I was talking to my friend Kanako the other day and for some reason, we got onto the topic of pencil cases from our childhood. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the pencil cases I grew up with but in Asia, these were the golden staples! When I was in Kindergarden, I only had one of those tin rectangular pencil boxes with a tin insert so that the pencil box was divided into bottom and top. Quite simple and does the job. However, when I started Standard One in HK, I upgraded to a tricked out Hello Kitty pencil case. Oh yeah. These pencil cases are rectangular, padded with some sort of foam and covered in shiny plastic with Hello Kitty plastered all over it. The is a magnetic strip so that the lid clicks back in place but what is most fascinating about these pencil cases were that, they had secret compartments. There would be buttons on the side panel and I remember mine had buttons for: a secret smaller rectangle compartment on the left hand side that would pop out and that is where your put your eraser, a magnifying glass (what ever for, I don't know!) and a pencil sharpener. Some even had buttons to push so that the pencils you laid onto the bottom compartment would rise to an angle to make it easier for you to pick them up and use. I mean, that is pure engineering! I remember mind also had two arms that would slide out from the pencil box itself and a securing holder that held that lid at an angle so that you could put a book against the pencil box and it would stay put and you could copy and read from it.
It totally fuels the insanely OCD tendancy any child could have, do you remember your pencil cases from when you were a child?!
9 comments:
When I was going to school in the 60s, I had a metal pencil case which came equipped with a protractor and a compass.
oh oh oh....i dont even know where to start....i loved (well, love) hello kitty and i loved these pencil cases!! and...when i had my kids, i found the pencil cases (in disney characters...not as good in my opinion) and bought them all one. they never loved them as much as i did though :) love the secret compartments!
Oh man, those were like status symbols when I was in school. heh. It would be cool to get one just for nostalgia's sake. :)
Haha, I totally had one almost exactly the same (just not Hello Kitty). I think it had some mad scientist on the front. So funny!
I used to have a metal pencil case that I spent hours decorating with elaborate collages of words and pictures held down with sellotape! They were a labour of love and an expression of creativity in an otherwise quite uncreative academic world. I still love pencil cases!
Oh dude I totally remember those types of pencil cases. I had one with rockets on the top. Two layers of fun.
I was shocked and disturbed that America had no such pencil cases. I was the envy of my classmates.
Good memories :)
way back in the 90's i had a little twin stars pencil case that i absolutely adored, i kept all of my gel pens in it. but one day i realized i hadn't seen it in awhile, not very strange as i was in my twenties. i lost that thing for years; then when we were moving for the third time i found it. all my "special" pens were still in it, i love it still. poor thing was missing the pencil sharpener though.
Great post. I think one of the basic things that we should know know is that we must always make sure that you are safe in every transactions you wanted to indulge with.
My sister got that pencil case today except it opens on top and under too and it has way more hello kitty motifs on it. there's a built in sharpener in it. It was €10 in a chinese shop.
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