Canadian School Uniforms: Québec


Figure 1.--This photograph was taken at a small rural school in 1951-52. The girls wear white dreses and stockings with hair bows. Boys wear short pants with knesocks which were relaatively new among French speaking schoolboys who until the 1950s commonly wore long stockings like the girls. One boy has kneesocks with colored bands at the top, like school socks in England. Source: Martin.

There are some special aspects to schools in Québec. The Province has both English-language and French-language schools. Both are under province jurisdiction. Québec as a state is oficially unilingual French. Advertizing in in French only. Other provinces of Canada are unilingual in English. [HBC is not sure that the other provinces have laws prohibiting French advertising.] New Brunswick is the only province that is bilingual. There are in Québec separate schools for French and English speakers, but religion is not a factor. In hospitals you can be cured in both languages. Those who are English-speaking from at least one parent go to English schools. But any immigrants go automatically to French schools. But after secondary school, an immigrant can attend an English-language CEGEP and also an English-language university like McGill, Concordia, or Bishop. They are also open to French speakers who want to study in English. Also any English speaker can attend a French-language university where all the work is done in French. We have only limited information on school clothing at this time. HBC has no indication that French boys in Québec wore smocks to school as was common in France. Smocks may have, however, been worn at orphanage run by French nuns in the early 20th century. The limited number of images that we have suggest that the children into the 1950s dressed rather formally for school. Boys in the 1920s were wearing knicker suits with long stockings. Boys in the 1950s were wearing short pants suits and kneesocks.

Language System in Québec

There are some special aspects to schools in Québec. The Province has both English-language and French-language schools. Both are under province jurisdiction. Québec as a state is oficially unilingual French. Advertizing in in French only. Other provinces of Canada are unilingual in English. [HBC is not sure that the other provinces have laws prohibiting French advertising.] New Brunswick is the only province that is bilingual. There are in Québec separate schools for French and English speakers, but religion is not a factor. In hospitals you can be cured in both languages. Those who are English-speaking from at least one parent go to English schools. But any immigrants go automatically to French schools. But after secondary school, an immigrant can attend an English-language CEGEP and also an English-language university like McGill, Concordia, or Bishop. They are also open to French speakers who want to study in English. Also any English speaker can attend a French-language university where all the work is done in French.

School Clothing

We have only limited information on school clothing at this time. The limited number of images that we have suggest that the children into the 1950s dressed rather formally for school. HBC has no indication that French boys in Québec wore smocks to school as was common in France. Smocks may have, however, been worn at orphanage run by French nuns in the early 20th century. The limited number of images that we have suggest that the children into the 1950s dressed rather formally for school. Boys in the 1920s were wearing knicker suits with long stockings. Boys in the 1950s were wearing short pants suits and kneesocks.

The 1920s

Boys in the 1920s were wearing knicker suits with long stockings. We have an image of a school group in 1928 of boys who are doing their Solemn Communion at the end of primary school. The boys of course dresed up especially for the occassion. We are less sure what they wore on a regular school day.

The 1950s

We have some Québec image from the 1950s. The school is a small "école de rang" (rural school) on the Ile d'Orléans. During the winter it is very cold. Snow banks are higher than the children. The pupils walked sometimes half an hour to go to school in any kind of weather. Girls did not yet wear pants. During the winter they wore wool stockings, sometimes with wool tights over them. Boys were luckier with their breeches with long kockey stockings over them. One photograph show the final exam at the end of school year around June 21th. We can see a well-dressed girl reading some quotes in Eglish comprehensive. The parish priest, as the chairman, is showing to the girl where English is taught everywhere in the world. Commissionaries and inspector are sat around. In another photograph a class of boys and girls can be seen (figure 1). You recognize the same girl, surely the brightest, with her nicer dress with white long stockings. The girls wear white dreses and stockings with hair bows. Boys wear short pants with knesocks which were relaatively new among French speaking schoolboys who until the 1950s commonly wore long stockings like the girls. One boy has kneesocks with colored bands at the top, like school socks in England. School learning was really appreciated at that time even if very conservative and centered on memorization. A Canadian reader writes, "This picture expresses something of a sort of happiness in rural communities. On looking at it, many Canadians undoubtedly will feels nostalgic about this wonderful image of our past."

Sources

Martin, Paul Louis. Entre campagne et ville, 1940-1950 (Québec: Publications du Québec, 1996). This book has some lovely photographic images of French Canada during the 1940s and early 50s.







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Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s]






Created: July 30, 2003
Last updated: July 30, 2003