Illustrated price list of day school reward cards

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Printed reward cards like these were once a common feature of American day schools, handed to pupils for good attendance, neat handwriting, or memorized verses. This illustrated price list shows how the cards were sold to teachers and school boards, with each design listed beside its cost, so it doubles as a record of what a school could buy for its classrooms. Such catalogs reveal as much about the schoolroom economy as about the children who earned the cards, since the prices and pictures show which motifs and sentiments were thought most appealing. Look closely at the illustrations for the sentimental tone that marked much nineteenth-century juvenile printing.

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