1921 school shop photo *LINK*

Re: 1921 school shop photo

Mark Meier (Ann Arbor, MI)

>That really is a great picture. Thanks for the link, Dick.

Planes (transitionals and bedrocks - sweet), chisels, saws, braces, squares, hammers, levels, ... all over the place. Wish I could have taken that class when I was a kid! I can see immediately that I never learned proper shop attire.

Mark

Re: 1921 school shop photo

Bob Demers

>Dick

There was a previous post on Shorpy's picture site earlier (months?)

But it was not this picture. Sure is an interesting site, full of hi res old pictures on just about anything and everything..

I had to chuckle when I saw the attire the kids are wearing in shop class. LOML always gives me heck when I venture out in the shop wearing 'my good clothes' (Meaning anything thats hasnt had paint splatter, cuts, abrasion, been covered at least once in saw dust etc..yet!:)

Look honey, they are wearing dress shirts and tie...he he

Bob

Re: 1921 school shop photo

wayne anderson

>While most are using transitional planes, some lucky guy in the center of the image is using what appears to be a Bedrock; probably #605. -w

Re: 1921 school shop photo

Marv....... Northern California Lake Co.

>Notice the kid on the left using a rip saw. The saw has a cover top handle, probably a Disston D8. Disston was the first to make a handle with the cover top. Only a few years after this picture was produced, 1928, Disston and all other major saw makers began changing their manufacturing to reduce cost due to the handsaw beginning to lose favor because of the advent of the electric circular saw.

The mode of dress, indicates that perhaps it's a private school? Poor kids like I was at that age couldn't afford clothes like that. And I doubt if there were very many public schools that could afford to offer a woodshop set up as that one was during that era.

When I was in highschool in 1955, we had a fully equiped woodshop, all machines. Little emphesis on hand tools.

Love those old pictures.

Marv

Re: 1921 school shop photo

Ron Bauman

>Setting is just like my junior high in early 50's. Gone were the ties and knickers although I had a pair in grade school. My school was built in the 20's and maybe painted once before I attended.

Manual Training

David Miller from Iowa

>My grandfather would have been exactly the right age to be in this picture. He used to hate it when I said "shop" class - he would always correct me and say it was "manual training". He said the boys his age had a 2 - 4 years of manual training in the woodshop, and 1 - 2 years in the blacksmith/tinsmith shop. When I was in school in the 1960s, we had a 1/2 year of tinsmithing/sheet metal and 1/2 year in small engines. The other 3 years we could choose woodshop or auto shop - I chose wood.

As an aside, it seems as though most high school woodshops are going defunct. Already this year I have bought several vintage power tools from school shops that are closing down. Bought a great Walker Turner jointer last night for $50 - they got rid of it because it was a safety hazard, they said, and nobody used it.

Too bad about the woodshops.

Re: Manual Training

R.J. Whelan

>David ... when I went to high school it was called "indutrial arts". We were allowed to take two classes per semester, as long as the required courses (history, math, etc) had been satisfied. I took wood, metal, welding, elecric motors and auto shop. I still feel that these were among the most valuable courses I ever took: I ended up getting a degree in mechanical engineering and the shop classes provided the valuable bridge between theory and the "real world".

Congratulations on the jointer. I got my Oliver bandsaw from a high school closing down it's woodshop - it had just been rebuilt and a new motor installed. I felt kind of bad about getting it for under $1000.

RJ

Re: Manual Training

Bob Demers

>Similar story here. We had 'shop' class, which then became Industrial classes' and it typically featured woodshop, welding, auto repair, electrical, and later Radio-TV repair (my favorite along with woodworking of course).

And here too, sadly most woodshops in HS have fallen victims of indifference, budget cuts and ridiculous insurance coverage demands, god forbid someone actually bleed a little...Yeah, i know blood cause rapid rusting on tools if not attend to quickly :-)

The typical woodshop were equipped with Delta Rockwell (made in Ontario, Canada) and General and or Poitras (made in Quebec, Canada)

Lots and lots of these machines have ended up in auctions.

The typical handtools were mostly Stanley, Disston, Shurly-Dietrich-Atkins, Fuller and other brands made in Canada, eh!

Bob

Ahhh Yeaaa Right...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>Look like a stair saw to me. Maybe something more freaky and twisted...

Scott, A child of the 60's.

Stair saw....now that's funny!....LOL

Marv....... Northern California Lake Co.

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