Chores and Clothes for Boys

By Amy

Boys in a one room Schoolhouse would wear bib overalls, knickers and pants. Knickers are pants that go down to the knee. They also wore gansey sweaters and plaid shirts. Boys would always wear shoes to school, although they may spend the whole summer bare-footed. This display shows a boy student wearing typical clothing at the schoolhouse, a hat and goggles, a red shirt, green pants and a pair of brown boots. Clothing was simple and practical. The hat and goggles were for shielding boy’s eyes from snow during winter. One person we interviewed said he would bring a knife to school and would carry it in a pocket on his boot. Since the schoolhouses were rarely more than 3 miles away, school never closed for a winter storm, because students walked to school. Students packed peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, because there was no electricity or refrigerators. One student had a peanut butter sandwich every school day for 8 years at the Free Union School, and hasn’t eaten one since. Boy’s jobs at school were to start the coal stove and to fetch coal for the stove. Boys would study arithmetic, spelling, reading and history/geography. Boys would get report cards.

Chores and Clothes for Girls

By Amy

Typically, girls in a one-room schoolhouse would wear dresses, sunbonnets, stockings and shoes. Dress colors were red, green, blue, brown and white. Stocking colors were white and brown and shoes were oxford or high button. Sunbonnets were white and tied underneath. One person we interviewed said she wore a skirt, blouse and hand-made moccasins from her father’s hunting. Another person we interviewed said she went to school in Ireland and, although their family was poor, she had the finest clothes because her father was a tailor. Girls NEVER wore pants to school. In the winter girls wore snow pants under their dresses, winter boots and a winter coat. This display shows a girl student wearing a sunbonnet, a flour sack dress, stockings and oxford shoes. A student of the Free Union School told us her dresses were made of flour sackcloth, which is the exact type of material the girl in this display is wearing. The soft cloth would come from store-bought flour bags. Farm families could not afford to waste such beautiful cloth. Girl’s jobs at school were to clean the blackboard, fetch water and to keep the coat closet and around their desk clean as well as the school floor. Girls would get report cards. For a year of perfect attendance, a student would receive a pack of three pencils.

Click on image for a closer view Click here for to see the names on the reverse of the picture

Fall of 1900

Teacher: Lemuel Harden

(Elizabeth Gruver, student, is fourth from the right, back row)