Bubie's 1960s School Bag
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Background
Pictured here is a boys' blue leather school bag from Dublin, Ireland in the late 1960s. This school bag was purchased for Colin Roberts’— “Bubie's”— first day of kindergarten. Attached to the buckle of the bag is a small name tag stitched with the original owner’s name in matching blue writing. This bag has two shoulder straps with a small chest strap to hold the bag secure when it's owner was marching to class. Large enough to fit a letter-sized piece of paper or standard notebook horizontally, this pack was schoolwork ready.
Pictured here is a boys' blue leather school bag from Dublin, Ireland in the late 1960s. This school bag was purchased for Colin Roberts’— “Bubie's”— first day of kindergarten. Attached to the buckle of the bag is a small name tag stitched with the original owner’s name in matching blue writing. This bag has two shoulder straps with a small chest strap to hold the bag secure when it's owner was marching to class. Large enough to fit a letter-sized piece of paper or standard notebook horizontally, this pack was schoolwork ready.
This blue school bag is a bridge between the book straps known to students in the 1930s— sometimes just a belt wrapped around a stack of books as depicted in the drawing above— and briefcase style satchels in the 1970s, pictured in the drawing below. Bubies’ school bag blends the straps from the 30s book strap and the briefcase front buckles often found on the 70s hand-held satchels and adds a bright blue, kindergarten-ready hue.
Novelty bags prevailed in the 1980s with images from popular cartoons and comics. You can see young Prince William in 1986 carrying his Thomas the Tank Engine school bag in this HuffPost Article.
Since the first nylon backpack in 1967, the popularity of nylon backpacks skyrocketed, especially with the creation of Jansport in 1969. From the 90s onward, students seemed to prefer nylon backpacks in all colors, patterns and unique designs with enough pockets and pouches to fit all their school supplies. See the first image in the Time article: A Brief History of the Modern Backpack for reference.
In MOTAL exhibition Two Roads, One Journey: Education in China and the United States, the contents from each of our students’ backpacks were displayed. The contents of their backpacks were quite different, despite Ping and Sam both being fourth graders.
Since the first nylon backpack in 1967, the popularity of nylon backpacks skyrocketed, especially with the creation of Jansport in 1969. From the 90s onward, students seemed to prefer nylon backpacks in all colors, patterns and unique designs with enough pockets and pouches to fit all their school supplies. See the first image in the Time article: A Brief History of the Modern Backpack for reference.
In MOTAL exhibition Two Roads, One Journey: Education in China and the United States, the contents from each of our students’ backpacks were displayed. The contents of their backpacks were quite different, despite Ping and Sam both being fourth graders.
Donor
Bubie's school bag was generously donated to MOTAL by Josephine Roberts in March of 2013.
Bubie's school bag was generously donated to MOTAL by Josephine Roberts in March of 2013.
Learn More!
Read about our 1940 University of California Yearbook here.
Learn more about MOTAL exhibition Two Roads, One Journey: Education in China and the United States
Watch A Short Youtube clip about the exhibition here.
Learn more about the changing styles of the school bag in this HuffPost article:
The Evolution of the Backpack: School Bags Have Changed, Adorable Children Have Not.
Sources:
https://time.com/4477959/a-brief-history-of-the-modern-backpack/
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/02/445339503/from-book-strap-to-burrito-a-history-of-the-school-backpack
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/backpack-school-bags_n_3860144
Researched by
Katie Rutz-Robbins
MOTAL Intern
July 2021
Read about our 1940 University of California Yearbook here.
Learn more about MOTAL exhibition Two Roads, One Journey: Education in China and the United States
Watch A Short Youtube clip about the exhibition here.
Learn more about the changing styles of the school bag in this HuffPost article:
The Evolution of the Backpack: School Bags Have Changed, Adorable Children Have Not.
Sources:
https://time.com/4477959/a-brief-history-of-the-modern-backpack/
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/02/445339503/from-book-strap-to-burrito-a-history-of-the-school-backpack
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/backpack-school-bags_n_3860144
Researched by
Katie Rutz-Robbins
MOTAL Intern
July 2021