In middle school, I did both shop and home ec, art was separate. Home ec. started as sewing our apron for the cooking section.
I didn’t claim they weren’t methodical pricks. Just that they launched their powered glider with a weighted catapult, published the results in a beekeeping magazine and sued real inventors into bankruptcy. And of course being responsible for the first passenger fatality due to their faulty control system.
The more I learn about the Bishop’s Boys, the less respect I have for them.
I took shop in Jr. HS. Even for the times (1960’s) the courses were totally out of date, and worthless.
I took:
-drafting/industrial drawing: stupid waste of time
-metalworking (we bent sheet metal and made bookends and fireplace sets)
-woodworking (made bookends and birdhouses)
-printing-we actually HANDSET TYPE! (good training for the early 1800’s!-always wondered what kind of idiot approved such a course)
Plus, the instructors were all nasty old alcoholics-all of whom hated kids.
One in particular (Mr. Rogers) was senile-he used to repeat himself endlessly.
Good points, all.
For myself: Woodshop in Grade 7. A first for me in using power tools and the proper use of hand woodworking tools. We made bowls on the lathe from our own glued-up blanks and I also made an end table with angled legs and chamfered top. I gave it to my Dad and it proved to be sturdy and useful enough that I inherited it ‘back’ when he passed away. That table is over 50 years old now - no creaky joints and still sits level. Whoever designed that project for us knew what would work for 7th graders.
Drafting/“Mechanical Drawing” in Grade 12. Guess it’s a good thing I ended up in an Engineering field. I learned a lot about how things go together (and come apart) and had no problems w/ blueprints and parts breakdowns way before I needed to use them on a job. Same with AutoCAD drafting. After learning how to do archival drawings in ink on linen, Having the computer drawing perfect, correctable lines for me was a real luxury.
Never took Auto Mech. or welding classes - had to teach my self auto mechanics and still don’t know how to weld. Dang it.
You’ve piqued my curiosity about this matter. Can you direct me to any sources on this?
The Wright catapult is seen at 1:15 in this footage.
Their first publication was not in Scientific American but in Gleanings in Bee Culture.
They sued Glenn Hammond Curtiss into bankruptcy.
First Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge was the first passenger fatality.
That should get you started. The Wrights were two of a large number of inventors working on powered flight, and as far as I’m concerned launching with a catapult excludes their flight from consideration.
Is this synthesis of sources original with you or has anyone else put the pieces together in a similar way?
I took both shop and home ec in middle school. In shop we made a wooden pencil holder. In home ec we learned to cook and sew. I think that the lessons in home ec were much more valuable and useful. In shop I learned how to make things out of wood. In real life, most people don’t need that skill. They will purchase the things they need. They won’t have the tools to do woodworking unless their hobby is woodworking. But I use the knowledge I learned in home ec on a regular basis. Being able to cook and sew have been valuable life skills.
I just remembered that industrial arts and home economics were combined and our transcripts actually listed them as “Unified Arts.”
No, all this is well-known. There is as long and heated a battle between the supporters of the Wright Brothers and Glenn Hammond Curtiss as there is between Edison fans and Tesla ones.
Do you know whether there are any published examples from either side?
Seth Shulman’s Unlocking the Sky : Glenn Hammond Curtiss and the Race to Invent the Airplane is an enjoyable read. The Amazon reviews section is filled with Wright partisans. I’m trying to locate the first Curtiss book I read with no luck so far. It was published within the last decade, and started with a really great overview of Curtiss’ flight from Albany to New York City.
My middle school offered shop as an “elective” (as in, you could elect to take that or home ec). But, if you took band or choir, you didn’t have to take shop or home ec. Pretty much everyone was in band because they enjoyed it (well, or because they were pressured into it by their parents). But there were a fair few kids who signed up for choir just to avoid the threat of missing fingers, or having to take one of those key-babies home.
Not that I think that’s a bad thing. It can be difficult to get guys into choir at that age, and some of them found out they were pretty good singers 
Thanks! This is a great start. I’ll keep an eye on this thread in case you come across more.
Or y’all can communicate via PM… ? 
Yeah, it’s a major case of topic drift.
Gee I took all the electives from 7th onward…
Music
Leather working
Wood working
Sewing
Home Economics
Typing
Injection Molding/Casting
Welding
Small engine repair
Manufacturing
Drafting
All Art n Craft Class I got my hands on
So far I’ve been a…
Commercial Artist/Pasteup (pre-desktop publishing)
HVAC Tech
Welder/Metal Fabricator/Ornamental Iron Work
Machinist
ACAD
CNC Machining
Musician
So, I guess it all worked out…except for the pay scales. :mad: