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Trapper Keepers are as much a part of my past as after school specials, Pac Man and scratch and sniff stickers. The Mead Company introduced the Trapper Keeper in 1978 and was an instant necessity for junior high and high school children. That infamous commerical played all summer long. You remember that commercial don't you? Two junior high school age boys are walking together down a hallway. One boy, who totes a regular folder loses his papers as they fall all over the place but his friend's papers stay neat and organized because he has a Trapper Keeper. He pages through his Trapper Keeper displaying to his distraught and angered friend, how he has a folder for every class, a zippered pencil pocket and he also can keep notebook paper in his Trapper Keeper. All his supplies in one large binder! It was amazing! After that commerical aired all summer long, on the first day of school everyone had their very own Trapper Keepers. Trapper Keepers were the coolest thing to hit the school supply market at the time.

But whatever happened to Trapper Keepers? Although my sons are still too small to worry about such organization I never see any of the neighborhood kids carrying one and I never see that silly commercial either, or any commercial advertising the Trapper Keeper, for that matter. Trapper Keepers were all rage through the 80's but as the 90's grew closer and technology advanced, sales dropped sharply. High school kids had new ways of staying organized as the 90's progressed. Laptops were and still are today, most students' primary way of staying organized. And who could blame them? Technology does make organization easier. Today instead of putting paper notes inside of paper folders, we put electronic notes inside of electronic files. Using a computer is faster, neater and the computer does the organizing for you. The Mead Company must have realized this as sales of the Trapper Keeper declined. From 1988 to 1995 they introduced graphic design covered Trapper Keepers. And the company made an attempt to reintroduce a remodeled Trapper Keeper to the US market in 2007. They revamped the Trapper Keeper by adding divider tabs instead of pocket folders and gone too was the Velcro closure, replaced by a magnetic closure. However; the new and improved Trapper Keeper didn't receive the same attention as the original when it was first introduced to the market.

Trapper Keepers, although they are still on the market today, are a rare find. Vintage Trapper Keepers remain popular in collector's markets and are often listed at four times their original price on websites like Ebay. They also remain popular with people like me who still like to do things "old school". My sons can make fun of me all they want but I still believe that Trapper Keepers are one the most ingenious inventions that now have their place in pop culture today.

Learn more about this author, Denise Calaman.
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