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Lesson Plan

Chapter 4 Lesson Plan: The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963

Grade Level:

Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Subject:

Math,Social Studies

Lesson Duration:

60 Minutes

Essential Question

How important is clothing to you?

Objective

In this activity, students will consider what it was like to shop for clothing for a family of five in 1963. They will consult wage reports and historical clothing store catalogs to determine a budget and shopping list for a family like the Watsons.

Background

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Apparel and Services” accounted for 2.6% of the average consumer’s spending in 2021. This is a significant drop from 1960-61, when clothing accounted for 10.4% of a family’s spending.

Clothing—particularly,winter gear—plays an important role in Chapter 4. Kenny takes great pride in being the only student in his class to own real leather gloves, describing the care and planning Momma puts into purchasing gloves for her family and how replacing them isn’t so easy. In this activity, students will consider what it was like to shop for clothing for a family of five in 1963. They will consult wage reports and historical clothing store catalogs to determine a budget and shopping list for a family like the Watsons.

Note: Like catalogs today, those in the 1960s were family-friendly by design. And like catalogs today, they 1960s contained advertisements for undergarments. None of the images in these catalogs are particularly scandalous, but some show school-age girls, and the ads are gendered in a very mid-century way.

Preparation

Gather materials:

• Tablets or other devices with internet access
• Clothing budget worksheet (provided)
• Digitized department store catalogs from 1962/1963:
  • Sears: 1962 Sears Fall Winter Catalog - Catalogs & Wishbooks (musetechnical.com)
  • JC Penney: 1963 JCPenney Fall Winter Catalog - Catalogs & Wishbooks (musetechnical.com)
  • Montgomery Ward: 1962 Montgomery Ward Christmas Book - Catalogs & Wishbooks (musetechnical.com)
• Calculators
• Access to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator: CPI Inflation Calculator (bls.gov)

Materials

1963 Automotive Wage Report Chart

Download 1963 Automotive Wage Report Chart

Download City Worker's Family Budget 1966

Download Wages in Motor Vehicle and Parts Plants 1963

Procedure

• Warm Up Activity: Have students brainstorm a list of all the different types of clothing they own or would like to own, and then discuss which items are essential and which are optional.
• Briefly explain that shopping for clothing has changed significantly since 1963: Not only are there more options in terms of where and what to purchase, but clothes cost substantially less than they did when Kenny was a kid. In 2021, 2.6% of consumer spending went towards clothes. In the early 1960s, that number was 10.4%, or quadruple the share of spending.
• Divide the class into groups of 3-4 and tell them they’re responsible for shopping for winter clothes for a family of five in 1963. Lead the class in estimating the Watsons’ household income, using the 1963 automotive wage report. (Assume Mr. Watson is an assembler, the most common occupation, and works a 40-hour work week for 52 weeks: $2.73 x 40 x 52=$5,678.40)
• Distribute the corresponding worksheet for calculating a clothing budget for five. Lead the class in completing the worksheet.
• Provide them with links to the 1962/1963 catalogs. and ask them to “shop” for a family of five like the Watsons. They will screenshot and list items of clothing they would purchase as Mrs. Watson. Have them consider the following: How much money would you allocate for winter clothes? What would you purchase? Why? How could you ensure the wardrobe lasts beyond one season or one family member?
• Have groups share their shopping lists with the class.
• Ask students to use the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator (https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm) to determine the equivalent of their 1963 clothes budget in today’s dollars. Ask how they could dress a family of five today with that money?
• To shorten this activity: Display the budgeting worksheet and walk students through the calculations, and/or consider assigning the reflection exercise for homework.

To lengthen this activity:

• Have students complete the budgeting worksheet individually or in their groups and review the answers as a class.
• Share the history of women's uniforms in the National Park Service. Explain that women have been a part of the NPS, serving as rangers, since the 1930s. However, their uniforms were quite different: Dressing the Part: A Portfolio of Women's History in the NPS - Harpers Ferry Center (U.S. National Park Service)
• The National Park Service uniform in general has passed through many fashion stages. For more information, and interactive activities, visit: NPS Uniform Collection - Harpers Ferry Center (U.S. National Park Service)
• Invite students to make their own fashions, inspired by a favorite National Park! NPS Fashion Week 2021 (U.S. National Park Service)
• Visit the virtual exhibit Trend-Ology, which was on display in New York City in 2013-2014. The exhibit showcases fashion from the past 250 years, and details how these fashions emerged in the context of the times. For more: Trend-ology (fitnyc.edu)
• Though the Watsons had the financial resources to make catalog purchases, many families did not. Women often worked as seamstresses. Some African American women even ascended to the ranks of designers, despite many obstacles in their path. Learn more about Ann Lowe, a Black woman from Clayton, Alabama who designed and sewed Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding dress: Sewing for joy: Ann Lowe | National Museum of American History (si.edu)

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Vocabulary

Catalog: A complete list of items, typically one in alphabetical or other systematic order. Shopping through catalogs was (and in some places still is) a common way of making purchases.

Wage: A fixed regular payment, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, made by an employer to an employee, especially to a manual or unskilled worker.

Budget: An estimate of income and expenses for a set period of time. Income, based on wages, must be larger than expenses in order to remain within budget.

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