Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 31

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 31 - Keep your city clean

I think this is my favorite poster in the entire series. I love the colors, the outfits and the random banana.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 30

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 30 - Protect the birds

Again, a bit of an odd message. But the graphic is amazing.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 29

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 29 - Easter

I love the typography on some of these posters. There's a mix of art nouveau, mid-century cleanliness and hand-drawn uniqueness.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 28

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 28 - Bathe for clean-ness

Bathing a keeping clean seems to be a big motif with these posters.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 27

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 27 - Smile

This is one of the two Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides that I own, and definitely one of the creepiest of the whole line.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 26

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 26 - Keep hat and shoes clean

Besides #12 (which I'm still not sure I've see the real one of), #26 seems to be the hardest Character-Culture-Citizenship poster to track down. I'm not sure why they used a winter hat for a March poster.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 25

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 25 - Nature says wash

The individual boxes read: Rain washes the fruit, Birds like to bathe, Dog washing puppies, Pussy washes her paws, Bathing's fun!

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 24

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 24 - "I have grown grey, and now find myself going blind"

This seems like an odd Washington quote to use for a poster. First off, it's a misquote. The actual quote is, "Gentleman, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." Secondly, out of context, it doesn't really have any meaning.

So let me add some context. From the Library of Congress:

March 13, Washington addresses mutinous Continental officers at Newburgh, New York. Their pay long in arrears, the officers fear that their pensions will also be unpaid. In December 1782, representative officers from each state's Continental line had sent a petition to Congress insisting on immediate payment and suggesting the substitution of lump sums for pensions. The officers, most of whom are at the army's headquarters at Newburgh, learn that Congress has rejected the petition. Washington calls a meeting of representative officers and staff and delivers a speech and reads an extract from Congress. Referring to the glasses he must wear to read the extract, he says, "Gentleman, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." Washington's gesture defuses the crisis. After he retires from the scene the officers adopt resolutions affirming their loyalty to Congress. March 18, Washington writes Congress an account of the proceedings of the previous days and argues on behalf of the officers' grievances.

Essentially, Washington quelled a mutiny over payment and pensions by showing his humility, loyalty and years of service to ones country. I'm guessing the lesson plan for this poster was about humility, or possibly service and loyalty. Either way, it's a long road to get there from this quote.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 23

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 23 - The stairway of life begins at the door of our home

The stairway to life contains the steps of: hard work, honesty, perseverance, loyalty, idealism, sympathy and love.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 22

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 22 - Tell the truth

There's a Peter Rabbit feel to this poster, but the thick black frame and rabbit eyebrows make it feel a little sinister to me.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 21

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 21 - Which is manly?

I'm going to say the guy on the right is the manly one, because most of the time, I look more like him than the guy on the left.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 20

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 20 - Put away your toys

This one seems less about character, culture or citizenship and more about keeping your room clean. I'm sure the parents appreciated this one though.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 19

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 19 - Every link of equal strength

The links read: reverence, honesty, loyalty and friendship.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 18

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 18 - Play outdoors

When my mom gave me the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides that started this whole obsession, she kept one for herself, #18. And I can see why.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 17

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 17 - Bank tomorrow

Once again, the Character-Culture-Citizenship poster itself only tells half the story. My guess is the lesson plan for this poster was something along the lines of, "Go to the bank tomorrow and start saving." However the poster by itself has more of a procrastination feel, "Put your money in the bank? It can wait till tomorrow."

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 16

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 16 - December

Like Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 6, this Character-Culture-Citizenship poster has a space for a calendar on the bottom. But unlike #6, it has specific instructions telling the teachers the space is for a calendar.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 15

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 15 - White clouds...

The full text reads:

White clouds, white clouds, up so high
White clouds, white clouds, in the sky
Clouds so white and sky so blue:
How I love to look at you.

Soapsuds, soapsuds, in my hair
Soapsuds, soapsuds, white and fair:
Tell me mother, tell me true,
Are the clouds just soapsuds too?

I can't find a reference to the poem anywhere else but this poster, and since the poster is unsigned, the poem is too.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 14

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 14 - Safety first

I'll be honest, I don't really understand this particular Character-Culture-Citizenship poster. Is the mouse supposed to be cautious while getting the cheese? Or are people supposed to be safe and set out lots of traps?

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 13

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 13 - This or this or this?

And, Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 13 - Read good books

#13 is the only Character-Culture-Citizenship Guide that I've seen two versions of. The early version with the hats has a copyright of 1932 and that's the only copyright date I've seen on this version. The second poster with the teddy bear I've seen with a range of dated copyrights and no copyright.

Back when I wrote about the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides copyright, I mentioned that the posters without copyright dates on them were probably made in the 1940s, after the dated versions. If the non-copyrighted versions were printed before the copyrighted versions, they would probably have the "This or this or this" poster in the set, but since the "Read good books" version has the later copyright and a version with no copyright, the non-copyrighted versions probably came after the dated version.

The other interesting thing is that the same number poster has two different months. So, depending on the year they were printed, the poster months and numbers might be off by one. Which makes sense since the school year and school breaks probably shifted the dates/lesson plans around each year.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 12 (maybe)

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 12 - We thank thee

This is the only poster I can find that's referred to as the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides number 12, and I've seen it called that multiple times, but I'm not convinced. It has "Visual Aid" in the spot where the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides title usually is, which makes me think this is number 12 in a different classroom series by the T.G. Nichols Co.

But the only way to prove my hunch is to find a different Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides #12, which I haven't been able to do yet.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 11

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 11 - "Peace on earth, good will to men."

The stepping stones from boyhood to manhood read: play, respect of parents, ambition, thoroughness, determination, friendship, reverence and self respect.

I'm guessing here, but the man does bear a resemblance to FDR, who was President when the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides were printed, so perhaps this is also the road to the presidency.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 10

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 10 - Friendliness.

I love this Character-Culture-Citizenship Guide, the colors and the coats are outstanding, but there are a few things I noticed: 1) How do you lose a shoe in a river? 2) These people are trapped on a rock during a rain storm, they have bigger problems than a lost shoe.