A Bit of 50's Trivia

[W. Gray]

When I was in junior high school, lined note book paper in the school supply stores was available in both three-hole and two-hole punch. Some kids liked three-hole paper; some liked the two-hole.

Notebook binders came in a two-ring and three-ring configuration to fit the available paper. It seems to me the two types of paper were close in overall size but their dimensions actually differed with one being slightly larger than the other. Nevertheless, teachers did not seem to care which paper came across their desk.

This was also a time when kids competed with each other to see who could carry the fanciest notebook. I splurged one year on a leather bound two-ring zippered note book at $2.95. The normal run-of-the-mill blue cloth covered ring binder was probably around 50 cents.

I preferred the two-hole paper because the lines were narrower and I thought I could write neater. The three-hole paper had wider lines and may have negatively reminded me of the primary school Indian Chief tablets that had really wide lines.

At some point, and I think it was in the later fifties, the paper manufacturers decided it was not cost effective to be manufacturing two different sizes of notebook paper and they standardized on three-hole. The standardization on three hole paper caused the two ring binder manufacturers to shift to manufacturing only three ring.

[twirldoggy]

Waldo, I liked the larger lined paper for the same reason:  I thought I could write neater on it.  I would have been in heaven with a leather notebook, but did not get one of those till much later in life.

[Wilma]

I managed somehow to have a zippered leather notebook while in high school.  I don't remember how I got it.  Probably saved for it out of my paper delivering money.  Two hole or three hole didn't matter to me.  But I liked the wider lines.  Narrow lines made me feel like I was cramping and besides if the assignment was one or two pages, it made a difference.  Mine had pockets inside and even now I like folders that have pockets and keep some on hand.

[jpbill]

I think we are forgetting another option in this notebook paper discussion.  They combined the 3hole and 2 hole and made 5 hole paper so it would fit either style of notebook.

[Diane Amberg]

I had a leather zippered 3 hole notebook too with pockets on either end. It had a rather bumpy surface. It had belonged to Daddy and he passed it along to me. Took me through high school and college and many years of teaching.They weren't in style anymore but I loved it. I finally wore it out just a few years ago and tossed it.

[Sarge]

If my feeble memory serves me right, I believe the narrow lined was called college ruled paper. 

[Wilma]

Believe you are right, Sarge.  I had forgotten that.  A zippered leather notebook was a sign of status.  I think mine was second hand.  I don't know what has happened to it but I am sure that I don't still have it.  Zippered notebooks were being used in the 40's.  I graduated in 1948.

[Diane Amberg]

Sarge,you are right. A couple of my UD classes specified college ruled paper and I hated it because it made my writing seem so squeezed. Today we are about about to lose cursive altogether because of texting and computers. It won't be long before kids won't be able to read the original famous documents and will demand that they be typed!

[Mom70x7]

 
Diane -

There are high school students today who can't read cursive, and they obviously can't write it!

Sad, sad, sad.

It is an even trade-off that they can text faster than most adults can type? 

[W. Gray]

I just checked Office Depot and found College Ruled Notebook Filler Paper, 8.5 x 5.5, 7-hole punched. 120 sheets, $2.49.

OfficeMax has 3-hole paper in either wide line or college ruled, 8.5 x 10.5, at $1.49 for 150 sheets.

I cannot remember what notebook paper cost in the 50s but it might have been 10 or 15 cents a pack.

Today's good quality three ring binders seem really expensive but even the so called heavy duty binders are not heavy duty, in my opinion.