back to school
One hundred years ago today … New Yorkers were getting ready to go back to school, and stores around town were trying to lure parents in to buy clothes and school supplies.
New York Tribune, 5 September 1920, p. 18. Newspapers.com.
The Evening World, 3 September 1920, p. 10. Newspapers.com.
For some, candy seemed to be considered a back-to-school necessity:
The Evening World 10 September 1920, p. 3. Newspapers.com.
Oh, and for parents who were too busy to shop: well, there was no InstaCart yet, but if you could afford it …
New York Tribune, 5 September 1920, p. 11. Newspapers.com.
Thanks to a 1920 initiative by the NYC Board of Education, many 1920 photos of NYC public schools exist, archived and digitized by the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
Some of these buildings still stand, and house the same institution. For example: P.S. 166 on the Upper West Side.
P.S. 166. 132 West 89 Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. 1920. Board of Education, NYC. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy. New York Public Library.
Most of the Board of Education images are from Manhattan schools. Here is a rare shot of a Brooklyn school, the David A. Boody Junior High School at 228 Avenue S–then P.S. 228, now I.S. 228, and still serving Gravesend.
Board of Education, NYC. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy. New York Public Library.
WRITTEN BY JONATHAN GOLDMAN, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020.
TAGS: school, education, shopping, consumption, clothes, stores, stationery, school supplies, architecture, Board of Education