Backpacks and textbooks are a match made in heaven. But not too long ago, students walked to school carrying their books in their arms.
How rock-climber’s rucksacks came to be the basic kit of every school-child!
My editor, Steve Drummond, isn't that old of a guy. He's from Michigan — Wayne Memorial High School, class of '79.
But when he starts talking about backpacks, he dips into a "back in my day" tone that makes you think of a creaky rocking chair and suspenders: "You know, Lee, when I was in school, no one had a backpack!
"You just carried your books in your arms." He says it like he's talking about sending a telegram with Morse code. "No one really thought about it, that's just what you did."
It seems there really was a period where kids had too many books for the old book-strap method, but before the popularity--and standardization--of the backpack. “The book-strap of yesteryear could never go round today’s bulky curriculum,” says a 1966 edition of Newsweek. And the book-strap had other problems, too: