This post originally ran at the site of my first gracious host, Spanitz Consulting, Inc. , in August of 2005. Spanitz is still in business, so if you feel like sharing a little love, check out his site and give him a call.
The inspiration for running this post again comes from Renee at "Lessons from Teachers & Twits," who recently spent some time praising pencils. What can I say, except that I can relate, for sure.
Thanks for reading!
From Spanitz Consulting, Inc. - www.spanitz.com - 888.SPANITZ - 888.772.6489
I freely admit I’m an addict.
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christynelson.net
Ooh! I don't have this set!
Anyone? Anyone?
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Chocolate is one of my many addictions, but in all honesty, I’d have to say that stationery and other office products run a close second.
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candychang.com
Definitely appeals to
my sense of order!
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My addiction is not so terrible nor so psychologically deep that I’ve felt a need to heist the office supplies from any job I’ve held, but I do admit a small pleasure in viewing a well-stocked shelf of colorful sticky notes, neatly stacked boxes of staples, colored paper clips, and yellow legal pads.
Strange, but true.
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lunanina.com
OFFICE SUPPLIES! (drool)
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I think my addiction began in college, when I was introduced to the book store. My hangouts were the campus bookstore, as well as the ubiquitous "SBX" bookstore which was located off-campus. Every payday would find me hunkered down in the red-lined book displays–red-lined books were the discounted books, some text books, some current fiction, and a hodgepodge of miscellany that no one but me seemed to want. After making a few selections there, I’d wander to the greeting card section where there was a wonderful selection of humorous and slightly raunchy but hilarious cards. Stationery could be had by the pound, in a variety of colors and patterns, complete with matching envelopes. Stickers were plentiful. Notepads beyond the basic yellow and white were also on display, and I availed myself of as many different colors and styles I could afford on my student-job salary.
I’m not in college anymore. But, since the dollar store has set up shop down the block from me, I’ve been able to feed my addiction for a really cheap price. It really is true–everything is a dollar, unless otherwise marked, usually, for less than a dollar. Two for a dollar. Three for a dollar.
Such a deal!
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officeworld.com
mmmm.....paper.....
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The selection is dependent upon whichever supplier has an overabundance of rainbow-colored legal pads, of course, but I don’t care. The desk pad calendars might be from last year, but so what? I find them useful to give to the kids so they can color on the floor. The desk pad calendar gives them a hard surface on which to color, and it also is large enough to catch all the marker and crayon "over-writes" that would otherwise end up on the carpet.
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thefullwiki.org
All right, get your nose
off the computer screen!
You're not gonna smell
the ink that way!
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Having the dollar store so close is like experiencing that rush of the smell of the newly-minted ditto. Ditto machines have since fallen out of fashion, with today’s technology. Children of the 1970s, or anyone in a school district that refuses to catch up with the times, will remember the ditto. It was the forerunner of the Xerox machine–only it used purple ink. It left each page of paper slightly damp, and with a combination of wet glue and ink smell that was literally a heady combination when mixed with sleepy school children. Teachers usually let the dittos dry before dispersing them up and down the rows of orderly desks, but some, perpetually running behind, would head off the office help with a stack of newly minted dittos. These would be dispensed, and while the teacher made small talk with the office help at the head of the classroom, the children would surreptitiously check left then right, then gleefully fix their eyes upon the slightly damp sheet of paper with its purple ink, and literally stick their nose right onto the paper and . . . inhale deeply.
The white, school paste with the cap, underneath which was a flat, tongue-depressor like object for applying the paste, often inspired the same response.
I don’t really think there’s any correlation or causation between the sniffing of dittos and the addiction to stationery supply and other office products. Perhaps a survey should be done. Might make a good Masters thesis.
Anyway, with school just around the corner, the stores are awash in the glow of school and office supplies. At least three aisles are set aside to display the glittering wares, each vying for your attention in order to be purchased, appreciated, and worn to a nub.
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jennifergeldard.wordpress.com
Are you coveting a box right now?
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Remember that box of crayons? Smelled of wax, but still tantalizing with nice, sharp, pointy-tipped colors–a veritable rainbow waiting to be applied to that sheet of crisp, white paper, at your little desk. It was especially nice to get the box with the sharpener in the back. That way, you could always have nice, pointy crayons instead of, after a while, the rounded nubs that never filled in all the smaller and more delicate pieces of artwork in the coloring book or the worksheet.
Then there were the pencils. Younger kids got the chubby pencils–older kids, the slim, yellow number 2's with the pink erasers. Cap erasers were always fun–especially when you could get them in different colors, and proudly wear one down until you could see the tip of the original pencil eraser through the cap. Hand-held pink erasers were great for stabbing your pencil into, right dead-center. I don’t know why, but this held the greatest attraction for the boys in the class. Perhaps they needed an inexpensive way to keep their pencils upright while seated at their desks–the pink, hand-held eraser was the way to do it. It was always a great thing to have pencils with your name on them, too.
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flickr.com
12 inches of fun in a variety of colors!
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Even rulers could be exciting. Today’s rulers have moved beyond the pale-blonde wooden jobs of our school days. Now, they come in neon, see-through styles–and are also flexible. Twelve inches of hot pink, neon green, or shrieking yellow can be yours, in all its rubbery floppy flexibility, perfect for swatting on the bus ride to and from school. The locker room equivalent of the wet towel whip.
And then there are the notebooks. Various sizes, multi-colored pages, covers in frosted pastel or bold, colorful action. Write in me! They all call out.
Some lucky kids got new markers for the start of the school year. It was especially wonderful to get the kind that smelled–lemon for yellow, oranges for orange, blueberry for blue, etc. The only drawback was having your nose speckled with marking pen dots after getting too close to the tip of the pen.
Sigh.
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d49.org
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Makes me nostalgic for the first day of school. New, unused school supplies.
I guess it doesn’t matter how old you are–or even if you’re school-aged. It’s hard to get past September without a new box of crayons, or a nice new notebook or selection of newly-sharpened pencils. I don’t recommend sniffing glue, or hunting down an ancient ditto machine–but if you’re getting nostalgic for that sort of thing, perhaps it’s time to find the school supply aisle at your local shopping center. Go ahead. Get that box of 64 Crayolas.
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en.wikipedia.org
Go ahead. You know you want to!
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You can always tell people they're for the grandkids.
