Philio Vance and more

The Cape Cod Mystery, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, 1931

pg 64

"Slough Sullivan's son who thinks he's greater than Philo Vance already..."

Philo Vance featured in 12 crime novels written by S. S. Van Dine (the pen name of Willard Huntington Wright), published in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, movies, and on the radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent. The novels were chronicled by his friend Van Dine (who appears as a kind of Dr. Watson figure in the books as well as the author).

In the movies, Vance was played by William Powell, Basil Rathbone, and in later installments by Warren William. Vance was a sort of American Peter Wimsey.

"I'll give you a clean slate."

In early schools, each child owned a book-sized writing slate encased in a wood frame. This was used for practicing script and it traveled to and from school with the student each day. The student scratched the slate with a slate pencil, which was a cylinder of rock. Eventually, the slate pencil was replaced by soft chalk, making it easier to write. Students did not preserve any of their work in the form of what is described today as class notes. Memorization, therefore, was emphasized and achieved through collective recitation led by the teacher. A keen memory characterized a good student.

After the Civil War, manufactured lead pencils similar to those used today were introduced. This also meant that most student work was now written on paper, making the work more portable for both teacher and student. Students owned pencil boxes for the safe transport of these pencils. The pencil was a substantial improvement. Its narrow design made it easier for children — especially young children with small hands — to control their writing and develop lettering and numbering skills
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http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/evolving_classroom/slate.html

"I taught you to tell the diffrence between a brig and a brigantine and a barque and a barkentine.
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts.
In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.

A barquentine (alternatively barkentine) is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts.


Barque

Barkentine

Brig

Brigantine