Every year at back to school time I would head to the stationary store and pick up a dozen or so Pee Chee folders.
I still have many memories of my time at Burbank High School. Hanging out with my friends Gloria and Mike and Miki. Several classes such as technical theater or ceramics were always fun. But the thing I remember so fondly is the Pee Chee folders.
Pee Chee folders are rather inexpensive folders made of card stock and have two side internal pockets for the storage of several loose leaf papers. The pockets are printed with a variety of rather handy reference information including factors for converting between Imperial and metric measurement units and a multiplication table. It was also a good place to hide notes if you needed to cheat on a test…so I am told. The major difference between Pee Chee and other paper folders is the inside pockets. Pee Chee folders have pockets located at the sides, not the bottom like those other folders, which prevents the contents from falling out if the folder is accidentally stored upside down. They were first produced in 1943 by the Western Tablet and Stationery Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Pee Chee folders were later produced by the Mead Corporation.
Over the years the illustrations on Pee Chee folders changed, but they usually depict high school age students engaged in sports or other activities. Artist Francis Golden, best known for his watercolors of fishing and hunting, drew the illustrations for the Pee Chee folders in 1964. It became popular to deface these figures, turning them into different characters and using thought balloons. Brenna had some pretty elaberate pictures on hers though I recall mine being pretty simple. I would give the tennis player an afro and the track runners would carry dynomite while the basketball player was stabbing the other player.
The Pee-Chee portfolio was given its name because the folders were initially only available in peach though the folders are now available in five colors and have been renamed “Color Talk Pee-Chee Folders″, but the original yellow-peach color remains the most popular by far and is often sold out. Personally I prefer the yellowish version as the personal drawings show up better on that color.
Francis Golden was interviewed in 1989 for an article in the Spokane Chronicle, when he was 73 years old. According to the article, the artist had to be reminded what a Pee Chee is. “When I look back, it was rather insignificant. It was probably a rush job, I did it over a weekend or some night and that was it.” he reflected. Wow. Something most of my generation grew up with was just a ‘rush job’.
Things always seem to come back around and I hope the kids will always use the Pee Chee folders. Regardless they will live on in my memory and will always make me smile.
Did you use Pee Chee folders in school? Did you change the art work on them and if so what did you draw? Share your thoughts in the comments. Would love to hear from you.
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