Home Economics

Oh yes. I remember it well. Cooking and Sewing classes, girls only, with matronly teachers that looked like they stepped out of 1960s issues of Good Housekeeping. Cooking class wasn't so bad. In fact, it could be pretty interesting. Made pie crusts from scratch, souffles, candymaking, etc. But Sewing was the pits. Rooms full of noisy old sewing machines and steam irons, so hot you always left sweaty (no air conditioning.) I hated it. I remember choosing one particularly difficult pattern, just so I could repeatedly stitch a seam, pretend something was wrong with it, rip it out, and repeat this over and over and never get anywhere. I actually did this so I could sneak through the door into the adjoining Cooking class when the teacher wasn't looking. Took me an entire semester to make one dress at that rate. But I did learn how to make a damn good pie crust!

I remember the guys wanted to take Cooking (NOBODY wanted to take Sewing), and a lot of the girls wanted to take Wood Shop and Metal Shop. But that wasn't allowed in those days.

At university (mid-'70s), we even had a College of Home Economics. It had courses in Family Relations (degrees in counseling), Child Development, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Nutrition (very tough), Fashion Marketing, etc. It is still there, but I'm sure they've changed the name by now.

I was in sewing, cooking and wood class and I loved them all.

Heh awesome. I take private cooking lessons (love cooking). My mother tought me how to sew.

That's great. I'd love to take some classes in sewing. Actually, I'd love to take classes in lots of stuff. I consider myself a good cook, but I'd love to takes classes for that too. You can never learn too much ;-)

In the late 60s I was one of the first girls allowed to take a Shop course -- industrial drawing. Wasn't allowed to set foot in the actual shop, but me and fifteen guys had a room next to it with drafting tables and equipment.

I was required to take sewing and cooking in Home Ec; boys were forbidden.

By the time my brother was in high school three years later, Wood Shop, Auto Basics, Cooking and Sewing were required for all students. I don't know what happened to industrial drawing, but I hope it's still somewhere as a CAD class!