Figure 1.--We note four groups of school smocks on the 1937 Au Bon Marché catalog page. Here is the third grouping, two tabliers and a blouse smock. The first tablier has a child ho coiuld a girl. It is not clear to us what the difference is. Althopugh the blouse seem to have side rather than back buttoning. That seems rather strange in that dresses often had back buttioning bodices.

The third grouping in the 1937 mail order catalog showed school smocks called tabliers and bloses for porimary school children. We have no idea why two are called tabliers abnd one is a blouse. They look very similar to us. The blouse may look slightly more like a dress, but only slightly so. Perhaps our French readers can tell us what the difference beween a tablier and blouse is. We do not see it. Boys and girls wore both styles. Perhaps more girls wore the blouses, but boys also wore blouses and girls also wore tabliers. The models show a girl wearing atablier and boys wearing a tablier and blouse. But with school smocks the gender of the models does not mean that tyhe smock was only for that hender. there ae some clues in the ad copy. Colors made be a clue. We see some were red. hese may have been for firls. Here we are not sure.

IR-71625: Tabliers

There is no gender specified here. The ad copy reads,"TABLIERS satinette noire, col appliqué, lisérés rouges. Le 0m55 ... *.50. Plus 1. par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m80. Manches noires 4.75 et 6.25." This translates to "SCHOOL SMOCK black satin, applied collar, red edging. The 0m55 ... 8.50. Plus 1. by 0m05 up to 0m80. Black sleeves 4.75 and 6.25.."

IR-71617: Tabliers

Here we have a school smock styled specifically for boys. Looking at it we do not see what specific attribute made it suitable for boys. The ad copy reads,"TABLIERS satinette noire pour garçons. 0m55 ... 6.90. Plus 1. par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m90. Belle qualité le 0m55 ... 11.50. Plus 1.50 par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m90. Qualité forte le 0m55 ... 15.50. Plus 1.50 par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m90." That translates as, "Black satin aprons for boys. 0m55...6.90. Plus 1. by 0m05 up to 0m90. Good quality 0m55...11.50. Plus 1.50 per 0m05 up to 0m90. Strong quality 0m55...15.50. Plus 1.50 per 0m05 up to 0m90."

IR-71622: Blouses

The ad copy reads,"BLOUSESS satinette noire liséres rouges, plis creux. 0m55 ... 6.90. Plus 1. par0m05 jusqu'à 0m90. Méme genre, belle qualité, lisérés noirs. 0m55 ... 1450. Plus 1.50 par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m90." That translates as, "Blouse-styled school smock black satin with red edging, box pleats. 0m55...6.90. Plus 1. par0m05 up to 0m90. Same type, good quality, black edging. 0m55 ... 1450. Plus 1.50 per 0m05 up to 0m90."

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Created: 3:26 AM 5/12/2024
Last updated: 3:26 AM 5/12/2024