Hidden Corners of History- The Evolution of Back-to-School Supplies

The Evolution of Back-to-School Supplies

By: Jarrod E. Stephens

The Ashland Beacon

There’s only one recurring event in all my life that brought about the same ferocious emotions that came around each Christmas morning. Emotions of excitement coupled with nerves and sometimes even a gag reflex showed up each year on the first days of school. The excitement was born because of my new school shoes and school supplies. The nerves and gag reflex came about because I hated change. 

As a seasoned educator, it has intrigued me how that the necessary or asked for school supplies have changed. The lists once were simple but over time they have become quite complex, so it seems. 

When I was a child, I loved shopping for school supplies. New crayon boxes filled with Crayola crayons. Oh, I can still smell them. On a side note, I typically got the 24 pack and always envied the kids who showed up the first day with the 64 pack that included the sharpener in the back. I later learned the sharpener was overrated and never returned your crayon to its original glory. It just made them harder to remove from the package as it became shorter than the other crayons. At the end of the school year the white crayon was typically the only one that still looked brand new because white won’t show up on white coloring pages. Poor white crayon. 

The new scissors, notebooks, protractors that were used once per year, and then eventually the almighty Trapper Keeper became the annual essentials. Picking out school shoes was also a highlight. For my first four years of school, I had what were called Roos, better known as Kangaroo shoes. The shoes had small zipper pockets where I could put my quarters for lunch. 

I’m certain that many of you can recall the first time you could pick out your new lunch box for the upcoming school year. A lunch box that had a character or characters that reflected your individual taste (no pun intended) defined who you were. Here’s a glimpse of who I was, based on my lunchboxes. I had Pac-Man, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Rambo just to name a few. I loved opening the metal lunch box each day and releasing that strange mixed aroma of sandwich, chips and Kool-Aid. It broke my heart the day a large scratch showed up across Daisy Duke. Those were the days.

Like everything else in education, the classroom supply lists have changed dramatically throughout my education. Crayons were replaced by colored pencils. Traditional wooden pencils were replaced by refillable lead pencils and even ink pens. I was troubled whenever I began middle school and was told that I could no longer bring a Trapper Keeper because they wouldn’t fit in the desks. Change was in the air. 

Fast forward to today and simplicity is thrown out the window. Pencils, paper and crayons are still essential. However, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer and electronic devices now round out the lists. 

If you go to your local stores, you can sometimes see the supply lists for the schools. Some requests are made for multiple packages Clorox wipes, baby wipes, paper towels, hand sanitizer and tissues. Makes me wonder if kids have become dirtier over time since I don’t recall bringing any of that to school with me. 

With computer use in the classroom increasing each year, the need for ear buds or headphones was born so that entire classrooms of students can view videos or presentations at their own pace without disturbing each other. Oh, how I would love to have been allowed to stick something in my ear during certain classes whenever I was in school. 

Despite all the changes, the most important part of school, the education itself, should be our central focus. The list of classroom essentials may have evolved, but our desire to see the current generation succeed has not. Our teachers and administrators need our prayers and support as they do the best they can to make sure our students are safe and educated at the same time. I’m just hopeful that there are at least a few kids out there who are still feeling that nervous excitement as they get to choose their new school shoes and smell that new box of Crayola Crayons for the first time.