Back-to-School Sale: A Brief History

This week in my tiny town's back-to-school sale flyer, I am urged to buy Winchester Ammo at 5.99 a box for... The backpack? An art project? To trade for gum cards? This 'Back to School Sale' flyer goes on to try to convince me that every child needs a new 39.99 vacuum cleaner to drag to class, along with some name-brand frequent heartburn pills to munch on if they get sick after plugging in their new school days coffee maker.

A brief history of the back-to-school sale:

Back-to-school sale ads have evolved over the years from their rough beginning near 1904 when child labor laws started to reform. Prior to 1904, children were used as labor on farms, in factories, and around the house. Schooling was a rich-kid sport, and costs of items related to school were priced accordingly. Education was considered a luxury by both children and adults; clothing was advertised to reflect this honor of being educated.

Sears 1897 catalog back-to-school sale selections included: boy's double-breasted suit with two pair of knee-pants and stylish hat for 2.25. Proper "school" shoes in white with long pointed toes at 1.28. Suspenders for 2.00. Nicely ruffled and pleated boy's shirt for 1.10 and knee sox for .67. One suit of clothing for a school boy cost over 7.30 plus shipping, while average incomes for year 1897 were only at about 415.00 per year.

Back-to-school sale ads evolved between 1904 and 1936 to include school related items available to all social class budgets. In 1904, a National Child Labor committee was formed for the purpose of attempting to convince the reluctant public that children should be in school and not be out working to contribute to sparse family income. Schooling was still an honor, but back-to-school sales were now being influenced in part by economics and the Great Depression. Children without jobs could eat free if they went to school.

Sears 1923 catalog back-to-school sale is mid-way through the government fight to get children out of labor and into a school classroom. A boy's dark blue serge suit with one pair of knee britches and hat "for school wear" is priced at 4.25, with shoes and accessories 8.40. Average income for the year 1923 was 2,126.00 per year; with rent at an average of 18.00 a month, this left proper school clothing in the budget of some lesser-than-rich American homes.

Near 1923, we also saw the birth of some of our common school supplies today at Sears: school bags with straps and leather "good quality" handles 1.23. 6pc pencil paper tablets with colorful picture covers with 40 sheets of paper each for .25. Two boxes of Crayola wax crayons with 16 colors for .37. The 1923 Sears back-to-school sale also offers an item called "new idea" - a square black metal lunchbox with a thermos bottle inside for just 2.43.

In 1936 it finally became Federal Law that all children should be in classrooms and not the factory. By 1937, manufacturers everywhere were basing ads towards back-to-school sales on all kinds of products with a children's theme in the advertising. The theory was that the children would talk in class, and go home to convince their parents to buy these newly themed items. An example of a 1937 children's ad is seen in the Post Toasties Corn Flake ad for radio play from the AGMA approved grocery ad campaign book for that year:

"The better corn flakes. Mickey Mouse toys on every package. Delicious food for the family - toys for the children. Stays crisp longer in milk or cream. Crisp and delicious. In the big red and yellow box. Factory-fresh to you. The double crisp corn flakes. Made from the tender hearts of corn."

The beginning advertising campaigns toward children worked. By the mid-1940 era no child wanted to be seen on campus without their Roy Rogers lunchbox and book bag in tow.

During the 1940's schools moved away from the formal dress codes due to the new understanding that all children could not afford such luxuries. Mother's started stocking up on starch in back-to-school sale ads to iron creases into little boy functional trousers to show traditional respect toward schooling.

As televisions moved into every home in America during the 1950's and 1960's, so did the need to keep up with the newest items being offered in back-to-school sale ads. Dressing children for education was no longer about honoring the luxury of education; it was now a consumer fashion war that has led us into today's shop-frenzied standards on the back-to-school sale ads.

While I still have no clue what the little store here in my town was thinking about when they ran Winchester Ammo at 5.99 in their back-to-school sale ad this year, I do know that I do not enjoy back-to-school sale ads any more. They seem hollow in comparison to the old-time back-to-school sale ad definition of feeling honored to be in class.

Resources:

AGMA Book: 3800 Advertising Aids for Many of America's Leading Brands of Grocery Products; 1937 edition, Dedicated to Grocers of America; Associated Grocery Manufacturers of America.

Federal Child Labor Law History: http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.html

Sears Roebuck 1897 Catalog; reprint 1976 by: Chelsea House Publishers

Sears Roebuck 1923 Catalog: Thrift Book of a Nation; reprint 1973 by: DBI Books, Inc. Northfield, Ill.