Thank you, folks, for your ongoing contributions to this discussion! I'm
grateful for your openness to sharing your thoughts and experiences. What I
find interesting are the multiple uses and evolution of pencils over time.
As with all objects we recover, knowing the context is critical - whether
they're found with toys, at a tavern, in slave quarters - and should guide
our interpretations of the pencils' significance. But, to flip the
perspective, pencils are also the context. From the examples you all have
given, it is clear to me that slate pencils have served multiple purposes
and I'm glad I'm paying some attention to them (as you all are, as well!)!
Thanks again!
Best,
Meg
On Thu, Apr 21, 2016 at 9:37 AM, Misty Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Thanks, Tim and Cregg, this is interesting and helpful. I suspect that I
> found arc light rods rather than battery ones given your description, Tim,
> as well as the context.
>
> Misty
>
>
> Misty Jackson, Ph.D., RPA
> Arbre Croche Cultural Resources,
> Leslie, Michigan 49251
> Center for Maritime and
> Underwater Resource Management
> www.cmurm.org
>
>
> "I can testify that friendship has literally cured a fever, and the
> medicine of daily affection, a bad wound." Walt Whitman
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 21, 2016, at 8:59 AM, Madrigal, Cregg wrote:
>
> > Misty,
> >
> > The Jersey City site I mentioned also had a "carbon arc light rod"
> fragment in the same context as the slate pencils and tablets that might
> have also been used for writing.
> >
> > Cregg
> >
> >
> > T. Cregg Madrigal, Ph.D.
> > Environmental Specialist 3 - Archaeology
> > New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
> > Municipal Finance and Construction Element
> > Mail Code 401-03D
> > PO Box 420
> > Trenton, NJ 08625-0420
> > 609-633-1170
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Misty Jackson
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 4:37 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Slate pencils
> >
> > Meg,
> >
> > I recovered six fragmentary and two complete graphite rods during
> monitoring in Saginaw a few years at a corner along a main street. I
> suspect these are electrodes for batteries rather than writing tools,
> possibly for a corner telephone given their size. The two complete ones are
> 2.88 inches and 3.6 inches in length, and their diameters are .5 inch.
> Three rods, including the two that are probably complete, had conically
> shaped tips suggesting they also may have been used secondarily as pencils
> after removal from the battery. Tim Bennett has similar ones from his
> family's home site here in Michigan that he is interpreting as pencils. I
> don't know how common it was to secondarily use graphite rods as pencils,
> if at all, or if pencils and graphite rods are possibly being confused.
> >
> > Misty
> >
> > Misty Jackson, Ph.D., RPA
> > Arbre Croche Cultural Resources,
> > Leslie, Michigan 49251
> > Center for Maritime and
> > Underwater Resource Management
> > www.cmurm.org
> >
> >
> > "I can testify that friendship has literally cured a fever, and the
> medicine of daily affection, a bad wound." Walt Whitman
> >
> >
> > On Apr 20, 2016, at 1:06 PM, Meg Gorsline wrote:
> >
> >> Thank you, everyone, for your helpful references, comments, and
> >> experiences! I agree, Jim, that pencils may have more to reveal than we
> >> usually credit them with. I have never come across carved pencils
> before -
> >> those were particularly interesting examples. I've noticed a trend in
> >> archaeological interpretations of slate pencils, which is an association
> >> with children and/or education. But weren't slate pencils also used for
> >> leisure activities (gaming?) and in craft production (carpentry, etc.)?
> >> Again, thank you all for this interesting discussion!
> >>
> >> Best,
> >> Meg
> >>
> >> On Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 10:00 AM, Marie-Lorraine Pipes <
> >> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I grew up in France during 1960s. All children used slates to practice
> >>> in-class exercises and to do homework. Only the final versions were
> >>> transferred onto paper with ink and handed in. that is because paper
> was
> >>> incredibly expensive.
> >>>
> >>> The slateboards were always framed in wood. We had slate pencils that
> were
> >>> held in metal tube frames with screws that moved moved them through the
> >>> tube as they worn down. We never heldslate pencils without the frame as
> >>> they dirtied the hand. Also, we had slate pencils of different colors
> for
> >>> highlighting and coloring assignments in class. Last everyone had
> little
> >>> plastic pots (formerly ceramic) that held water and a sponge so you
> could
> >>> erase your slateboard.
