On 7/13/2023 10:34 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> On 2023-07-13, Dave Smith <
adavid...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>> On 2023-07-12 7:55 p.m., cshenk wrote:
>>
>>> You misunderstood what it was. Home economics taught basics of cooking
>>> (scratch normally), sewing, food budgeting, food preservation,
>>> gardening, home accounting, making simple utensils (normally food but
>>> often had brooms and picture frames), and other lifeskills based on the
>>> times.
>>>
>>> It morfed as times changed to relevant things to the era. Classes by
>>> 1970 were 1/2 to 40% male, and no, not to 'catch a girl'.
>>
>> Morfed? That would have been more of a sudden change. I went to high
>> school in the 60s and there were no males in home ec classes and there
>> were no females in shop classes. None, not a single one.
>
> Yeah, she must have lived in some liberal paradise.
>
> In 1969-1971 when I was in junior high school, Home Ec was required for
> girls and boys were not allowed to take it. The inverse was true of
> shop classes.
>
> Home Ec was pretty useless. We learned to cook stuff like muffins
> and baked eggs. In sewing, we made aprons (cobbler style). No
> budgeting, food preservation, utensil making, or other life skills.
>
Home Ec was required when I was in the 8th grade, 1972. The problem was
the school was still under construction. The Home Ec classroom
contained only a few rows of long folding tables and chairs. There was
no equipment of any kind. No stoves, no ovens, no sewing machines. At
best it was a glorified study hall and everyone was given a passing
grade. Even if it had been fully equipped, I sincerely doubt it would
have included all this "how to shop" and "budgeting" stuff Carol talks
about. I have no idea if the shop class for boys in that grade in the
still under construction school was better equipped. Don't actually care.
I will say this. When we lived in Bangkok (I was age 9-11) the Thai
language teacher set up tables with faux meats and vegetables, clothing
and toys and she taught us how to go to a market and shop and barter for
better prices in Thai. *That* was a lesson. :)
Jill