27 Jul
2001
27 Jul
'01
9:33 a.m.
--- Doug Coward <mranalog(a)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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