More Cardboard Modelling

 

 The care taken in finishing things off is astounding. Thick edges are covered with decorative paper so that the card layers won't split apart. Corners are strengthened with extra pieces of card. And as for hinges, have a look at the instructions below:

There are simple projects too; this is more or less what I was thinking of when I made my book cover.

And look! Beveling the ends of thick card before rolling it into a cylinder.

Skimming through the book, these are some bits that caught my eye:

"The question of handwork in schools has developed rapidly in importance in recent years. From being regarded as an experiment or as a means of amusement, it is now universally recognized as an essential element of general education. Handwork has been proved to be a valuable training both of mind and character, and it counteracts the one-sidedness of mere book learning."

"The construction of cardboard models affords the pupil a training in manual dexterity, and is therefore a means of approach to the brain through 'doing'. The delicate movements which the making of certain models involves, develop muscular sense to an appreciable degree, and at the same time inculcate that very necessary element of character, patience."

 
"The pupil sees immediately before him the results of a faulty measurement and soon realises the necessity for absolute exactness in his undertakings."

"Until the pupils have had a certain amount of practice in drawing and using plans which have been supplied by the teacher, they will be unable to make their own. To leave the pupils entirely to their own resources too early with respect to drawings leads to disappointment."

"Where even the strictest economy in material is practised, the enterprising teacher can with little difficulty find supplies in the form of empty packing cases which tradesmen often throw away....However, new material is always more conducive to careful working."


"The teacher should always lead his pupils to arrange the drawings so that the least possible amount of card is used. This economy in the use of material is an invaluable training both to boys and girls."

"Unless some precaution is taken the school furniture will be needlessly disfigured in a short time. Cutting boards preclude the possibility of this occurring."
 
"Both pasting and gluing provide a loophole for pupils to dirty and stick up, not only themselves, but also the school furniture and the work upon which they are engaged. It is therefore highly important that the teacher should instil into his pupils the necessity for cleanliness in cardboard modelling. A splendid practice is to keep the desk and table tops covered with paper."

Oddly, the tone is sympathetic and severe, strict and funny, but there's not a whiff of modern textbooks' desperate sense of "fun" and "creativity". Simply an urgency to teach.