Figure 1.--Every Swiss child in primary school during the 1930s had these Schultornister (schoolbags). Here is a selection of different types offered by Jelmoli in 1938. The portfolios to the right were used by older secondary-level children.
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Figure 1.--Every Swiss child in primary school during the 1930s had these Schultornister (schoolbags). Here is a selection of different types offered by Jelmoli in 1938. The portfolios to the right were used by older secondary-level children. |
Every Swiss child in primary school during the 1930s had this kind of school bag. Here is a selection of different types of school bags offered by Jelmoli in 1938. The back-packs were used by kids in primary schools. The others by students in secondary and advanced schools.
We note a catalog form the Grand magasins Jelmoli. Grand magasins Jelmoli has for many years been the flagship department store chain of Switzerland. Johann Peter Jelmoli-Ciolina founded founded the store in 1838 by . Ciolina must have been the maiden name of his wife. He was from the Swiss-italian section of Switerland. The company has always been headquartered in Zurich where the flag-ship department store was opened. It opened branches throughout Switrzerland, but a few years back it sold or closed all its branches and only kept the large store in Zurich. I would say it was always an "up-scale" department store. The catalog-department was a very small part of their operations and the catalogs carried a very small amount of merchandise, compared to what was available in their stores. The catalog-department was added in 1899.
Here is a selection of different types of school bags offered by Jelmoli in 1938. The back-packs were used by kids in primary schools. The others by students in secondary and advanced schools. These bags appeared on page 200 of the 1938 catalog. The page heading read, "Schultornister vom billigen bis zum besten fuer unsere Schueler." That means, "Schoolbags from the cheapest to the most expensives for
every schoolchild."
The ad copy read, "Schultornister mit grauem Stoffbezugm Ledereinfassung und guten Lederriemen. Gr. 36cm No 237,85 Fr. 3.95 Ditto mit Kunstledereinfassung Groesse 36 cm No 237,86 Fr. 3..50."
The ad copy read, "Schultornister mit imitation Seehundfell, schwarzer Ledertuchruecken und stofffutter, Lanege 36 cm. No 237,87 Fr. 5.75."
The ad copy read, "Tornister mit echtem Seehundfell und Schweinslederruecken, Laenge 36cm No. 237,90
Fr.13.80."
The ad copy read, "Schultornister mit imitiertem Seehundfell, innen mit Hefttasche, beste braune Lederintimation Groesse 36cm No 237,88 Fr. 6..50."
This school bag was for girls. Notice how the straps are done differently and how the children wear their bags on the page here (figure 1). The ad copy read, "Maedchen-Schultasche, grauer Stoffebezug mit Ledereinfassung und starken Riemen.
Gr. 36cm No 237,91 Fr. 3.95, Ditto mit Kunstledereinfassung Gr. 36cm No. 237,92 Fr. 2..90."
The ad copy read, "Schultasche aus dunkelbrauner bester Lederimitation mit feiner Narbung und starken Lederriemen. N 237,97 Fr. 6..90."
This is another girl's bag. The ad copy read, "Maedchen Schultasche, braune Lederimitation, mit Ledereinfassung, Grosse 36cm No. 237,96 Fr. 5.90."
The ad copy read, "Scjultasche aus Vollrindleder, dunkelbraun, ohne Futter, mit neuen Narben, schwere Qualitaet. Groesse 36cm No. 237,98 Fr. 12.50."
The ad copy read, "Maedchen Schultasche, schwarze Lederimitation, Ledereinfassung und Stoff-Futter Groesse 36 cm No. 297,93 Fr. 5.25."
The ad copy read, "Schultornister mit echtem Lederruecken, imitiert Seehundfell, Groesse 36cm, No 237,94 Fr. 7.50."
The ad copy read, "Schultasche aus dunkelbraunem Leder, werschiedene Narben, ohne Futter, Laenge 36cm No. 237,95."
The ad copy read, "Schulmappe aus starkem dunkelbraunem Rindleder, grobnarbig, mit Schloss und Griff, Laenge 39cm No 237,99 Fr. 9.50."
The ad copy read, "Scjulmappe aus starkem dunkebraunem Rindleder, gekoernte Narben, mit gutem Griff und Schloss, Laenge 39cm No 237,132 Fr. 12.80."
The ad copy read, "Schulmappe aus dunkelbraunem, kraeftigem Viollrindleder, krokonarbig, mit Wappenschloss und Griff. Laenge 39cm No.237,101 Fr. 14.50."
The ad copy read, "Schulmappe aus weichem, solidem Leder, scharz oder braun, Grosse 36cm No 237,102, Fr. 8.50. Groesse 39cm No 237,103 Fr. 9.25."
Notice that some of the book bags here are reffered to as for girls. It was not immediately apparent what the difference between the girls' bags were. Our Swiss reader tells us, "It is the way the straps are attached to the bags. Girls bags can be hung over the arm, where as boys bags are carried like back-packs. Also, they are somewaht made of lighter material and not as bulky." The girl bgs also seem shaped a little differently, somewhat less box like. And sure enough look at the two models at the bottom of the page here (figure 1). The boy wears his bag over his shoulders on his back and the girl carries her bag on her arms, rather like a purse. This is interesting, because in Germany we note many images of school girls wearing their book bags over their shoulders like the boys. A good example is a German girl in 1922. A German reader tells us, "Well, maybe they show a different way of holding the bag by the girl in the picture, but in Germany we girls wore our book satchels, just like the boys on out backs. I have many old photographs showing that and that is how German girls wore their book bag. I wonder if some Swiss girls didn't wear their school bags like the boys did? I was a little surprised to see this difference because in Germany boys and girls both wore their book bags the same. There id so much similarity between Germany and Swiss Germans that I was surprised to see this difference."
A Swiss reader writes, "I liked the ones that were very boy-like. The ones with the seal fur was my favorites. Unfortunately I got the well-used one that my older brothers used. I guess being the youngest child, you take what is left over. Much of my childhod was dreaming, but reality was 'take what you get'. The difference between the boys and the girls bags were that the girls bags
could be carried on the back or over the arm, where as the boys bags could only be carried on the back. The girls bags were also a bit refined and not so rugged as the boys bags. Many girls carried their bpacks on the back, especially if they went to school by bike or had a long walk to school.
There was difintly a difference between boys an girls bags. I do not recall thet there was a regional differnence when it come to school bags. I recall a considerable differnce, when it cam to smocks. The were much more worn in the French and Italian part of Switzerland."
Our Swiss reader tells us, "Our school-system was in some ways similar to the German system but the
curriculum was very differnt. As a Swiss Child did not learn written German at home, the standard or official German language, until he went to school. The child had to learn that first. In the German speaking part of Switzerland there are many different "German" dialects. Some are so different that they can not be easily understood by Germn speakers and Swiss speking other German dialects. These dialects is
what the kids learn at home and speak in the community. Once they start school, they have to learn the german German as this is the written "official" language. So, in essence many German-speaking children had to learn a new language when they started school. This was particularly the case in the small isolated country villages. Standad German was more common in the mig cities like Zurich and Bern.
Also with the multiple languages, kids started very early with a second language. Also, when I grew up, there was a rather a strong dislike of Germany and therefore anything from Germnay was not very much appreciated and that was made very clear in the schools. We were very proud of our national heritage and our independence."
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