Interesting Jeppe History - Amazing Piece of School History Found

I found this little piece of slate on Collard's Folly a few months ago.  I could not identify what it was used for.  It has little etched squares.  I asked around, no one knew.  I even googled roof tiles, I could not find any info.  Last night I was watching a 'mudlarking' show, I saw a similar object. 

I know what it is now,

 a piece of late 19th Century early 20th Century Writing Slate

Below: An example of a Victorian Writing Slate.  On one side it had little squares t0 practice writing numbers and on the other side lines for practicing letters

Very old print advertisement for a writing slate

'

'The writing slate consisted of a piece of slate, typically either 4x6 inches or 7x10 inches, encased in a wooden frame.

A slate pencil was used to write on the slate board. It was made from a softer and lighter coloured stone such as shale or chalk.

Usually, a piece of cloth or slate sponge was used to clean it and this was sometimes attached with a string to the bottom of the writing slate.

By the nineteenth century, writing slates were used around the world in nearly every school and were a central part of the slate industry. At the dawn of the twentieth century, writing slates were the primary tool in the classroom for students. In the 1930s (or later) writing slates began to be replaced by more modern methods. However, writing slates did not become obsolete. They are still made in the twenty-first century, though in small quantities'

Sometimes multiple pieces of slate were bound together into a "book" and horizontal lines were etched onto the slate surface as a guide for neat handwriting'

Slate pencils

19th century slate pencils

'In the early days these slate pencils would have been sharpened using a jack knife. But by the 1870s you could find them pre-sharpened. This would have been done in the factory using a grindstone.'

Below:  Marks on bricks in an old school in the UK where children sharpened their slate pencils.

Have you ever wondered where the- "Wipe the Slate Clean" Idiom comes from.

From Edwardian and Victorian children writing on slates and if they made a mistake - using a bit of spit to wipe the slate clean with their finger 😊

wipe the slate clean

 idiom

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Definition of wipe the slate clean

: to forget all the things that have happened or been done and start doing something again : to start again from the very beginning

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_(writing)

https://clickamericana.com/topics/culture-and-lifestyle/school-education/vintage-stationery-school-office-supplies-1918

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/a-clean-slate

https://clickamericana.com/topics/culture-and-lifestyle/school-education/vintage-stationery-school-office-supplies-1918

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clean%20slate

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wipe%20the%20slate%20clean

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-writing.htm

https://www.victorianpassage.com/2012/08/back_to_school_series_slate_pe/#:~:text=In%3A%201870%2C%20Browse%20By%20Era,in%20the%201870's%20or%20before.

https://www.google.com/search?q=old+slate+pencils&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwja-J_ruaL3AhUSpRoKHVyFCmgQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=old+slate+pencils&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECAAQQzoFCAAQgARQoAlYtg1g1g9oAHAAeACAAekBiAHbCJIBAzItNZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=_uJfYtqBH5LKatyKqsAG&bih=888&biw=2049&rlz=1C1AVFC_enZA891ZA891#imgrc=IIX0turgzQby1M&imgdii=-046FdMnFLIHzM