I remember having to use a protractor in school.  It was something we had to have among our school supplies from 6th to 9th grades.  It was made from clear plastic and had a small ruler at the bottom, I can't remember how long it was, and then an arc with various markings for the angle degrees when measuring.  

When I was working, there was one guy we used to refer to as the protractor because he was always protracting the length of departmental meetings by asking an array of frivolous and irrevalent questions.