Let's Go Shopping 1948! Elementary Webquest
Introduction | Task | Process
| Evaluation | Conclusion
Introduction
For over one hundred years, mail-order catalogues have been used to
sell things
to Canadians. Before many people lived in cities and could easily travel
to stores,
most people bought their clothing, toys, kitchen appliances, furniture,
and even
homes from these catalogues. Your grandparents or great-grandparents may
well
be able to tell you about the fun they had dreaming about the things they
would
buy from the Eaton's catalogue, if only they had magic powers and
all the
money in the world!
In this Webquest, you will have the chance to go shopping! You will
learn
about a family that lived long ago, and you and your classmates will
decide what
you will buy from the latest Eaton's catalogue: the Eaton's
Fall
and Winter 1948-49 catalogue. You will have to balance your wishes
with
your needs, and, as a family, decide what you can afford to buy.
When you are finished each day's tasks, or when you have
completed the
entire Webquest, try out other fun things to
do.
Happy shopping!
Task
It is September 1948. You live with your family in or near a small
town in
Canada. Your family just received the Eaton's Fall and Winter
catalogue,
the only major catalogue you will receive before Christmas. Each member of
your
family would like to order a few items from this catalogue. However, you
have
a limited amount of money and must stay within your budget. Your task is
to learn
about your family and your own character, think of what you would want to
order
as a member of that family, discuss as a group what you really need and
can afford,
and then fill out an order form with your family's final choices.
You will
then return to the 21st century, make a collage of the items you ordered,
and
make a presentation about your family and its order to the rest of your
class.
Process
With the help of your teacher, divide into groups of 4 or 5 students.
These
will be your 1948 families.
- As a group, ask your teacher to help you select a family:
Each group should select a different family.
- Read about your family. Fill in Worksheet
#1
as a group.
- On a map of Canada, locate the town where
you
live.
Fill in Worksheet #2 as a group.
Before you complete the final Worksheet question, get together as a
class.
Ensure a large map of Canada is posted or projected onto a screen. As a
group,
make a presentation to your class about your family and where you live,
based
on Worksheets #1 and #2. Place a pin or sticky paper at the location of
your
family's home. Place another pin at the location of the nearest
Eaton's
warehouse. Together as a class, determine how each family's
mail-order
goods would arrive at their homes. Trace the routes taken by each
family's
goods on the map of Canada; use a different coloured marker or string for
each
family.
Hint: Goods were shipped by train from the Eaton's warehouse to
the
closest post office or mail-order outlet. People had to travel by foot,
horse
and buggy, horse and sleigh, or car to the post office or outlet to pick
them
up.
- Return to working in your family groups. Decide which family member
each
of you will be: father, mother, or child 1, 2, or 3. Each student must
take on
a different character.
- Now find out about your character. Working on your own, go to the
Roles section,
to your Family section, and then to your character. Fill in Worksheet
#3 on your own.
- As a group, meet with your family members. Each family member presents
their
name, age, place of birth, role in family, occupation and interests,
income source
and amount, and what they want to buy. Then go back to working on your
own.
- Look through the Eaton's Fall and Winter 1948-49 catalogue.
Start with
the links that are provided for your family member. You may then search
for other pages of the catalogue. Make notes of all the items you
would like
to buy. Fill in Worksheet #4 on your own.
- Narrow down your list to the items you would most like to buy. Think
of why
you really want each of these items. Fill in Worksheet
#5 on your own.
- Optional: If you have access to a printer, print out the catalogue
page with
each item from your Needs List.
- Fill out an order form. Be sure
to
include the item name and page number, size, colour and other specific
information
needed, and cost. Calculate the total cost of your order. How much will it
cost?
- Meet with the rest of your family. Go over each person's order.
Add
up the total cost of all orders. Are you within budget? If not, as a
group, discuss
which items can be deleted. You must come up with a list that fits within
your
budget. When you have a list that each family member is satisfied with and
that
your family can afford, fill out another order
form.
- If you printed out your items in Step 9, assemble one collage of all
items
each person ordered, and a second collage of all the items you
didn't order.
- Plan your presentation. You will need to make an individual
presentation
and a group presentation about yourself and your order. Assemble your
Worksheets,
Wish List and Needs List. Think of how you will use your collages and
final order
form to make your presentation. You may wish to display your two collages
and
final order form on the wall of the classroom.
- Make your presentation.
- Individually, make a presentation to class members about:
- your family member (name, age, occupation, interests, and income);
and
- what was on your Wish List and your Needs List.
- As a family, make a presentation of:
- what you finally ordered; and
- an explanation of how you proceeded from your wants to your needs.
- As a class, compare the orders of the different families.
- How were they similar?
- How were they different?
- What are some explanations for the differences?
- Finally, discuss what was challenging about this task.
Evaluation
Here is the grading rubric.
Conclusion
In 1948, mail-order catalogues were an important part of the lives and
dreams
of most Canadians. With the help of an efficient postal system and the
railways,
mail-order catalogues provided the means of selling a wide variety of
clothing,
toys, furniture, and other items to rural Canadian families. These
catalogues
must have inspired a lot of dreaming, bringing the images of clothing and
other
items from across Canada and all around the world into people's
lives.
After completing this Webquest, we hope that you have a better
understanding
of the clothes and other items that were available to Canadians in
catalogues
in 1948 and of some families who lived back then. We also hope you have
learned
how challenging it can be to balance a family's wishes with their
needs
and the money they have available. Finally, we hope you have learned how
you
can use these catalogues to learn about life in the past.
|
