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The Filofax became an indispensable item for many in the 1980’s, especially with the group of people known as Young Urban Professionals, or rather less glamourously put, Yuppies.
Before we had iPhones and PDAs the best way to keep yourself organised whilst dashing between meetings was to get yourself a personal organiser, and if you didn’t want to be a laughing stock in the boardroom you’d better make sure it was a Filofax that you used.
Of course, all the Filofax really amounted to was a cross between a diary and a ring binder. Â The decent ones cost an arm and a leg, and were covered in leather to keep them in good condition, and had a popper or clasp of some sort to keep them closed. Â Imitation personal organiser were covered in faux leather or worse still, plastic…
Inside there was a ring binder mechanism with multiple rings to prevent the pages falling out too easily due to wear and tear from riffling through them. Â When you bought a new Filofax you would generally always have a diary of some kind, since this was their core purpose. Â Diary sheets were available in just about any format you can think of, from day to a page through all the various possibilities to month to a page and beyond.
But it didn’t stop just at diary sheets. Â Oh no! Â The more obvious additional insert pages you could buy to customise your Filofax were things such as notebooks, address books, time tables and to do lists, but the range went on to include maps and tools such as rulers, magnifiers and business card holders. Â All very well, but if you got too carried away you could find yourself needing a rucksack to carry the blessed thing around with you.
I will always remember the “filofax” from the lesser known movie called Taking Care of Business starring James Belushi and Charles Grodin. I always enjoyed this movie for some reason.
[…] weeks survey is based on the personal organiser, or Filofax as the original ones were called. Â Many kids got given these as Christmas presents from relatives […]
I vaguely remember that film OldSchool, although in the UK it was originally called Filofax on release (here’s proof – http://www.rarefilmposters.com/product90690107catno1240107.html).
I don’t remember much about the film other than I think it had Dr. Crusher, Gates McFadden, from Star Trek: The Next Generation in, which was the only time I had seen her in anything else. I think James Belushi also used a Filofax as a make shift zip line too.
Filofax are still going strong, with tech changing constantly and programs not comparable to new ones, I had gone and come back to Filofax in full circle. Sometimes tech don’t have all the answers, for someone creative like me Filofax is a blessing.
I tend to agree, especially when it comes to remembering appointments and birthdays. I find it easier to write these on a calendar than wait for a program to start up and enter the relevant information. Paper is more immediate that way.
That said, I’d rather use e-mail than write a letter. 😉