Question of the day
Thursday, Aug 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Inflation means stocking up on pencils, notebooks, crayons and clothes for your kids’ return to school is more expensive this year, so Illinois state leaders on Thursday offered a 10-day sales tax reduction on classroom needs.
Beginning Friday, the state sales tax on school materials, including clothing, will be 1.25% for 10 days, down from the usual 6.25%, part of an inflation relief plan put together by Democrats who control the General Assembly. They have said it’s possible because of four consecutive balanced budgets under Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Teachers will also get a break on classroom materials with a $250 tax credit this year and $500 in 2023.
“These past two-and-a-half years — for everyone — of managing through the pandemic has been hard,” Pritzker said Thursday at Roosevelt Elementary School in Broadview, a suburb west of Chicago. “And the last nine months of inflation on top of that has strained the budgets of parents and teachers alike.”
* The Question: What do you remember most about back to school shopping when you were a kid?
- Chito - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:31 pm:
New husky pants from Sears Roebuck and Co!
- Sox Fan - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:34 pm:
I remember hating clothes shopping. Hot, tired and knowing that summer was over made for a miserable experience
- Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:37 pm:
Toughskins from Sears.
No need for a hanger, just stand them up in your closet.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:37 pm:
New toughskins and shoes from Sears.
- Bruce( no not him) - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:38 pm:
Sox Fan hits it out of the park.
” Hot, tired and knowing that summer was over made for a miserable experience”
- danray - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:40 pm:
Toughskins, lol.
Also had to have a new pair of canvas Converse from Fishman’s Sporting Goods in downtown Spfld.
- NotRich - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:41 pm:
New BIC pens, folders, and cutting up brown paper bags to make book covers..
- Give Me A Break - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:42 pm:
Going to Sears on Second and South Grand in SPI to get new shoes and school clothes. They had the X15 rocket shoes the cool kids all wore.
- Early Wynn - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:43 pm:
Not sure but now it s when the back to school back pack giveaways begin
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:43 pm:
Art supplies and gym clothes/shoes. The other stuff reminded of drudgery.
- Norseman - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:47 pm:
=== New husky pants from … ===
Trying to find them was my nightmare. Argh.
- Homebody - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:49 pm:
I always loved shopping for more “professional” looking office supplies as a kid. At 10 years old, I was the only kid to exclusively have mechanical pencils instead of wooden ones.
The fancy supplies didn’t help my grades at all, but I loved having quality pencils/pens, etc.
- Dysfunction Junction - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:55 pm:
Off-brand Converse Chuck Taylors from Cook’s Discount store at Meadowdale Shopping Center in the burbs. But always a 64-color set of crayons with the built-in sharpener.
- aaricka34 - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:55 pm:
Watching the circulars for Venture and Zayre so we could maximize the savings. My mother was an expert at making sure we had everything we could possibly need for the school year by Labor Day.
- ChicagoVinny - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:56 pm:
Heading to Farm & Fleet for husky jeans shopping.
- The Dude - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 3:59 pm:
Would have been nice had they figured this out earlier and for longer.
In all seriousness raising children throughout this pandemic has been hard.
- Skeptic - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:04 pm:
I remember once coming home after the last day of school, reaching for the box of Pop Tarts and reading on the back of the box “Back to School Special Offer.” Well, ok, it’s not shopping, but it was memorable.
- Commissar Gritty - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:04 pm:
I remember sincerely thinking that if I didn’t get the “cool” binders, pens, folders, etc then I would be ostracized at school. It only occured to me later that I was silyl for giving a darn about the opinion of other fourth graders about my stuff.
- Regular democrat - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:06 pm:
Going to Wieboldts to buy yellow shirts for good old St Itas grammar school
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:08 pm:
Sticking your feet in the fluroscope to be sure there was enough toe room in your school shoes.
This practice also exposed children, parents, and store clerks to unnecessary radiation. Oy vey.
- Benjamin - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:16 pm:
Back to school was the worst time of year for me. I lived in denial all through early August. Starting a new school year depressed me so badly that I was well into my 20s before I could enjoy fall.
