Our BetterMost Community > The Polling Place
20 Questions
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: Kerry on December 04, 2009, 09:19:01 am ---I remember those type desks, David. There were desks like that at my (what we call in Australia) primary school (ages 8-11 approx.). One year, I remember I was the Ink Monitor. I think it was when I was in 5th class, when I was 10. It was a great honour to be Ink Monitor. The ink came in powdered form. I remember it was in brown paper packets. As Ink Monitor, I used to mix the dark blue ink powder with water and then fill all the ink wells in the classroom. Gee, you've brought back lots of memories there, David. Things I thought I'd forgotten. And now that I'm thinking about it again, it's all so surprisingly vivid. I can even remember the smell of the ink. I liked that smell. :)
--- End quote ---
What a fun memory Kerry! Thanks for telling us about it. :-*
I wish I still had those desks. I think we just left them at the house when we moved from Radnor Road to the new house in Avalon Hills (the house Dad lives in now). Those desks were beautiful. I have no idea where Mom found them. You could see carvings in the desks where the students carved their names into the wood. I'm sure those carvings were very old.
The desks we had at my school didn't have the ink wells. They were just plain desks. The top part of the desk lifted up so you could store your books and papers inside. I remember the desks Mom bought didn't have the lift up lids. They had slots in the front of them instead. :)
Mom was very good at finding unusual things like those desks. She found a beautiful table, at some thrift store I think. She brought it home and fixed it up and painted it. We still have it. It sits downstairs in the foyer. I don't like the color she used though. It is olive green. Yuck. Someday I'd like to repaint it. Other than the color though, it looks very nice. She did a good job with it. I'll take a picture of it some day soon and post it here - I need to find my camera though. I've misplaced the darned thing! lol
delalluvia:
--- Quote from: David In Indy on December 05, 2009, 03:01:46 am ---What a fun memory Kerry! Thanks for telling us about it. :-*
I wish I still had those desks. I think we just left them at the house when we moved from Radnor Road to the new house in Avalon Hills (the house Dad lives in now). Those desks were beautiful. I have no idea where Mom found them. You could see carvings in the desks where the students carved their names into the wood. I'm sure those carvings were very old.
The desks we had at my school didn't have the ink wells. They were just plain desks. The top part of the desk lifted up so you could store your books and papers inside. I remember the desks Mom bought didn't have the lift up lids. They had slots in the front of them instead. :)
Mom was very good at finding unusual things like those desks. She found a beautiful table, at some thrift store I think. She brought it home and fixed it up and painted it. We still have it. It sits downstairs in the foyer. I don't like the color she used though. It is olive green. Yuck. Someday I'd like to repaint it. Other than the color though, it looks very nice. She did a good job with it. I'll take a picture of it some day soon and post it here - I need to find my camera though. I've misplaced the darned thing! lol
--- End quote ---
Funny how time changes things. One man's treasure is another man's junk. We didn't have ink wells in our desks when we went to school, but we still had many wooden ones. Yes, kids carved names, wrote on and marked the wooden surface, etc. And it was considered embarassing and indicative of our school being too poor to erase the graffitti and/or replace the desk-tops. How everyone longed to get one of the new desks that were plastic with clean desktops that could't be damaged.
southendmd:
I love those old desks, too! I have a tiny one, possibly for kindergarten. Instead of a hold for the inkwell, it has a little ledge for pencils/crayons. Beautiful scroll ironwork on the sides, solid maple top and fold-down seat in front.
I use it to hold my rather modern television--it's the perfect size, and the little seat in front holds the dvd player.
Kerry:
--- Quote from: southendmd on December 05, 2009, 12:43:06 pm ---
I love those old desks, too! I have a tiny one, possibly for kindergarten. Instead of a hold for the inkwell, it has a little ledge for pencils/crayons. Beautiful scroll ironwork on the sides, solid maple top and fold-down seat in front.
I use it to hold my rather modern television--it's the perfect size, and the little seat in front holds the dvd player.
--- End quote ---
OMG! :o That is exactly what my old school desk looked like! Right down to the ironwork on the sides. The top lifted up and that's where books were kept. The hole on the right is where the inkwell was and there was a ridge or two running across the top, alongside the inkwell, for pens and pencils. The only difference between the desk shown and my old school desk is that the hinges to lift the lid were located just below the inkwell and pen rack, so they didn't lift when the lid was lifted. Otherwise, the ink would have gone straight down the neck of the kid in front when the lid was lifted! ::) :laugh:
We had exercise books to write in, not slates. I'm old, but not that old! Haha! ;) :laugh:
Ellemeno:
--- Quote from: Kerry on December 04, 2009, 09:19:01 am ---I remember those type desks, David. There were desks like that at my (what we call in Australia) primary school (ages 8-11 approx.). One year, I remember I was the Ink Monitor. I think it was when I was in 5th class, when I was 10. It was a great honour to be Ink Monitor. The ink came in powdered form. I remember it was in brown paper packets. As Ink Monitor, I used to mix the dark blue ink powder with water and then fill all the ink wells in the classroom. Gee, you've brought back lots of memories there, David. Things I thought I'd forgotten. And now that I'm thinking about it again, it's all so surprisingly vivid. I can even remember the smell of the ink. I liked that smell. :)
--- End quote ---
Kerry, I love that teacher who chose you as ink monitor. That sure is a great honour - the care and focus you must have shown as a ten year old, to be trusted with mixing ink! Thank you for telling us that story.
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