Remember these? Magic Slates all seem to have that cardboard top with a fun cartoon character or TV show star and then small pics down the sides. I remember loving to draw on these and to be able to just pull up the grey plastic page and have it all be a "fresh slate."
These were originally published under the Whitman brand, and later under Golden Books. Each slate is a piece of stiff cardboard, with a sheet of cellophane over a soft waxy surface on the front. Using the included red plastic stylus, a child can draw on the cellophane, and then lift the page to erase and start over.
I've been trying to figure out when these first came out, but the more I read the less I know. I have discovered that the "concept" at least predates Western publishing, I think. Freud wrote an article about the idea of a mystic notepad in 1925. Here's an article about his article. Check it out. It's wild!
2 comments:
Mmmmm. We always got to pick out one of these on shopping trips to Jamestown. My brother and I would draw all the way home in the car. I hadn't thought of these for years and years and years.
That is how I felt when I stumbled upon a reference to one the other day. WOW. All the stuff I used to love that I have since forgotten. I doubt I owned an Underdog one, but I'm sure there were many others. That Freud connection was a little bizarre too!
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