The weird thing was, I was a straight-A student and never in trouble. I just…didn’t want to be there. And knowing that I had to spend the next nine months in that classroom made me sad.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:17 pm:
Two words: Trapper Keeper
- Facts Matter - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:17 pm:
The rich kids got the 64 pack of crayons. We got the smaller pack. Ending up with jeans from Sears when I wanted Levis from Myers Brothers.
- Anyone Remember - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:17 pm:
Pants from Sears … with double knees.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:23 pm:
New shoes, one new pair of pants, two new shirts. There was no bargaining with the powers that be (i.e., Mom) on this topic.
- notsosure - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:27 pm:
Having to buy the pre-packaged set of school supplies specifically for my grade at the local dime store. I always wanted interesting pencils, or a fun colored folder or something.
- Don't Bloc Me In - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:28 pm:
Yes, Benjamin, I was exactly like that, too. On the plus side, school shopping was nearly the only time we left the local area. We went all the way to Terre Haute, where I experienced my first elevator and escalator. Magic, they were. I was mildly scolded for riding the escalator over and over.
- vern - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:30 pm:
For some reason my strongest memory is always having to slightly upgrade my graphing calculator, at great cost and for dubious functionality purposes.
- Banish Misfortune - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:32 pm:
Catholic school, so no clothes shopping, but we did have to buy books, and then covering them with brown paper from shopping bags.
- Northsider - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:32 pm:
Driving my mother crazy because, until at least 1984, I refused to consider anything other than blue jeans and plaid shirts. But at the end of any trip to Marshall Field’s was a Frango Mint bar, so there was that.
- SAP - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:37 pm:
New Toughskins and gym shoes at Sears. JC Penney Plain Pockets in Jr. High were the first wardrobe upgrade.
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:42 pm:
-Two words: Trapper Keeper-
Yep. Can still hear the velcro. Also was never organized enough to actually use.
- Al - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:50 pm:
Going to Kmart for a pair of black canvas converse tennis shoes.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:54 pm:
=The fancy supplies didn’t help my grades at all, but I loved having quality pencils/pens, etc.=
That is so awesome.
Lots of great memories sparked by this fun question. Thanks Rich, I needed this one today.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:55 pm:
New rides for the feet, new folders, loose leaf paper, and gym uniforms.
Toughskins? Yep. Even the jacket? Yep. Even the jacket.
:)
- jimbo - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 4:58 pm:
~~The rich kids got the 64 pack of crayons. We got the smaller pack.~~
Yikes. That brought back a repressed memory of never being able to get the Crayola’s and having to get the off brand crayons.
- Montrose - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 5:07 pm:
Going to the local (now long gone) department store where the school supply list for each grade hung in the back-to-school section and working through the list. Trapper Keepers were never on the list, so I never got one.
And school uniforms. Banned words school uniforms.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 5:20 pm:
I loved rulers. There was always something precise and reassuring about being able to draw a straight line with a ruler.
When we were kids, the local Coca Cola bottling plant ran a promotion. For every “A” on your report card, you got a prize, a new ruler, or tablet. Of course everything had “Coca Cola” printed on it.
Lots of us brought Coca Cola rulers to school, eliminating the need to buy a new one.
- Democrat Grrrl - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 5:28 pm:
New pencil boxes to store my pencils and erasers.
- West Side the Best Side - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 6:08 pm:
Going to either Monkey Wards in LaGrange or Sears at North and Harlem in Elmwood Park for blue shirts and dark blue pants for Catholic school required boys wear. Ties would last for years.
- clec dcn - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 6:36 pm:
You had to get the list from the school and class of what you needed and then start the process. Marking off all the items as you got them at the store. You had to get those crayons, colored pencils, water based paint sets. What and joy and how simple life was then. You went to the store nothing online, no one had a cell phone with internet to check things, and then you counted the days till summer break was over.
- up2now - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 6:39 pm:
I remember going with my mom to find charcoal and ochre to draw mastodons and oryxes on the cave walls.
- Slugger O'Toole - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 7:27 pm:
Wasn’t so much a shopping memory, but I was the only kid that used his grandpa’s Dutch Masters cigar box to hold my pencils and crayons. I can still remember the smell.