> >>>
> >>> My mother and grandmother used the same equipment when they were in
> school.
> >>>
> >>> Marie-Lorraine Pipes, PhD, RPA
> >>> Zooarchaeologist Consultant
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: Madrigal, Cregg <[log in to unmask]>
> >>> To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
> >>> Sent: Wed, Apr 20, 2016 9:50 am
> >>> Subject: Re: Slate pencils
> >>>
> >>> Meg,
> >>>
> >>> At the Covert-Larch neighborhood excavation in Jersey City, NJ, there
> were
> >>> over 200 slates and slate pencils from late 19th to early 20th century
> >>> residential contexts. Like Carl mentioned, some of the slate tablet
> >>> fragments appear to have been scored. They also found a disassembled
> wood
> >>> frame they think may have been from a writing slate, as well as some
> >>> graphite pencils.
> >>>
> >>> Howson, Jean, and Leonard G. Bianchi
> >>> 2014 COVERT-LARCH: ARCHAEOLOGY OF A JERSEY CITY NEIGHBORHOOD. Data
> >>> Recovery for the Route 1&9T (25) St. Paul's Viaduct Replacement
> Project,
> >>> Jersey City, Hudson County, NJ. Prepared for New Jersey Department of
> >>> Transportation by the The RBA Group, Inc., Cultural Resource Unit.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Cregg
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> T. Cregg Madrigal, Ph.D.
> >>> Environmental Specialist 3 - Archaeology
> >>> New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
> >>> Municipal Finance and Construction Element
> >>> Mail Code 401-03D
> >>> PO Box 420
> >>> Trenton, NJ 08625-0420
> >>> 609-633-1170
> >>> [log in to unmask]
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Carl
> >>> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 2:14 PM
> >>> To: [log in to unmask]
> >>> Subject: Re: Slate pencils
> >>>
> >>> I too have found slate pencils and writing slates on a wide variety of
> >>> sites in SC and NC, including sites occupied by African American
> slaves and
> >>> Freedmen. Often the slates are scored like notebook paper. I use their
> >>> presence on Af-Am sites to highlight the desire to learn to read and
> write,
> >>> despite laws forbidding the practice.
> >>>
> >>> On 4/19/2016 2:05 PM, Martha Zierden wrote:
> >>>> They are a regular find on sites in Charleston, SC. They are more
> >>>> common in 19th century contexts, but some are recovered from late 18th
> >>>> century deposits, as well. A maximum length is 3"
> >>>> Martha Zierden
> >>>>
> >>>> On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 2:00 PM, Keith Doms
> >>>> <[log in to unmask]>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> You can check various catalogs (Sears and Montgomery Wards) for
> >>>>> prices and some description. The 1902 Sears repro catalog omits the
> >>>>> pencil pages but years ago Sears actually sent me a copy of them.
> >>>>> They sold cedar encased slate pencils at $.08/dozen.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I recently found a 1 inch nub of a slate pencil with a grove carved
> >>> around
> >>>>> the base. A worn out pencil that was once tied to something.
> Mostly
> >>>>> their presence is noted without much comment.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Keith R. Doms
> >>>>> Newlin Grist Mill
> >>>>> Site Manager
> >>>>> 219 S. Cheyney Rd.
> >>>>> Glen Mills, PA 19342
> >>>>> (610) 459-2359
> >>>>> [log in to unmask]
> >>>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> >>>>> Meg Gorsline
> >>>>> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 1:09 PM
> >>>>> To: [log in to unmask]
> >>>>> Subject: Slate pencils
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Good afternoon,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I'm trying to gather some information about slate pencils. I've come
> >>>>> across a few publications about writing slates (including Davies 2005
> >>>>> and Swords
> >>>>> 2008) and I'm wondering if folks have any additional suggestions for
> >>>>> literature about slate pencils?
> >>>>> There are a few slate pencils in a 19th century northeast U.S.
> >>>>> domestic collection I'm analyzing, and I am curious to hear what
> >>>>> others have made of any slate pencils they've recovered. Thanks in
> >>>>> advance for any references, information, or insight you may have to
> >>> share!
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Best,
> >>>>> Meg Gorsline
> >>>>> Doctoral Candidate
> >>>>> The Graduate Center, CUNY
> >>>>> New York, NY
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
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