School Days - 3/3 - Retroland

Tempera Paint

Let’s face it - art can be a messy ordeal. And budding Picasso or not, mom wasn’t going to be too thrilled if those new school clothes were ruined in art class. Luckily, for teachers, custodians and parents everywhere, there was the magical medium of Tempera paint, ready to assist the future little Rembrandts paint vivid blue skies, majestic trees, and wild animals aplenty.

Yearbooks

2 Comments

Few publications can conjure up as many memories as a high school yearbook. Dare to pull a dusty copy from your bookshelf and you are almost assured to spend a few hours of reminiscence. Each flip of the page brings the era back as if it were yesterday, making these very magical books indeed.

Playing Hooky

3 Comments

It’s a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and the prospect of spending such a glorious day holed up in a classroom just doesn’t seem right. And so, you decide “make other arrangements.” That’s right, we’re talking about playing hooky, that time-honored childhood ritual of finding something better to do, alone or with friends, and desperately hoping not to get caught.

Rainy Days

2 Comments

It’s safe to assume that an adult wrote those words. Granted, kids tend to have a love/hate relation with precipitation, mostly because they aren’t allowed to do what they desire – to run gleefully through a downpour, stomping puddles and splashing all who dare stand too close. Everything is slippery, mud is plentiful and clothes are expendable. If only they could get their parents to agree.

Pencil Fighting

2 Comments

As the Five-Finger Fillet of elementary school games, Pencil Fighting is perhaps one of the more destructive games found in classrooms and playgrounds everywhere. Readily accessible mechanical pencils as well as school rules have caused the once-popular game of pencil fighting to dwindle away into the memories of those who were active participants in the fights. Of course, at Retroland, we thrive on those memories. And so, today we reminisce about the lost art of the pencil fight.

Pop-a-Point Pencils

4 Comments

Kids in the 1980s kept it sharp with stacking “pop-a-point” pencils, one of the biggest fads-- outside of Trapper Keepers and scented markers-- to hit the classrooms of soon-to-be Gen-Xers. Pop-a-point pencils came in a variety of forms, from regular ol’ graphite to colored pencil and crayon versions featuring all the basic colors. Some of them had a clear exterior, some were tinted. Some were glittery, others were opaque. Many a treasured pencil featured favorite characters of the time, from Rainbow Brite to Care Bears and Transformers.