The Oldies Thread

[Methuselah]

Do kids still take geometry sets to school?
To be honest I didn't really know what you were supposed to do with half the stuff.
Mind you I do remember one lad opening his desk lid to find a dead rat pinned to the inside of lid with a compass

I remember at secondary school in Liverpool, there had been some bullying so the headmaster called an assembly. We all entered the school hall, there were no chairs or benches so we had to stand. All the teachers were down the sides. We waited for ages, then suddenly, the door at the back of the hall opened with a crash. Everyone looked round and the headmaster came down the centre aisle carrying a big wooden club with some nails knocked through the end. He climbed on the stage and swung the club around while telling us in no uncertain terms that if he caught anyone bullying, he would be after them with his club. The bullying stopped. (about 1948).

 

[degsy]

Quink.

That's the one

There was the cheaper one, Stephens and a really cheaper one, whose name is now lost to me...may have begun with 'B'
And then there was the navy blue school stuff that came in quart bottles which you filled the individual desk inkwells up with

 

[Methuselah]

There was the cheaper one, Stephens and a really cheaper one, whose name is now lost to me...may have begun with 'B'
And then there was the navy blue school stuff that came in quart bottles which you filled the individual desk inkwells up with

I remember when biro's first came out (late 1940's). I got one for Christmas but we weren't allowed to use them at school. Pencil or ink only.

 

[kev]

There was the cheaper one, Stephens and a really cheaper one, whose name is now lost to me...may have begun with 'B'
And then there was the navy blue school stuff that came in quart bottles which you filled the individual desk inkwells up with

Some of us never made it to the giddy heights of 'ink monitor' Degs

 

[Eggs]

I remember when biro's first came out (late 1940's). I got one for Christmas but we weren't allowed to use them at school. Pencil or ink only.

....ink well in the desk.

 

[Methuselah]

....ink well in the desk.

Being 'ink monitor' was a good job, filling up all the ink well's. Provided some good opportunities.

 

[Eggs]

Being 'ink monitor' was a good job, filling up all the ink well's. Provided some good opportunities.

...well, i suspect you’re the only one on here who remembers that. Interesting, though, those same desks lasted well into the ball point pen era (60s, 70s and possibly 80s) and the old ink stains were still evident in the ink wells.

 

[gonetomorrow]

There was the cheaper one, Stephens and a really cheaper one, whose name is now lost to me...may have begun with 'B'
And then there was the navy blue school stuff that came in quart bottles which you filled the individual desk inkwells up with

Blimey. You're going back a bit!

I did enjoy writing with a fountain pen though. Parker, Platignum....the names are still familiar but they made writing easy and stylish in a way your biros don't.

 

[peteblue]

There was the cheaper one, Stephens and a really cheaper one, whose name is now lost to me...may have begun with 'B'
And then there was the navy blue school stuff that came in quart bottles which you filled the individual desk inkwells up with

In junior school the teacher used to mix up water and a blue powder to produce the ink in large white ink jugs, prior to filling the ink wells.....

 

[Methuselah]

The early biro's weren't very successful. I got one for Christmas 1949 but the 'ink' didn't flow evenly and you got blotches. Not too bad if you used capital letters but handwriting was hardly legible. Many teachers said mine wasn't legible anyway. One said 'do you want to be a doctor'. Surprisingly, one of my later hobbies was calligraphy and I became quite proficient at various types of lettering, including copperplate writing.

 

[peteblue]

Being 'ink monitor' was a good job, filling up all the ink well's. Provided some good opportunities.

To get blue fingers.....

 

[peteblue]

The early biro's weren't very successful. I got one for Christmas 1949 but the 'ink' didn't flow evenly and you got blotches. Not too bad if you used capital letters but handwriting was hardly legible. Many teachers said mine wasn't legible anyway. One said 'do you want to be a doctor'. Surprisingly, one of my later hobbies was calligraphy and I became quite proficient at various types of lettering, including copperplate writing.

A lost art unfortunately.....

 

[roydo]

A lost art unfortunately.....

In a related way, the value of ones signature has lessened imo. I know its only on a scanner for work, but most if not all elderly customers try their best to replicate a proper sig on the screen when signing for a delivery. Younger generations are content with a quick squiggle.

I had to sign a new service agreement for work the other day, and an E Sig was the way we had to do it. Basically a button pressed. Could have been anyone.

Ah well, at least footballers seem to sign contracts still.

 

[tommytowne]

Being 'ink monitor' was a good job, filling up all the ink well's. Provided some good opportunities.

I was ink monitor in the final year of my primary school. On the face of it a cushy number, until kids started putting corners of blotting paper into the wells and drying up the ink and having to fish the mess out.

 

[peteblue]

View attachment 62883

Shouldn’t that lock be in the number 1 slot ?....