Typewriter Talk / Rolodex

**Posted by OregonJim** 02-2-2023 12:47:20

I was inspired to dig out my Rolodex by this Joe Van Cleave video:

Do any of you still use a Rolodex? If so, for what purposes?

I've started adding my typewriter collection with samples of the typefaces to mine. That should make it easier for me to upload to the TWDB.

**Posted by Uwe** 02-2-2023 15:19:16

I haven't used one in years, but I'm sure there's still one in the house somewhere along with a lot of unused cards. The idea of using a Rolodex as a typeset index is a really good one!

I hate to admit it, but when it comes to organizing such data I prefer going fully digital. For notes, research and tracking data, I'm a sucker for MS One Note.

**Posted by robmck** 02-2-2023 16:08:18

I like the idea of using one for a type specimen catalog.

**Posted by OregonJim** 02-2-2023 17:42:35

Now I have yet another item to search for in thrift stores.

I'd like to find one of those fully enclosed metal ones with a lock and key. Or maybe the fake woodgrain style with the smoked plastic lid from the '70s. I wonder how many style variations there were... Hmm... I may need a separate Rolodex to catalog all the other Rolodexes (Rolodexi?)

**Posted by Pete E.** 02-2-2023 21:26:38

When I retired in 2014...I finally dumped my Rolodex that I had at work for over 35 years. I had business cards going back to the late 1970's.

Same with dumping my company sponsored smart-phone.

Now I have a very simple flip-phone that I treat like a "digital pager" with call-out capabilities, if needed.

**Posted by OregonJim** 02-2-2023 23:32:22

Pete E. wrote:
When I retired in 2014...I finally dumped my Rolodex that I had at work for over 35 years. I had business cards going back to the late 1970's.

Same with dumping my company sponsored smart-phone.

Now I have a very simple flip-phone that I treat like a "digital pager" with call-out capabilities, if needed.

I still have a "smart" phone, but its only purpose is as a secondary camera for times when I don't have my "real" camera handy. I'm trying to remember the last time I used it to actually make or receive a call. Wait, the thing has a call log.... Wow, October 17, 2022. I made a 30-second call to my wife. I think she misplaced HER phone and I called it just to make it ring so she could find it.

**Posted by CoronaJoe** 11-2-2023 20:05:27

My work depended on those Rolodex. Business cards, names, phone numbers of suppliers, contacts etc. They were the next best thing to Yellow Pages. It seems to me in the last decade or so the industrial environment is shifting at faster rates with new phone numbers, web addresses, etc. as companies are bought, merged or moving. Digital is handy, but Rolodex didn't need batteries.

**Posted by OregonJim** 12-2-2023 01:16:54

CoronaJoe wrote:
My work depended on those Rolodex. Business cards, names, phone numbers of suppliers, contacts etc. They were the next best thing to Yellow Pages. It seems to me in the last decade or so the industrial environment is shifting at faster rates with new phone numbers, web addresses, etc. as companies are bought, merged or moving. Digital is handy, but Rolodex didn't need batteries.

The hi-tech company I worked for still has the same phone number it stared with in 1978. They also have the same web address since I created it in 1993, and reside in the same building.

I know what you mean, though. That certainly isn't the norm anymore.

**Posted by R.A. Stewart** 25-5-2023 12:28:21

I have a fully enclosed metal Rolodex on my desk at work (without a lock). I haven't actively used it in several years, but I'm not ready to get rid of it. I also like that idea of using it to keep typewriter and typeface information. Handy and very technologically appropriate.

**Posted by robmck** 30-7-2023 19:36:09

I just stumbled on this: the Col-o-dex cards. These cards are intended for their owners to test out and save samples of all the fountain pen inks they have, and to organize them in a Rolodex or similar card storage system.

Col-o-dex Rotary Cards | The Well-Appointed Desk Shop (bigcartel.com)

What a fantastic way to keep track of all the inks I've got in a nice vintage format. Off to ebay to find a Rolodex...