A Century of Scripting through German Children’s Periodicals

Relying on Robin Bernstein’s field-changing analysis of historical objects as ‘scriptive things’, this article considers ‘movable sections’ of German children’s periodicals to chart the evolution of pedagogical paradigms and gendered ideas between 1850 and 1950. More specifically, I consider needlework for girls and construction sections aimed at boys through a historical lens. These movable sections, along with the scribbles left on them, foreground a legacy of interactive and gendered inculcation and offer childhood scholars clues to ground these ‘movable sections’ in their wider media and educational environment.