The summer is coming to a close and kids are getting ready to head back to school. It is the traditional time for schools to send out back to school supply lists. "Scibblers" have been a staple of these lists in Atlantic Canada. Scribbler is a regional term to refer to a notebook and in particular Hilroy exercise books. Supply lists would also include color pencils (or pencil crayons as they are often called in Canada). For previous generations of middle and high school students, this would likely have been Laurentien color pencils. Younger students may have opted for a smaller set of pencils such as the Eagle set No. 799 shown here. A small set of 8 pencils that are each only 4.5 inches long.  This set of plain pencils (no company logo or name is imprinted on them) has come in many different boxes over the years.

The notebook shown at right has "No. 27" in the bottom left corner. This is the same number for this notebook from the 1911 catalogue. I don't know when the number changed from No. 27 to No. 3327. You'll also note that the Gage trademark is not found on this notebook (or any reference to the maker). The Gage trademark on my notebook above appears to date from the 1960s. The image of an older notebook comes from a story from toronto.com where the notebook was found on a bench. It was filled with poetry and notes from the second world war era.

Shown here is a Powis Brothers advertisement from the back of St. Patrick's College yearbook from 1958. St. Patricks's  operated from 1929 to 1979.