My mom lived in a historical house when she was a kid in the 60s. Since then, the house has become a museum. There are a lot of "artifacts" on display that "came from the 1800s" that are actually just toys my moms brothers made. My mom got a good laugh about it when she took me to visit the place.
I'm sure these finds must have dated in some way to verify the authenticity, but I always think back to seeing my uncles toys on display as if they were historical artifacts when I see stuff like this.
There's no mention in the article as to why the cuttings were beneath the floorboards. My guess is one girl got mad at another and slipped her classwork between the boards. Possible since this predated tongue & groove (the technology angle).
I wonder how old they were, they are quite good!
I've often wondered if people back then were more skilled at music and art overall since there were fewer mindless leisure activities.
But, at the same time, I'm sure a guitar or ink and paper were comparatively expensive, so who knows.
Plus people could drink at 10 back then, so I'm sure they found plenty of mindless distraction.
We used to hide fruit in sockets with a small piece of paper signed "Decay Inc". Looking forward to a Smithsonian article about it in 350 years.
Too bad “hean” was a misspelling. A hitherto unknown mythical bird would have been even more interesting. Or was it a species that became extinct?
Why where they so much more skilled than today's schoolchildren?
Sorry but that paper looks too white.
Earlier thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41045233
[flagged]
My wife found a cool 1896 Harper's School Geography textbook at an antique shop and got it for me, and it had the original pupil's name and signature (and date of 1897!) written on the front matter, but there are also a few other handwritten notes and the name of the school itself... it's such a neat little self-contained time capsule.
It also boggles my mind:
1. How accurate it was, in terms of map fidelity
2. The quality of the illustrations and prints, many of which are in several (what I imagine was offset?) colors!
3. How well it's held up. The cover looks essentially completely trashed, but the interior of the book's pages are almost entirely intact, and in great shape. (I'm not worried of them turning to dust in my hands, for instance.)
It's always fascinating to see just how little has changed, especially among schoolkids in nigh on 300 years!
Here's essentially the exact book I'm talking about, so it's not _that_ uncommon. Looks to be in almost identical condition, too: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184283104558