Chalkboards

[abdulla_uk]

Chalk board blackboards 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 chalkboards, somebody had to invent chalk for the chalk boards. 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 slate chalkboards was the mainstay in the classroom for many years, and even the business world realized they could advertise on chalk boards, regularly changing their advertising message. Eventually, the old slate blackboards went the way of the dinosaur, making room for new inventions, such as whiteboards using colorful dry erase markers. Now, if you can find a slate chalkboard blackboard discarded by a school, you have a very valuable antique. The Chalkboards have made a real comeback in recent years because of their nostalgic look that radiates a warm and cozy feeling. Grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurant, in particular, seem to like the chalk boards, cracker barrel type motif. Of course, the chalk isn't compressed limestone and chalk boards are rarely slate. Most of today's blackboards 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.