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Stencils

Blackboard stencils were used in most rural schools. They required a great deal of work and patience. You held a commercial stencil of thin paper flat against the blackboard and patted the stencil gently with a chalk filled blackboard brush. A design would appear on the blackboard.

Transferring a border to the blackboard required many helpers. Primary grades usually were the group to rub white chalk heavily on the blackboard, erase the chalk with the brush, then repeat the process over until the chalk brush was full of chalk dust. It was a very messy process. Now, the taller students and the teacher took over patting the stencil with the brushes filled with chalk. They traced over the dotted lines with colored chalk and filled in any special areas. Many beautiful designs were created. These stencils were available on just about any subject. They were usually changed every month. Stencils followed the seasons and holidays. Easter time saw bunnies, chicks and lilies. Turkeys, fruits and vegetables were the theme for Thanksgiving. Witches and pumpkins appeared for Halloween, poppies and crosses for November the 11 ( Armistice Day or now Remembrance Day) and Santa Claus with his bag of toys and reindeer decorated the blackboards at Christmas time. Spring brought out the crocuses and daffodils. Children loved to watch the borders change to keep in time with the seasons. Many schools had stencils for the alphabet and numbers from one to ten.

Most schools didn’t have the funds to buy many stencils, but teachers usually purchased some out of their modest salary. During the period between 1914 and 1918 the Western School Supply Company of Regina and Calgary listed 903 stencils. The cost listed was fifteen cents for each stencil or four for fifty cents.

Some teachers were very artistic and drew their own stencils. They then sent the picture home to a mother who removed the thread from her sewing machine and stitched very carefully around the drawing. The result was a new stencil.

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School Classroom
1935
Rural areas around Bentley, Alberta


Credits:
Bentley Museum Society

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Stencils for the Blackboard
1900's
Rural areas around Bentley, Alberta


Credits:
Bentley Museum Society