Blackboard stencils circa 1940

Folded paper blackboard stencils with dotted holes outlining pictures of children playing

Folded blackboard stencil of the frieze 'Spring Fields', packet with instructions and stencil of a girl and boy playing ball, circa 1940.

About the object

These paper stencils were used to create illustrations on a blackboard. The open stencil is a picture of a girl and boy playing ball.

Blackboard stencils ranged from small single pictures such as birds to long friezes of scenes and nursery rhymes to large maps of Australia and other places.

How it works

Instructions for using the stencils were listed on the outside fold:

PIN IT UP! - On the blackboard, or on cardboard for permanent use.
DUST IT OVER!- Use an ordinary blackboard duster, well filled with chalk.
LINE IT IN! - Remove the stencil for future use and fill in the dotted outline.

Significance

Paper blackboard stencils are rare.

Our collection contains a range of stencils, still in original envelopes.

They are an example of a teaching resource and technology of the past.

Object details

Date –circa 1940

Creator – World Model Co. Melbourne

Place – Australia

Materials – thin brown paper, brown paper envelope

Dimensions – various

Look closer

Blackboard stencilsYouTube | NSW Schoolhouse Museum of Public Education (2:17min) | Video transcript | Alternate video link

Paper with pin-prick type holes outlining a picture of a lamb, trees, flowers and butterfly

Detail of part of a blackboard stencil of a frieze of Spring Fields. The white dots are holes in the paper stencil.

Dotted outlines of a lamb, trees, flowers and butterfly on a blackboard

The dotted outline of the 'Spring Fields', frieze on the blackboard made with chalk dust from a blackboard duster.

Line drawing of a scene with a lamb, trees, flowers and butterflies on a blackboard

The 'Spring Fields' frieze on a blackboard traced over with coloured chalk.View a larger image of the Spring Fields blackboard frieze.

Think and wonder

See

What do you notice first?
What clothes are the girl and boy wearing in the stencil of them playing ball.
Can you see the old sticky tape on the playing ball picture?
What three animals are in the Spring Fields frieze?

Think

For what grades do you think the Spring Fields frieze was used?
How would blackboard stencils help teachers in their work?
What is used today to transfer or project an image to a wall?

Wonder

What do you wonder about these blackboard stencils?
What else would you like to know about them?

Do

Create a Spring Fields picture:

Print or screenshot the dotted Spring Fields blackboard stencil.
Trace over the outlines.
Colour in the pictures.

Imagine you are a teacher and write five points to teach infants students about spring.

>Go to Spring Fields picture to colour

Explore and connect

Open box of coloured chalk showing a range of chalk sticks standing on their ends. A wood and felt blackboard duster is beside the box.

Box of coloured chalk and two blackboard dusters. The grey felt side of the duster erased chalk from a blackboard.

Coloured chalk and blackboard dusters, circa 1970

This box of coloured chalks shows the wide range of colours that could be used for writing and drawing on blackboards.

The felt-covered dusters were used to rub out or erase work on the blackboard. Although it generated a lot of dust, rubbing out the blackboard was a sought after job by students in the class.

The dusters were also used to tap dust into the holes on paper blackboard stencils. Coloured chalks were then used to trace over and colour in the dotted outlines.

Have you used chalk on a blackboard?
Where are chalk and blackboards used today?

Large rectangular blackboard on a wall, framed in timber with a timber ledge at the bottom.

Blackboard painted on the wall of the 1910 classroom at the NSW Schoolhouse Museum of Public Education

Blackboard, 1910

This large blackboard was painted in black straight onto the front wall of North Ryde public School's 1910 classroom. It was then framed with timber. A ledge is at the bottom for chalk and dusters.

Blackboards were used for all classes for explicit teaching. Lessons were written or drawn by hand on the blackboard surface using chalk.

What technologies are used for teaching groups of students today?

>Go to the Blackboard 1910 page

Large flat wooden template in the shape of Australia, with a handle in the centre.

Large wooden stencil of Australia, NSW Department of Education, circa1970. It was traced around with chalk to draw a map on the blackboard.

Wooden blackboard stencil, circa 1970

Large wooden map stencils were used by teachers in the 1960s to 1990s to trace maps onto the blackboard. They used chalk to trace around the outline. Teachers would then mark in the features they were teaching about.

The handle was used to hold and press the stencil onto the board to keep if steady for tracing. The hole was used to hang the stencil for storage.

These plywood wooden stencils were made by the teaching resources section of the NSW Department of Education in the 1960s to 80s. The range included maps of the states and territories of Australia, rulers, protractors and two dimensional shapes used in mathematics.

Try drawing around your hand placed flat on a piece of paper. That is how these wooden templates worked.

>Home – object gallery

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands of people using this site. Is, always was, always will be – Aboriginal land.

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