 Chalkboards
Chalkboards go back to the first organized school classroom. Probably, several 100’s of years ago. Before that, they used a charcoal stick and wrote on any flat surface available. The problem being, charcoal doesn’t erase, so a new writing surface was required very often. Before they needed a chalkboard, somebody had to invent chalk for the board. It was discovered crushed up limestone produced a white powder that could be compressed into a soft white stick that would make a white line as opposed to the black line that a charcoal stick left. The best part was that it erased off of a smooth stone surface. Then some bright fellow cut thin slabs of slate rock, polished it and the chalkboard was born. Chalk writing on a slate board was the mainstay in the classroom for many years, and even the business world realized they could advertise on a chalkboard, regularly changing their advertising message. Eventually, the old slate chalkboard went the way of the dinosaur, making room for new inventions, such as whiteboards using colorful dry erase markers. Now, if you can find an old slate chalkboard discarded by a school, you have a very valuable antique. Chalkboards have made a real comeback in recent years because of the their nostalgic look that radiates a warm and cozy feeling. Grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurant, in particular, seem to like the chalkboard, cracker barrel type motif. Of course, the chalk isn’t compressed limestone and the boards are rarely slate. Most of today’s chalkboards are either a melamine laminate or textured acrylic because they are light weight and durable. The chalk is now a liquid chalk in a marker pen, so the chalk and the boards have survived, but like everything else, they have been modernized for efficiency.
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