Re the backpack article... The author completely missed the canvas backpacks that bike stores used to sell. We all had them in K thru 8. They were around from at least the 60's. It was just a simple square pouch of unbleached canvass with two canvass straps sewn on. No zipper. The bike store always had its logo silk screened on. Maybe it was just a SoCal thing. I cannot find a picture online, but I always thought those were the origin of the school back pack.

Maybe it was just a SoCal thing.

Must have been. I went to college in Chicago. we had book bags. They were just bags with a ribbon like drawstring closure at the top. The fabric was rubberized. In Chicago, it rains and snows. I didn't see back packs with frames until the 70s.

Great googly moogly's. Is that Geena Davis?

When I went to school (1937-1955) MEN carried their books in a clasped hand hanging at the side in a normal walking position. Eveything else they needed was carried in their pockets with no bulges. GIRLS carried their books cradled in a bent arm, or in a sling or some kind of big purse, and carried whatever other stuff girls need in assorted bags, purses, whatever slung over a shoulder. Never saw a backpack except on mountain climbers who stayed out for days at a time.

re Democracy vs God --

1. Democracy doesn't stand for equality, it stands for justice for all its citizenry.
2. In our 50 States, we can experiment with different approaches to education, seeking justice in opportunity to be educated. Let the marketplace of ideas, their implementation, and consequences be the responsibility of the demos in each locale.
3. What's justice in any context? Find the appropriate school, teachers, and experiences -- and discover.

@BillH, I went to school from 59-72 (K-12) and it was the same way as you described.

Every class had a sissy or 2 that had a bookbag sort of thing - leather or vinyl, plastic handle, over the top strap latch. And they were routinely tortured - the sissies that is - after all that's what there for.

For homework purposes we carried 2 maybe 3 books and a couple spiral notebooks and a bic pen or 2 in our back pocket right next to that short comb. We kept it light and simple.

Why in the world would anyone want to carry the additional weight and hassle of a backpack for such a small amount of stuff? Extreme overkill.

Oh yeah, in HS a lunch was 42 cents.

there = they're

@Howard Nelson, what are you drinkin?
Gimme a lil taste. LOL

ghost - Your details pretty much fit the '37-'55 era, except in HS lunch was in a brown bag brought from home. The HS on the north (rich) side of town had a cafeteria, but all we had was a repurposed auditorium. I streetcarred it to the local college for undergrad, and brownbagged it there too. My parents did provide me room and board, or I couldn't have made it.