Wrap · Carrying
Book bundle
The cloth book bundle schoolchildren tied across the shoulder or round the waist before school bags, into the early 1970s.
- For
- Schoolchildren's book bag (roughly 1950s-70s rural schools, before backpacks)
- Wraps
- Books, notebooks, pencil case, lunchbox
- Cloth
- laid as a diamond
- Closed with
- Pin closure, Double-tie (square knot by two ties)
- Level
- Easy
Within living memory, schoolchildren carried their books in a 책보. Boys tended to sling it across the shoulder and girls to tie it at the waist, a habit recalled fondly in memoir and picture books.
- 1Spread the cloth flat.
- 2Lay the largest book or notebook diagonally at the near corner.
- 3Stack the pencil case or lunchbox on top.
- 4Roll the cloth up from the near corner.
- 5Pin the end with a safety pin so it cannot come undone.
- 6Carry it: boys slung it diagonally across the back over one shoulder and tied it tight; girls tied it around the waist.
History & tradition
Korea, mid 20th century (post-1945 to early 1970s)
After liberation, when bags were scarce, schoolchildren wrapped textbooks, notebooks, pencil case and lunchbox in a cotton cloth, biggest books first, sometimes closing it with a safety pin. Recollections say boys slung it diagonally across a shoulder and girls tied it round the waist; leaking kimchi from the lunchbox is a stock memory. Plastic cloths came next, then two-strap school bags, and by the early 1970s the 책보 had largely disappeared.
Now a nostalgic image of postwar school days, recalled in essays and a 2013 picture book.
End date varies by region; namu.wiki says 'until the early 1970s'.