Slated for Success



Now you can experience a slice of life from a turn-of-the-century American schoolhouse, without all the rampant consumption, pitiless discipline, and crushing agrarian poverty.

Our antique slate chalkboard — currently featured in the Viva Terra catalog — was reclaimed from late 19th and early 20th century schools.

The slates have been shrunk down to handy kitchen-friendly sizes, so if you’re going to make your kids write anything 100 times thereon, tell ‘em to fetch some seriously pointy chalk.

This item will add a touch of nostalgic flair to any home while serving as a conversation starter at cocktail parties, family functions, and barn-raisin’s. And it’s handy as heckfire.

Back in the day, these hard-to-find scholastic symbols were fixtures in American schools. Students once used handheld slates in an unwieldy system where teachers were forced to write out lessons individually. In the early 1800s, West Point Military Academy pioneered the use of the large slate chalkboard, and by the 1850s — spurred on by the burgeoning railroad industry — it was a tried-and-true (and essential) facet of the American educational system that allowed teachers to educate ever-larger broods of brats.

Own a piece of that exquisite surface that helped nurture generations of malleable American minds. And if you’re so inclined, learn more about the history of slate boards. It’s fascinating. No, really.