Figure 1.--The French school smock by the turn-of-the 20th century was becoming an iconic image. French companies in the early 20th century began using the school boy in a smock as an image in their advertising. The image is from the early-20th century. We are not entirely sure when the cookie box was made, surely after World War I, probably after World War II. Notice the fancy beret, cape, and light-colred mock, al of which are not common in the photographic record.

The French school boys in smocks was such a common sight that it was eventually picked up on by advertisers. HBC has noted advertising depicting school boys in smocks by the early-20th century. They may well have occurred earlier, but HBC has no evidence of that yet. Often the products chosen were products that appealed to children, like candy and cookies. The advertisement show here is from a well known cookie company. The shape is very famous. They also have another cookie style, 'Le petit escolar', the little school boy. It is a chocolate butter cookie in the shape of a school boy wearing a beret and smock. The image is from the early-20th century. We are not entirely sure when the cookie box was made, surely after World War I, probably after World War II. Perhaps our French readers can help us date it. We have developed an advertising section to HBC, primarily because children usually wear contemporary clothing in advertising and the advertisements unlike many photographs can often be dated. This cookie advertisement or box cover harkens back in a nostalgic fashion to earlier schoolwear styles.