Figure 1.--Many German children had first day portraits taken, often with their satchels. This is aittle different. It is a commercial card that feiends and family sent to the boy to the new scholar to wish him well on his first day of school. Thus the outfit is a little idealized, but not much. One interesting feature is the school slate. In most actual portraits, the slate is baxked away in the satchel. A reader writes, "This idealized postcard image of a German schoolboy, perhaps the early 20s, seems a bit too picture-perfect to be realistic. But it is interesting because of the white sailor suit (practical for actual school wear?), the broad-brimmed sailor hat, and all the appurentances--bookbag, and slate with hanging sponge (eraser), plus the goody cone. The long brown stockings and ankle-strap shoes are perhaps to be expected." One doesn't usually see white summer suits in these first day outfits as the white, light-weight suits were more for summer wear.

German and other European children in the 19th and early 20th centuries normally took a slate to school for praticing both writing and doing sums at their desks with chalk. Paper at the time was too expensive for practice seessions. An important part of the school day might be spent doing work on these slates. The slates are not normally seen in the portraits taken of children with their satchels, but most children had them. They were usually carried inside the satchels. What can be seen is many portraits is the sponge or rag hung outside, presumably because it was wet after the school day. We had just assumed that the sponge was attached to the satchel as this was how it looked. As can be seen here, however, it was attached to the slate and just allowed to hand out when the child packed up his things at the end of the day. We see the slates being emphasized in commercial postcards like this. This relects the iconic status of both the satches and slates. A German reader tells us, "Although commercial, a nice picture. Yes, all children used the "Schiefertafel" (the slate) for about the first 4 years in school--primary school. We all had the "Griffel" (slate-pencil) to write, and the "Schwamm" (the sponge) was attached to the slate as shown to erase mistakes or completed work. In the first years there were lines marked on the surface of the slate and a rectangular grid on the backside. Perfect handwriting was an important aim of teachers, of parents, and of the kids (?). We had to be very careful we did not drop and break our slates. Slates were also used in the higher grades (forms) for school exercises and homework. We only used paper for writing essays ("Aufsätze") which the teacher took home for reading and grading in the higher grades. This was done in special paper notebooks. Yhis was a rather simple method to save resources, isn't it. After World War II the slates disappeared. They were considered old-fashioned, as was disciplining the children. We had enough paper and used and destroyed it afterwards, no "recyling" just by swipping away with the sponge what was no longer needed. A questionable method to educate children to not waste resources! Recently I saw slates again in a Kindergarten for what children like very much, painting. It is modern again."

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Created: 8:05 PM 1/21/2008
Last updated: 5:46 AM 1/22/2008