Imagine that you're going to school with Anne Shirley and her friends somewhere in rural Prince Edward Island in the 1870s or 1880s. What would your day be like?

Well, let's start with getting dressed to go to school. You probably don't have much choice of clothes. If you're a girl, you might have two dresses, like Anne does in the book, with a pinafore (a sleeveless apron) to go on top. Underneath, you'll be wearing a vest, drawers (underwear), and probably a petticoat. If you're a boy, you're probably going to pull on knickers (knee-length pants that buckle at the knee) and a shirt, though older boys got to wear full-length trousers. In the winter, you'll wear long underwear and long stockings (yes, the boys, too) to stay warm. Girls have long hair, so it has to be combed and braided before breakfast. There isn't any running water, so to wash, you'll pour water from a pitcher or bucket into a basin. (If it's winter, you might have to break the ice first.) Your mother will cook breakfast on a woodstove, and if it's winter and dark in the morning, the house will be lit with lamps or candles.

Cars aren't invented yet, so you have to walk to school. If you're lucky, you live close by; if you don't, you might have to walk up to two or two-and-a-half miles to get to the schoolhouse. But if your friends live near, you can have a wonderful time exploring the woods and fields, or throwing snowballs and jumping in mud puddles. You'll have your lunch with you in a pail or basket - maybe plain bread and butter, and perhaps a treat like raspberry tarts. You might also have a bottle of milk. It's a long, cold walk in the wintertime, too long for smaller children sometimes.

By law, you only have to go to school for twelve weeks of the year, or about three months. (If you don't, your parents will be fined $20. That was a lot of money back then!) That doesn't mean you can stay at home and have fun. If you do stay home, it probably means that your father needs you on the farm to help with chores, or your mother needs you to help with the washing or mind your younger brothers or sisters. Even in 1916, Wesley Turner, a real-life teenager growing up in PEI, stayed home from school a lot to work -- but he liked it.

Lunchtime, just like today, can be great! You hurry through your lunch, then rush outside to play on fine days. Girls might read books out loud or play house in the trees, and the boys might climb trees or pick gum from the spruces. Or the whole school might play a game, like ball or tug-or-war. It's like one big family, though, because everyone, big and small, gets to play. The teacher might even join you!

At four o'clock (if you've behaved yourself), school is dismissed, and you and your friends can run off home with the books you need, your slate, and your empty lunch pail or basket. School's out for the day - but if you live far away, you still have that two mile walk home.

Macdonald Consolidated Schoolbus, ca. 1905-12
PARO, Acc 3466/HF73.354.2