The Story Behind The Trapper Keeper, Possibly The Most Popular School Supply of All Time

The Story Behind The Trapper Keeper, Possibly The Most Popular School Supply of All Time

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

School supply shopping has always been the best part of going back to school. There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly-sharpened pencils and crisp spiral notebooks. But going back to school has definitely changed over the years. No. 2 pencils and three-ring binders used to be must-haves on the supply list. Nowadays, it’s TI-83 calculators and flash drives. Not long ago, you had to have a Trapper Keeper to keep up with the cool kids; today you need a Macbook Pro. 

The changes got us waxing nostalgic about our own stockpile of must-have trendy supplies to get us through the first day of school, from “Welcome Back, Kotter” lunchboxes to Lisa Frank folders. 

Morning Shift talks to Erin McCarthy, digital executive editor of the online magazine Mental Floss and author of a history of the Trapper Keeper. We also speak with listeners about the go-to school supplies of yesteryear and today.