- MisterJayEm - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 7:36 pm:
One year, Mom sent us back-to-school clothes shopping with Dad.
We were trying on jeans in a “trendy” store in the mall, when my dad noticed that the belt loops were very narrow.
Dad: “You can’t even put a belt through those!”
Salesman: “Thin belts are very in this year.”
Dad: “Maybe in California!”
We bought our jeans at the western wear store downtown.
– MrJM
- Phineas - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 7:52 pm:
Perpetual argument w/ mom: corduroys and plaid pants. No! JC PenneyHunt Club vs. ‘real’ Polo. Sears knockoff vs Ocean Pacific.
And new shoes from Mr Luers.
- Scott l - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 7:57 pm:
The crayons it was all about the crayons
- Yooper in Diaspora - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 8:21 pm:
Traveling 3 hours to Green Bay so my dad could watch the Packers practice while the rest of us were at a mall for school clothes shopping. (Sorry - that is what first came to mind!)
- Dumb Dupage Mom - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 9:24 pm:
I remember never worrying how the Governor might mess up the school year.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 9:33 pm:
=== I remember===
Well, that’s good.
The last pandemic was a century ago.
Living thru one pandemic with a governor saving lives should be enough for anyone, let alone two, amirite?
- Leslie K - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 9:51 pm:
===I remember going with my mom to find charcoal and ochre to draw mastodons and oryxes on the cave walls.==
Loved this! (in that sad, I am also so old way)
To the post:
Bad memory: toughskins (did they make girl versions or was I shopping in the boy department?)
Good memory: choosing the theme for my folders. Unicorns? Forest? Star Wars? It set the tone for the year, so I had to make the right choice
- Leslie K - Thursday, Aug 4, 22 @ 9:53 pm:
And now I’ll try the version without the exclamation point:
===I remember going with my mom to find charcoal and ochre to draw mastodons and oryxes on the cave walls.==
Loved this (in that sad, I am also so old way)
To the post:
Bad memory: toughskins (did they make girl versions or was I shopping in the boy department?)
Good memory: choosing the theme for my folders. Unicorns? Forest? Star Wars? It set the tone for the year, so I had to make the right choice
- Galway Bay - Friday, Aug 5, 22 @ 6:14 am:
Sears on Western Ave. My mom would explain that my brother got the slims and I got the huskies because I was “big boned and built for winter”. Lol. Still laugh. And yes the crayons. Great memories.
- MiddleAgedDog - Friday, Aug 5, 22 @ 8:43 am:
Riding the escalator down into the candy and popcorn at the 2nd street Sears in Springfield, knowing it was not for us. Mom would even give us a preemptive whomp on the butt and instruct us to not make eye contact with the counter personnel.
- Manchester - Friday, Aug 5, 22 @ 8:44 am:
Boy this brings back memories. We weren’t exactly poor but we didn’t have a lot either. I remember going to the local discount clothing store where my Mom would buy clothes with flaws (seconds). My Mom was an excellent seamstress, so she would take the clothes home and sit at her sewing machine and repair whatever flaw the piece of clothing had and then we’d have nice clothes. I also remember getting new canvas Keds and getting the 64 box of Crayolas. I was a good student but didn’t like school until I hit College and then I loved it.
- Southern IL Bob Too - Friday, Aug 5, 22 @ 8:54 am:
My mom bought me new Levi’s to wear to high school. I decided to make them more fashionable by cutting holes in them. My mom was not happy with my alterations.
- Virginia Brown - Friday, Aug 5, 22 @ 3:34 pm:
Wow! Good memories!
I remember the smell of new supplies. Awww - the smell of pencils and new plastic.
I remember wooden pencil boxes, wrapping hard cover books in brown paper bags so that they could be returned at the end of the school year in good condition.
I remember going to Busta Brown for that one pair of school shoes at Evergreen Plaza and sittin’ on the boat that sat in the middle of the store.
- Sal - Friday, Aug 5, 22 @ 3:36 pm:
Myers Brothers downtown Springfield!!!
Then to Sears on 2nd Street - we always stopped for a cheese hot dog.
Couldn’t wait to get a new big box of crayons!!