better quality at a cheaper price. By the 1880's, handmade paper was rapidly disappearing and by 1897, there was only one firm in the United States that still made paper by hand. A school catalogue of 1879 advertised ten pounds of writing paper as cheaply as $2.70.21 Pencils Besides having a great impact on education, the pencil industry possesses a history deserving of more than passing interest. Begun in England, in 1564, and refined in France in the 1700's, it did not become a big industry until it settled in Nuremberg, Germany in 1761 under the tutelage of the Faber family. With remarkable foresight, they gained control of the Siberian graphite deposits (the only known ones in the world at the time) and established sawmills in the United States to work the soft Florida junipers for casings. In this way they fashioned a world monopoly of the pencil industry, even though importing all the raw materials. 22 In 1861, Eberhard Faber introduced the pencil industry into America by starting a factory in New York. But it was not until World War I that the enterprise in the United States became a self-sufficient industry. This explains why most of the school catalogues, even after the turn of the century, advertised mostly imported German pencils. Regardless of the monopoly, both lead and slate pencils were priced very reasonably. A box of 100 German slate pencils could be bought for as little as 25¢. Lead pencils were more expensive; an American Company (Dixon's American Graphite Pencils) advertised them at 50¢ per dozen.23 Fountain Pens As has been noted, crude fountain pens (or steel pens as they were called) were in use before the Civil War. In fact, the first patent for a steel pen was granted in 1809 to a Baltimore shoemaker named Peregrin Williamson. But it was not until the 1880's that the fountain pen became a practical writing instrument, though even then, pens were not widely used. Baker, Pratt & Co., Illustrated Catalogue of School Merchandise, New York, 1879, p. 92. "Godbole, Manufacture of Lead and Slate Pencils (India?), 1953, pp. 1–10. Baker, Pratt & Co., Catalogue, 1879, p. 144. School Rulers. These Rules are twelve inches in length, of hardwood, The cut is from a photograph. Prices of School Rules, wide, inch and metric meas- School Inks---Black or Violet. The best School Ink made. Will not corrode or mould; Catalogue of School Merchandise. New Mottoes for the School-Room. 83 Mottoes which may be hung up in sight of the scholars, when appropriately selected, have a decidedly moral effect. They may be hung by a cord like a picture, after perforating the upper corners, or they may be tacked upon the wall. In some cases it may be well to exhibit but one, two, or three at a time, and to call attention to such as have special application to some particular delinquency on the part of an offending pupil. The moral precept or motto may then be the subject of a brief remark by the teacher, either in public or private. Or, the motto will serve as a constant monition, incentive, or encouragement to the whole school. The following have been selected with care. Set No. 1 for District schools, and No. a for Higher grade No. 1, printed on heavy, colored cardboard; size of cards, 7 1. Make a Good Rule and Keep it. No. 3. 7. I Am Early. Diligence Enriches. 8. Not Who I Am, but What I Am. 9. Be Kind and Be Polite. 10. Be Honest and Be Earnest. 11. Be Truthful. God Sees Me. 12. You Can if You Will. Labor Conquers. For High Schools; large and showy; in colors and 1. Soorn to Do a Mean Act. 2. Do to Others as You Would Have Them Do to You. 8. Do What You Ought, Come What May. 4. You are Known by the Company You Keep. 5. Learning is Better than Riches. 6. A Fault is Made Worse by Trying to Conceal It. 7. Not Genius, but Industry Wins. 8. Little Strokes Fell Great Oaks. 9. Constant Oooupation Prevents Temptation. Advertisement of School Ink from Andrew's & Co.'s Illustrated Cata loque (1881) p. 82. An 1879 catalogue advertised an "Automatic Fountain Pen" for 25¢ and listed among its virtues the fact that "after being filled with ink, [it] can be safely carried in the pocket.' But the same catalogue listed a box of 24 quill pens as costing only 30¢. 99 24 It has been estimated that even as late as 1912, only 5 percent of the population in the United States owned fountain pens. But it seems that in the 1920's the industry was stimulated by the spread of literacy and the World War (soldiers writing letters back home). The growth was so spectacular that in the 1930's, the United States took the lead in world pen manufacturing.25 Ink The actual technology of ink manufacturing changed little during this era from that used centuries before. However, the appearance of specialized companies brought the price of commercial ink within the price range of every school. A dozen 4-ounce bottles of ink could be purchased for $1.10. A gallon of ink cost only $2. One company advertised kegs of ink ranging in capacity from 3 to 45 gallons for a little over $1 a gallon. These kegs were equipped with faucets whereby the teacher or student could draw the ink, one ink-well at a time.26 Globes, Maps, and Charts Globes The manufacturing of globes during this period offered no technological breakthrough. There were some minor improvements, but these usually served only to add more to the price of the globe than the improvement was worth. This was noticed by the French Committee who reported on the educational exhibit at the Vienna World's Fair in 1873. "The United States exhibited many globes. . . . Those which were exhibited were distinguished by nothing original. We sought in vain for globes with iron frameworks." 27 Here are a few of the changes that did appear in United States globe making. A rather ingenious method of illustrating the global 24 Ibid., p. 94. 25 Daniel Parker, The Pen Industry, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bellman Publishing Co., 1955, p. 6. 20 Andrews & Co., School Catalogue, 1881, p. 82. "U.S. Commissioners, Reports on the International Exhibitions Held at Vienna, 1873 (Foreign abstracts section), p. 357. This little Globe is used in large num- This Manual is written in the spirit Globes and Orrerys from Andrews School Furnishing Co. Illustrated Catalogue (New York) 1895, pp. 68-69. projection of the world along with the flat hemispheric projection was tried in the so-called "Hemisphere Globe." It was simply a regular globe hinged at some point where it would open into two halves. Thus on the face of each half, there naturally appeared a projection of that hemisphere. The "Slated Globe" was a round, black sphere with nothing on it. The idea, in effect, was to have a round blackboard of the world upon which the student could chalk in the continents, oceans, etc. Then there was the "Relief Globe," which was simply a scale model of the earth. The company advertising it described it as showing "the solid earth as it would appear if all its water were removed, thus revealing the beds of the oceans and the forms of the continents below, as well as at sea level." 28 Made of copper, it sold for a whopping $100. Tellurians and orreries for showing the planetary system, the earth's relation to the sun, etc., were popular for a time. Some of these so-called scale models of the solar system were so elaborate that the moons around the various planets were depicted by small balls fastened to the planet by hair-like rods. Actually these apparatuses probably misled more scholars than they instructed, or so was the charge made by many educators of the day. They were not scale models at all and were a rather expensive way of showing the difference between night and day. Maps American maps did offer something new and exciting in the way of educational technology during this period. The United States exhibition of maps at the Vienna Worlds Fair in 1873 brought praise from foreign educators. Much of the progress in school maps was due to the innovations introduced by Guyot, who was mentioned earlier in this study. The British educators made the following comment: Mr. Guyot again outstripped his competitors. His wall maps are skillfully executed, and the physical features of the countries represented are well and effectively brought out.29 The maps of the period were not only better but also cheaper. In 1872, Rand McNally & Co. introduced a new relief line engraving process for making maps. This revolutionary method cut the cost of production several times. Under the old system, maps 28 Andrews School Furnishing Co., Illustrated Catalogue, New York, 1895, p. 55. 20 Great Britain Royal Commission, Reports on the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873, London, 1874, p. 357. |