by Lorraine Syratt It’s that time again. Parents give their kids lunch money, fill their backpacks with calculators and all the trendy paper and pencils on their wish lists, throw their laptops over their shoulders, and drop them off at school in the family car. Reading, writing and arithmetic has lost its glamour. Only a few generations ago, children took lunch boxes to school. Small slate boards were used to calculate. And books, known as primers included all the information a young child needed to learn after walking two miles to school in a winter snow storm. Collectors keep that history alive with vintage and antique school collectibles. The list of school collectibles is vast. But most people who have a passion for them collect only a certain niche. Popular items are fountain pens, old school primers and readers, slate boards, vintage lunch boxes, yearbooks, school flags, class photos, bells for the teacher’s desk, and old ink bottles. Price guide to vintage classroom memorabilia: • Dick and Jane books are valued between $40 and $100. • Old school primers and readers are still inexpensive at under $20; most valued less than $10. • Victorian classroom photos under $50. • School letters, emblems and flags less than $20. • Slate boards are usually valued at $20 or less. • Antique and vintage school desks between $100 and $200. • Prices for antique teacher’s bells range from $30 to $400, depending on the maker, condition, rarity and age. • Older metal lunch box prices vary greatly because of high demand. A vintage Lone Ranger lunch box is valued at $1000, Hopalong Cassidy, Underdog, Popeye, Davey Crocket, Dudley Do Right, and The Beatles, are all valued between $300 and $1000. They are among the most sought after school collectibles. Collectors return to their childhoods or learn a little about their grandparent’s childhood with these collections and learning is what it’s all about.

Vintage Schoolteacher’s bell. The New Fun with Dick and Jane book, Circa 1950’s.