Slate Pencils, circa 1875
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In the nineteenth century, schoolchildren used slates to practice handwriting and arithmetic without wasting precious paper. Slate pencils were made of soapstone or softer pieces of slate rock, sometimes wrapped in paper like this one. Many students remember the sound of the slate pencil -- like nails on a chalkboard. In the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, chalk was used instead.
In the nineteenth century, schoolchildren used slates to practice handwriting and arithmetic without wasting precious paper. Slate pencils were made of soapstone or softer pieces of slate rock, sometimes wrapped in paper like this one. Many students remember the sound of the slate pencil -- like nails on a chalkboard. In the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, chalk was used instead.
Artifact
Pencil (Drawing and writing equipment)
Date Made
circa 1875
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
33.160.13
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Slate (Rock)
Paper (Fiber product)
Color
Gold (Color)
Dimensions
Length: 6
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