--- Doug Coward <mranalog_at_home.com> wrote:
> This just got me to thinking....
> How did pocket protectors become associated with 'computer
> enthusiasts'?
Have you ever seen the National Lampoon's "How to Spot a Nerd" poster? I
don't know if they drove the trend or if the trend drove them, but there's
a data point, c. 1973 (don't remember exactly when it came out).
> And how many here have wore a pocket protector on a regular
> basis in the past?
Not me. Too young. I remember them, but I never wore one.
> My father wore a pocket protector all the time even when
> he was not in uniform. In the 60's he managed gas stations.
I think they were lots more common in 1968 than 1978.
> Uniform shirts were expensive and the pocket protectors
> were handed out for free by parts, tool, and oil distributors.
> In the pocket protector he always carried - a tire gauge,
> two pens (for filling out credit card slips), and a small
> screwdriver.
But that's a specific application - trademen wearing uniforms. Pens
would leak, screwdrivers would poke holes in your shirt - all reasons
why someone invented the pocket protector in the first place.
I imagine the shift in public opinion came about because only Engineers
and Tradesmen would have probably worn them, even in the 1960s, and to
have one with two pens and a screwdriver proves that you are a) ready
to handle lots of situations, and b) not normal as a result of being
prepared. The combination of elements would make Joe Sixpack think that
only Gas Station attendants and Geeks would ever want/need one, and he's
not either one of those, so...
-ethan
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Received on Fri Jul 27 2001 - 16:33:11 BST