The strangest, oldest, and most crucial supplies for your education
What kind of supplies did kids bring to school in the good old days?
Sumer (In the Fertile Crescent), ancient times: In history’s first recorded schools, boys were taught the finest skill of the day: writing. Scribes were important people back then and learning the trade was serious business. With no paper or pens, these industrious students engraved their work on clay tablets. Luckily, modern archaeologists discovered some that could still be read and used to learn about ancient life, thousands of years later.
England, 1400s: It was called a hornbook, and with a handle attached to a wooden slab, it could be carried wherever a child ventured. The alphabet letters stood engraved on the front, protected by a transparent sheet made from a horn. This helped children memorize their letters.
America, 1800s: School supplies were precious and treated with great care. Walking to their one-room schoolhouses, children typically carried a couple of books, a slate, and some writing supplies (like chalk, a feather quill, or graphite pencils), all held tight in a belt or leather strap. Wealthier students often owned wooden pencil boxes; some super-fancy ones even came with their own little inkwell inside! These nice cases were known as scholar’s companions — and many came with lock and key to keep those valuable learning tools safe. Students didn’t have insulated lunch boxes or paper lunch bags; they carried their lunch in pails. Pretty different than what you’re used to, huh?
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