Magic Slate

Magic slates were popular dimestore toys in the USA from the 1950's-1980's. These cardboard-backed writing pads featured a plethora of popular cartoon characters adorning the outer edges. Tacked to the front was a cloudy plastic film overlaid on a piece of black paper that was covered in wax. With the enclosed plastic pen, you could write on the board, and the black wax would "magically" show through the plastic overlay. To erase your work, you simply lifted the plastic, creating a blank slate.

The Whitman company mass-produced these slates pretty cheaply, and they then wound up in the clutches of destructive children, which makes it tough to find them in mint condition today. The pens are often missing, the cartoon-adorned backing boards are are easily chipped, and not only did the plastic have a tendency to crinkle, but if a kid pressed too hard (which was easily done), it would leave permanent impressions in the both the wax and the plastic.

Due to the popularity and ephemeral nature of these toys, you can expect to pay several hundred dollars for one that's mint.