5 ms·

Note how most of them are reading and writing on pitched surfaces, either using a pitched desk or a pitched stand. The near-ubiquity of flat reading and writing

by leoc 12y ago

Note how most of them are reading and writing on pitched surfaces, either using a pitched desk or a pitched stand. The near-ubiquity of flat reading and writing surfaces is a recent development afaics: even old mass-manufactured school desks from the early-mid C20 tend to have pitched surfaces. The explanation seems to be that while pitched surfaces are better than flat horizontal surfaces for both reading and writing, flat surfaces are superior for piling crap onto (loose papers, books, telephones, adding machines, typewriters and what have you).

nl 12y ago
I'm pretty sure I used a desk with a sloping top at school in the late 1980s or early '90s. It looks like it was probably 30 years old though. Form memory it was ok to write on, great to read on and terrible to put thing on. But it had a self underneath where you kept things (and could hide novels to read during class).
- leoc 12y ago
  Yes, some old pitched school-desks were definitely hanging around in the '80s, but my impression is that their manufacturing was another casualty of the '60s/'70s. (That seems to be when the two-seating, flat, Formica-surfaced table came in as school furniture: so modular! so modern!)
arrrg 12y ago
Pitched surfaces were definitely a thing in schools until the middle of the 20th century. Check out these images from a Bavarian school museum, showing classrooms from 1875 and 1920: http://www.schulmuseum.org/raeume/ http://www.schulmuseum.org/raeume/ That’s not 45°, but still slightly pitched. Also note that bench and table are one massive combined piece of furniture, with two (or more) students sharing one bench. That makes the classroom layout completely inflexible. I think flat tables (and individual chairs) in schools can also be explained by an increased desire to reconfigure the classroom on the fly, moving tables around to make working in groups easier.
- wyclif 12y ago
  "Many of us have seen paintings of monks with quill pens diligently transcribing ancient texts. Their work was placed directly in front and they sat fairly erect, writing on slanted surfaces." http://ririanproject.com/2013/01/09/what-monks-can-teach-you-about-healthy-computing/ http://ririanproject.com/2013/01/09/what-monks-can-teach-you...
- leoc 12y ago
  > I think flat tables (and individual chairs) in schools can also be explained by an increased desire to reconfigure the classroom on the fly, moving tables around to make working in groups easier. Absolutely: it probably mirrors (and likely imitated) the thinking about modular, open-plan offices which came into fashion around the same time too. To an extent it probably also reflects the arrival of Stuff on Your Desk into schoolchildren's lives as well: crafting activities and educational toys in the classroom, but also just more books and more papers than before. (I'm not holding up C20 pitched school desks as a good example of pitched working surfaces: they were often cheap, sometimes even unstable, unadjustable and cramped, likely designed for someone a foot shorter than the poor eejit who was actually jammed into it. They were more like the sad fag-end http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fag-end-18204918.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fag-end-18204918.jpg of a long tradition; I think they may have helped sour many people on the idea of pitched working surfaces.)
  - sethrin 12y ago
    The term 'fag end' predates the cigarette by a couple centuries, at least in Europe. In figurative use, I am surprised to see it associated with cigarette butts; it's a very unusual figure, and I would have expected anyone using it to be aware of the (original) meaning.
    - leoc 12y ago
      Interesting! I think nearly all contemporary British English speakers associate it with cigarette butts, though. See http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fag-end http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fag-end and the Collins entry at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fag+end http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fag+end .
a3n 12y ago
I sat in something very much like this, with the aerodynamic supply bucket under the desk surface, in elementary school in early 1960s Redwood City. The bucket contained papers, pencils, and paste for art period snacks. http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/old-school-desk-17129836.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/old-school-desk-17129836.jpg
privong 12y ago
Pitched surfaces of course survive in some areas. Drafting tables / drawing boards[0] come to mind. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_board

by leoc 12y ago

nl 12y ago

I'm pretty sure I used a desk with a sloping top at school in the late 1980s or early '90s. It looks like it was probably 30 years old though. Form memory it was ok to write on, great to read on and terrible to put thing on. But it had a self underneath where you kept things (and could hide novels to read during class).

leoc 12y ago
Yes, some old pitched school-desks were definitely hanging around in the '80s, but my impression is that their manufacturing was another casualty of the '60s/'70s. (That seems to be when the two-seating, flat, Formica-surfaced table came in as school furniture: so modular! so modern!)

arrrg 12y ago

Pitched surfaces were definitely a thing in schools until the middle of the 20th century. Check out these images from a Bavarian school museum, showing classrooms from 1875 and 1920: http://www.schulmuseum.org/raeume/ http://www.schulmuseum.org/raeume/ That’s not 45°, but still slightly pitched. Also note that bench and table are one massive combined piece of furniture, with two (or more) students sharing one bench. That makes the classroom layout completely inflexible. I think flat tables (and individual chairs) in schools can also be explained by an increased desire to reconfigure the classroom on the fly, moving tables around to make working in groups easier.

wyclif 12y ago
"Many of us have seen paintings of monks with quill pens diligently transcribing ancient texts. Their work was placed directly in front and they sat fairly erect, writing on slanted surfaces." http://ririanproject.com/2013/01/09/what-monks-can-teach-you-about-healthy-computing/ http://ririanproject.com/2013/01/09/what-monks-can-teach-you...
leoc 12y ago
> I think flat tables (and individual chairs) in schools can also be explained by an increased desire to reconfigure the classroom on the fly, moving tables around to make working in groups easier. Absolutely: it probably mirrors (and likely imitated) the thinking about modular, open-plan offices which came into fashion around the same time too. To an extent it probably also reflects the arrival of Stuff on Your Desk into schoolchildren's lives as well: crafting activities and educational toys in the classroom, but also just more books and more papers than before. (I'm not holding up C20 pitched school desks as a good example of pitched working surfaces: they were often cheap, sometimes even unstable, unadjustable and cramped, likely designed for someone a foot shorter than the poor eejit who was actually jammed into it. They were more like the sad fag-end http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fag-end-18204918.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fag-end-18204918.jpg of a long tradition; I think they may have helped sour many people on the idea of pitched working surfaces.)
- sethrin 12y ago
  The term 'fag end' predates the cigarette by a couple centuries, at least in Europe. In figurative use, I am surprised to see it associated with cigarette butts; it's a very unusual figure, and I would have expected anyone using it to be aware of the (original) meaning.
  - leoc 12y ago
    Interesting! I think nearly all contemporary British English speakers associate it with cigarette butts, though. See http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fag-end http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fag-end and the Collins entry at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fag+end http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fag+end .

a3n 12y ago

I sat in something very much like this, with the aerodynamic supply bucket under the desk surface, in elementary school in early 1960s Redwood City. The bucket contained papers, pencils, and paste for art period snacks. http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/old-school-desk-17129836.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/old-school-desk-17129836.jpg

privong 12y ago

Pitched surfaces of course survive in some areas. Drafting tables / drawing boards[0] come to mind. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_board