Chalk

What is chalk?

1801 BCE

Chalk is a soft white limestone formed from the skeletal remains of sea creatures.

Background Information

1802

The first chalk was used in prehistory for cave drawings. Later on, artists used chalk for sketching and some of those drawings survived until today because they were well protected.

Colored chalk

1814

Color chalk was invented in 1814 by James Pillans. His recipe included ground cha;l, dyes and porridge.

Chalk in the 1800's

1815

Chalk was used for teaching purposes as well. Back in the days there wasn't as many resources as there is in today's generation. Chalk would be used on blackboards as showed in the picture.

Interview #3 (My Grandmother)

1945

1. She quickly recognized chalk because she remembered that it was all her daughters played. She didn't know much of their history but she definitely knew what they were.
2. She explained how chalk is an old fashion tool. She also shared how she hasn't seen any in more than 20 years (she is old so it's obviously been a long time for her). She believes chalk isn't used anymore because people have created better replacements.
3. She wished chalk was still a trending tool.

Chalks replacement

1960

I wouldn't say chalk was replaced, if anything it just wasn't used as often once white boards became a thing. People found it easier to use white boards for obvious reasons.

Interview #2 (My mother)

1975

1. She said they were apart of school supplies.
2. She remembers buying us chalk as we grew up and noticed how much fun we had while using them. She did say that she can tell that we weren't interested in them as time went by. She assumed it was because there were many other things being created that dragged our attention.
3. She said she wished they were still a popping thing. She misses seeing us play with non technology things such as chalk.

Interview #1 (My sister)

1998

1. She knew that they were used as writing untensils in school. Even though pencils were already a thing, she thought of chalk as a funner utensil to use.
2. She noticed that chalk is rarely used nowadays. She shared how in her workspace, it's nothing but technology. She does use the basic utensils like pens and pencils but not chalk. "It's like if they were completely gone just like dinosaurs".
3. She wishes that her daughter had played with chalk more instead of a tablet.

Chalk in today's world

2021

Chalk is rarely used nowadays. Technology has obviously took over and new boards have came out. You'd be surprised if your teacher ever pulled out some chalk and began teaching. Although it's very fun to use, like I've said, it's no longer used as often.

Examples: Then to now

2021

Starting with chalk in history, we all know the OG white chalk. Nowadays we have expo markers, highlighters and even electronic pens. Like I've mentioned many times, chalk is no longer used as often because there's new resources that are obviously better and more useful. Moving on to the chalk erasers, back then they used rags and water. Now they have update to where the pen you use to write, can also erase. Overall it's just crazy how many things have been updated.