The Retro 51 Blog – "Archives"

 

Here in the Lone Star State, and across the country, the new school year is officially in session! And it got us to thinking of all of the school supplies we loved so dearly as we were growing up. So in true retro fashion, we  thought we’d put together a list of some of our favorite back-to-school supplies.

Looking back it’s hard not to get nostalgic when remembering our school days, and just how exciting new school supplies could be.  Aside from new clothes and hairstyles,  nothing was more exciting than heading to school with a backpack full of new school supplies!

Kids these days are required to purchase dry erase markers and glue sticks. But in our day, it was all about Husky pencils and rubber cement glue.

So take a walk with us down memory lane, as we look back at a few of our favorite vintage school supplies. And special thanks to all of our Facebook Fans who helped us to compile this list, we’ve given each of you a special mention. 🙂

Thanks to Robin Huterchson-Culp for her vote for “big fat #2 pencils.” We looked all over the web and this was the only picture we could find of the elusive Husky Pencil.

Thanks to Robin again for her second vote for LePage’s Gripspreader Mucilage. We forgot all about this classic glue! It was also hard to find online, but that may have been because we couldn’t remember the name . 🙂

Even if you aren’t familiar with LePage’s, you have to remember the potent fumes of rubber cement and its snotty-like consistency (go ahead and cringe, but you know it’s true).

Pastels were a must-have for art projects (and a nightmare for all moms who had to wash out the stains).

 At first glance, Big Chief was intimidating to say the least, but its ruled lines were every grade schoolers’ friend when it came to their ABCs and 123s.

Thanks to Hayden Ray Austin for his vote for notebooks.

Trapper Keepers were the ultimate school supply & fashion accessory all-in-one. You were definitely a cool kid if you had a Trapper Keeper.

Thanks Paul Kulish for this vote!

And just to keep it fair,  here’s one for the ladies.

We loved the anti-roll crayons. They were probably one of the few things we had a firm grip on at that age. 🙂

And with age (and better dexterity) came the Holy Grail of creativity, the 64-count Crayola Crayon box with built-in sharpener. Never before (nor since) had we been offered so many options. 🙂  Thanks to Charles Barilleaux for his vote on these!

Did you see your favorite back to school supplies here? Did we miss any that you just couldn’t live without? Let us know!