@pooflady @chuckf1 Sometimes i used a boy. Sometimes i used a cute boy. And sometimes i carried books for those boys, or for friends.
If you dont have a backpack/messenger bag/gym bag, who carries books for whom can a form of social currency (among my friends, a fairly open and democratic one.)
One classmate in HS had a early version of a wheelie bag. People would borrow it from him, and use it to race thru temporary obstacle courses.
I now recall that on gym days I had a gym bag or for that day wrapped everything up in a towel and if we had homework used our hands.
We had lockers and didn't have homework in every class or we had one period where we could get some work done without bringing 15lbs of books home.
I went to a Vo-Tech high school so two weeks of academics and two weeks of vocational training (data processing - cards with chips). Fun times actually!
@chuckf1 interesting because I went to school a long time ago and don't remember these tougher, braver, stronger "walk to school uphill both ways" children other old people speak of. I do know we could never call young people "kids" with being told kids were baby goats.
No bag, I went to a continuation school, they were happy if we just showed up. They even had pencils for us. At the school I was kicked out of I actually got an F minus in world cultures, that teacher hated me with a passion. That grade is my proudest high school moment.
@jml326 My Jansport found me in freshman year, and followed me thru constant abuse for more than 20 years. Finally lost it in a move. I miss it. I also know that wherever it is, it's still indestructible, in great shape, and working hard.
And I still have the Apple backpack I won (as part of a prize in an Apple contest when I registered my ][plus in 1981) and used through college. My high school pack is long gone (noname and it fell apart).
I think I used the same backpack all four years. My family wasn't the sort to spend money on name brands, so I think about halfway through year one, the stitching on the main zipper was completely ripped out, exposing everything inside the bag 100% of the time. Was decorated with a Grateful Dead pin, a Lords of Acid pin, and a bunch of fragmented anarcho-queer-feminist sentiments plastered all over it in paint pen. I should try to track it down, use it as my work bag.
There were no bags for books when I was in K-12. I got a backpack for my books when I was a freshman in college and thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever done.
@SSteve Too funny - I had the same experience. Not sure why none of us even knew what they were before college. I was stunned and amazed at how wonderfully useful they were when I finally caught on to them. :)
In the 70's, I was enamored with military surplus gas mask bags, which opened to the side and really weren't much good for anything but holding a gas mask. Then there were all these Swiss medical bags that didn't really fit much well. In the 80's there was all this East German stuff, including a map case that really didn't work well. Now we know why it is surplus.
@radi0j0hn Surplus stuff is great. I had one of the Swiss canvas backpacks (too large/heavy for school), and sold it later for 5x what I paid. Currently have a Malice pack (Alice pack and frame with Molle straps and belt) for larger loads and it works quite well.
@pooflady I was one of those kids who got talked to and once sent home for breaking the dress code. I must have worn penny loafers at some point.
(not for the current slutty or biker-gang or non-pc thing - gasp - i wore t-shirts, pants, and jeans and refused pantyhose. I was treated as a full-on Danger To Society).
@f00l LOL - it never occurred to us to wear anything but a skirt or dress to school. We knew it wasn't allowed. And pantyhose hadn't yet been invented. It was probably '69 or '70 before we could wear pants (pantsuits) to work.
@pooflady Same era. But i remember wearing pantyhose to my un-air-conditioned schools in Texas, and hating every second of it. I remember class and being utterly miserable.
At first pants werent allowed, then pants ok, but no jeans. I broke both rules a lot, but carried skirts. My parents hated this, and we had constant fights over it. When school powers called me out, i put on skirts somewhat shorter than allowed, instead. The school would put up with that rather than a second fight. Finally the rules changed.
A school VP later told me in confidence that it was a few "smart" girls breaking the rules, and their parents, who forced the change. Most people went along, and they could discipline the questionable students, but there was always a few bound-for-excellent-colleges girls at each school who simply refused to wear skirts all the time. And some of those parents supported their daughters and fought the school over it. There was a rumor that one parent threatened to sue.
And what was worse - more embarrassing - for current policy, according to this school VP, was that one girl who got into the University of Chicago was told during her college admissions process that her attitude toward "that incredibly stupid and insulting high school dress code" was a plus, and this fact was communicated directly to the high school by the college admissions people for some reason.
Since it wasn't mentioned yet, a briefcase, (it might have been my dad's). A year later, the hard-core nerds started using briefcases with such dedication and fervor I had to give mine up--or suffer the wrath of Cthulhu.
L.L. Bean backpack to transport the 30 pounds of books to and from school. In school they banned us from carrying bags to classes. So the 3 periods of hell were fun with 14 pounds of books and notes to carry. But, man, that LL Bean bag stayed with me from 1991 to today. Best school-related purchase ever.
In high school I used a backpack my parent bought so I would fit in. In college I used a Timbuk2 messenger bag purchased at some hippy-dippy shop a few blocks off campus.
I must be ancient. I used no bag or a briefcase that had a suitcase handle on top and a leather piece that attached the two sides which opened via a V hinge, like a larger old time doctors bag.
I used a giant-ass black Duffle bag. Namely, this one from Marlboro, though with the brand patch removed. I think I still have it somewhere, but don't feel like digging around for it. It was huge.
There's a story behind this. Well, two stories. Story 1 was that I was a weird-ass kid in high school who tried to be cool by wearing all black and carrying a duffel bag. This story sucks.
The second story is how I got the bag. My dad doesn't smoke. Never smoked. During the whole Marlboro Miles promotional thing, he would take the Miles off discarded cigarette packs that he found. His job took him all around Philadelphia, mostly to recreation centers where he inspected construction work. He found a lot of Marlboro packs with the Miles still on, and we got a lot of Marlboro crap out of it. And it was often quality shit too: nice camping gear, pocket knives, even a really nice Swiss Army Watch with no Marlboro branding at all. I also got a Zippo lighter out of the deal, too.
A dime bag.
On one shoulder, of course.
In my day we carried our books in our hands. Yes, kids, I did say "in our hands". But of course, that was before the wussification of America.
@chuckf1 So did I, but I think it was because backpacks hadn't been thought of yet.
@pooflady
@chuckf1
Sometimes i used a boy. Sometimes i used a cute boy.
And sometimes i carried books for those boys, or for friends.
If you dont have a backpack/messenger bag/gym bag, who carries books for whom can a form of social currency (among my friends, a fairly open and democratic one.)
One classmate in HS had a early version of a wheelie bag. People would borrow it from him, and use it to race thru temporary obstacle courses.
@chuckf1 I was really trying to remember!
I now recall that on gym days I had a gym bag or for that day wrapped everything up in a towel and if we had homework used our hands.
We had lockers and didn't have homework in every class or we had one period where we could get some work done without bringing 15lbs of books home.
I went to a Vo-Tech high school so two weeks of academics and two weeks of vocational training (data processing - cards with chips). Fun times actually!
@chuckf1 interesting because I went to school a long time ago and don't remember these tougher, braver, stronger "walk to school uphill both ways" children other old people speak of. I do know we could never call young people "kids" with being told kids were baby goats.
T-bag
No bag, I went to a continuation school, they were happy if we just showed up. They even had pencils for us. At the school I was kicked out of I actually got an F minus in world cultures, that teacher hated me with a passion. That grade is my proudest high school moment.
@cercopithecoid
What is a continuation school?
@f00l for kids who can't continue in mainstream school?
No bag or minimally branded duffle bag
Naw, I just held my heavy stack of books with my hands. It gave me Popeye-like forearms. Chicks don't dig Popeye arms, I find.
@PocketBrain maybe you just haven't found the right chick yet.
@PocketBrain i knowna girl who digs arms like that... names olive oyl
Jansport all the way
@jml326
My Jansport found me in freshman year, and followed me thru constant abuse for more than 20 years. Finally lost it in a move. I miss it. I also know that wherever it is, it's still indestructible, in great shape, and working hard.
Used a belt wrapped around my schoolbooks like in the old picture books.
Once.
Then got a backpack and it was wonderful.
And I still have the Apple backpack I won (as part of a prize in an Apple contest when I registered my ][plus in 1981) and used through college. My high school pack is long gone (noname and it fell apart).
I think I used the same backpack all four years. My family wasn't the sort to spend money on name brands, so I think about halfway through year one, the stitching on the main zipper was completely ripped out, exposing everything inside the bag 100% of the time. Was decorated with a Grateful Dead pin, a Lords of Acid pin, and a bunch of fragmented anarcho-queer-feminist sentiments plastered all over it in paint pen. I should try to track it down, use it as my work bag.
@brhfl
We would like pix.
Jansport backpack with purple trim. It's been a long while, as it was back when made in the USA was still somewhat common.
I'm pretty sure it's still at my parents' house too.
There were no bags for books when I was in K-12. I got a backpack for my books when I was a freshman in college and thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever done.
@SSteve Too funny - I had the same experience. Not sure why none of us even knew what they were before college. I was stunned and amazed at how wonderfully useful they were when I finally caught on to them. :)
A # 12 paper sack. Perfect for a full pint with room to make a tight fold over the cap. My dad always said if it's worth doing then it's worth doing.
My arms K-8 then a canvas book bag kind of like the reusable grocery bags of today. I don't think they made backpacks back then.
No bags, we still had lockers where I went to school. Only took one or two books home if I had homework.
@ALLCAPSORNOTHIN if the books are removed she flies away like an airplane
In the 70's, I was enamored with military surplus gas mask bags, which opened to the side and really weren't much good for anything but holding a gas mask. Then there were all these Swiss medical bags that didn't really fit much well. In the 80's there was all this East German stuff, including a map case that really didn't work well. Now we know why it is surplus.
@radi0j0hn Surplus stuff is great. I had one of the Swiss canvas backpacks (too large/heavy for school), and sold it later for 5x what I paid. Currently have a Malice pack (Alice pack and frame with Molle straps and belt) for larger loads and it works quite well.
I have a feeling that many of the people above also had penny loafers with a penny in them. Or...a folded dollar bill to be really cool.
@pooflady
I was one of those kids who got talked to and once sent home for breaking the dress code. I must have worn penny loafers at some point.
(not for the current slutty or biker-gang or non-pc thing - gasp - i wore t-shirts, pants, and jeans and refused pantyhose. I was treated as a full-on Danger To Society).
@f00l LOL - it never occurred to us to wear anything but a skirt or dress to school. We knew it wasn't allowed. And pantyhose hadn't yet been invented. It was probably '69 or '70 before we could wear pants (pantsuits) to work.
@pooflady
Same era. But i remember wearing pantyhose to my un-air-conditioned schools in Texas, and hating every second of it. I remember class and being utterly miserable.
At first pants werent allowed, then pants ok, but no jeans. I broke both rules a lot, but carried skirts. My parents hated this, and we had constant fights over it. When school powers called me out, i put on skirts somewhat shorter than allowed, instead. The school would put up with that rather than a second fight. Finally the rules changed.
A school VP later told me in confidence that it was a few "smart" girls breaking the rules, and their parents, who forced the change. Most people went along, and they could discipline the questionable students, but there was always a few bound-for-excellent-colleges girls at each school who simply refused to wear skirts all the time. And some of those parents supported their daughters and fought the school over it. There was a rumor that one parent threatened to sue.
And what was worse - more embarrassing - for current policy, according to this school VP, was that one girl who got into the University of Chicago was told during her college admissions process that her attitude toward "that incredibly stupid and insulting high school dress code" was a plus, and this fact was communicated directly to the high school by the college admissions people for some reason.
Anyway, the rules finally became more sane.
Tool bag.
Since it wasn't mentioned yet, a briefcase, (it might have been my dad's). A year later, the hard-core nerds started using briefcases with such dedication and fervor I had to give mine up--or suffer the wrath of Cthulhu.
L.L. Bean backpack to transport the 30 pounds of books to and from school. In school they banned us from carrying bags to classes. So the 3 periods of hell were fun with 14 pounds of books and notes to carry. But, man, that LL Bean bag stayed with me from 1991 to today. Best school-related purchase ever.
I used a gym bag for a while and then switched to backpack like a normal person. Messenger bag in college.
Jansport; blue, tan leather bottom, various profanities and bands represented via white out, paint marker, or buttons.
In high school I used a backpack my parent bought so I would fit in. In college I used a Timbuk2 messenger bag purchased at some hippy-dippy shop a few blocks off campus.
I must be ancient. I used no bag or a briefcase that had a suitcase handle on top and a leather piece that attached the two sides which opened via a V hinge, like a larger old time doctors bag.
I used a giant-ass black Duffle bag. Namely, this one from Marlboro, though with the brand patch removed. I think I still have it somewhere, but don't feel like digging around for it. It was huge.
There's a story behind this. Well, two stories. Story 1 was that I was a weird-ass kid in high school who tried to be cool by wearing all black and carrying a duffel bag. This story sucks.
The second story is how I got the bag. My dad doesn't smoke. Never smoked. During the whole Marlboro Miles promotional thing, he would take the Miles off discarded cigarette packs that he found. His job took him all around Philadelphia, mostly to recreation centers where he inspected construction work. He found a lot of Marlboro packs with the Miles still on, and we got a lot of Marlboro crap out of it. And it was often quality shit too: nice camping gear, pocket knives, even a really nice Swiss Army Watch with no Marlboro branding at all. I also got a Zippo lighter out of the deal, too.