Quance Canadian spellers

[rhr]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/rhrpen/QuanceSpeller.jpg

 

Does anyone else remember these gradeschool spellers? They were the common spelling textbooks used all across Canada in the 1950s, 60s, and possibly the 70s.

 

The spellers were written by Frank M. Quance, dean of the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan, here in Saskatoon where I live. Here's an article about Quance from the U of S Archives.

 

http://scaa.usask.ca/fpngallery/uofs_events/articles/1947.php

 

And here's a review of a book on Literacy in Western Canada in the period 1946 to 1960, which encompasses the history of such textbooks as the "Dick and Jane" readers and Quance's Canadian Spellers.

 

http://www.historyliteracy.org/scripts/sea...p?Article_ID=14

 

The covers of the textbooks for Grades 1 to 4 featured a large-diameter wooden pencil, and the ones for Grades 5 to 8 featured the above penholder and inkwell. The cover for each year had a different color scheme comprised of lively primary colors, and the lessons were profusely illustrated with black-ink drawings. Each volume had a section at the back with a miniature, illustrated dictionary of all the words introduced in all the lessons. They had a definite look that's very redolent of the 50s style. I can almost taste and smell the memories.

 

I have a penholder and nib that is the spitting image of the one in the later covers, but I am still looking for an inkwell that looks exactly like the one in those covers.

 

George.

Edited July 14, 2007 by rhr

[Keith with a capital K]

I believe I have some of these in my book collection... I am always happy to come across things like these on my little pen safaris but have never seen an inkwell like this.

 

Perhaps it is a stylized drawing of an inkwell that never existed?

 

And I thought you were just drawn to red hard rubber pens...

 

Cheers!

[rhr]

And I thought you were just drawn to red hard rubber pens...

Did you notice the color of the cover of the grade 6 volume? It's almost rhr.

 

BTW, I also collect cobalt-blue-glass ink bottles.

 

George.