Gibson & Co. catalog page of reward cards for teachers

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Few things capture the Victorian classroom quite like a catalog page of reward cards, and this one, from the firm of Gibson & Co., is a small window into how teachers once encouraged good behavior and steady work. Printed cards like these, often decorated with flowers, birds, or scenes of children, were handed out as tokens of merit and could be traded for larger prizes or simply treasured. Trade catalogs such as this one show the wide range of designs available to schoolteachers, who bought them in bulk for their pupils. The page is worth a close look for its tiny, varied illustrations and for what it reveals about the sentimental culture of nineteenth-century schooling.

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