At the age of seven, Valery Chkalov went to study at a local school in Vasilyovo. While new pants and a shirt were sewn for him for the occasion, a schoolbag for textbooks and notebooks was passed down to him from his older brothers. Back then in 1911, the schoolbag was already rather shabby and had no shoulder straps. Throughout Chkalov’s school years, the bag deteriorated even more.

Most often, Valery wore a bag tucked into his belt so that it did not get in the way during play fighting with his friends. The bag also acted as a sled when sliding from ice slops — the thick leather glided well over the frozen surface.

The future pilot was an average student but had an excellent memory. He was great at physical exercise. Like many of his peers, Chkalov was an excellent swimmer — he swam across the Volga many times and dived under rafts and steamers. Also, everyone noted his interest in mathematics.

Anna Pavlovna Chkalova, Valery’s older sister, was a village teacher. She recalled how the village council asked young teachers to calculate the area of one of the plots planted with oats. They sat in the office and got down to the task. Valery entered and asked what they were doing. After listening to the task, he quickly counted everything in his head and added,

The teachers did not believe him and began to check everything on paper. All of Chkalov’s calculations turned out to be correct indeed.

From the memoirs of another teacher Voskresenskaya,

A year before the revolution, Valery’s father insisted that his son should enter the Cherepovets Technical School, and as the bag was no longer in use, his stepmother, Natalya Georgiyevna, gave it away to a woman who delivered milk to their house. Subsequently, when this woman heard about the opening of the museum and that they were collecting things that belonged to Chkalov, she brought the bag to the museum. The donor refused the reward, and Natalya Georgiyevna confirmed that the item was authentic.