Episode #22: Old School

Circa Sunday Night

WARNING: Dorky content ahead. (Some might argue that all Circa Sunday Night episodes should come with this warning, but perhaps this one is dorkier than most.) Tonight we’re going to take a peek into the exciting world of vintage school materials. Yes, materials that were used in classrooms to shape the youth of yesteryear and prepare them to inherit the world. OK, so this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It IS Jennifer’s cup of tea, though. She was a teacher once, and made a very long career in the field of learning and development and instructional design. Can she help it if she finds textbooks and teacher’s manuals as fascinating as other people find blockbuster movies or true crime podcasts? No, she cannot. So, here we are. She brings us along as she unboxes a 1969 SRA Reading Laboratory Kit that is in near mint condition. While we're in the late 1960s we examine one of the wackiest school films ever made—one that features some trippy magic pancakes. We wrap up our old school tour by learning how to choose television programs from a 1955 textbook in Jennifer’s collection. But wait, there’s more! We learn about birthstones in tonight’s show, pay homage to willow trees in song, and continue our F. Scott Fitzgerald story in the Vintage Century Reading Room. Are you still willing to tune in? Hey, well then you’re Jennifer’s kind of person! Sharpen your pencils and find your seats. We're going back in time...and back to school.
References
McGraw-Hill SRA (Science Research Associates) Website
Winter of the Witch School Film (Magic Pancakes) on Youtube
New York Times Article: "About a Witch: 1969 Film Touches a Generation"
History of BIrthstones
Clifford Brown with Strings
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