# Apples and teachers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apples-and-teachers/367092 "2006-08-02T22:50:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaryH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@MaryH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryH)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apples-and-teachers/367092/1 "2006-08-02T22:50:19Z")
Why are apples associated with teachers? does it have something to do with the way they were once paid? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apples-and-teachers/367092/2 "2006-08-02T23:41:37Z")
I’m sure it can’t be anything to do with them being paid apples; I’ve never heard of such a thing and who would do the job for wages like that? Giving an apple to the teacher is a stereotypical way for a pupil to show kindness or appreciation toward them; I don’t know if the practice was ever really commonplace outside of comics, but an apple as a gift from a child to an adult sort of makes sense; it’s something most children would be able to obtain, perhaps selecting it especially from a tree in the garden, or perhaps just sacrificing an item of lunch from the brown bag. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apples-and-teachers/367092/3 "2006-08-03T05:29:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m sure it can’t be anything to do with them being paid apples; I’ve never heard of such a thing and who would do the job for wages like that? Sure – might not be bad, pay overall. But it wasn’t **only** apples. From the University of Wisconsin Consortium for Policy Research in Education: ([http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/CPRE/tcomp/general/teacherpay.php](http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/CPRE/tcomp/general/teacherpay.php)) > [@](#): > > History of Teacher Pay > > There have been three major shifts in the way teachers are paid in the U.S… Each shift was accompanied by changes in the needs of schools and the society. . . . > > Phase I: “Boarding Round” > In the latter half of the 1800s, local communities designed schools to provide basic academic skills and moral education for children. Teacher compensation consisted primarily of room and board provided by the local community. The “Boarding Round” pay system was a strong incentive for teachers to maintain positive relations with community members and to maintain a high moral character. It also reflected the barter economy of the time. So back when teachers were paid ‘room and board’, they could easily have received apples as part of their payment. Most farmers would have had apple trees, and the fruit tends to ripen all at once so there is often a surplus of it at that time. And if several farmers provided apples as their contribution to the teachers board, the over abundance of apples could have led to it becoming a cliche. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apples-and-teachers/367092/4 "2006-08-03T13:45:26Z")
I always figured it was a holdover from the payment-in-kind teachers would have received in 18th and 19th C. rural America. BTW, there’s a national teachers award now (I forget its name), and the trophy is a cystal apple. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apples-and-teachers/367092/5 "2006-08-03T13:50:22Z")
Yes, teacher, I do know how to spell “crystal.” :smack: