Ahh, the days of Trapper Keepers. I’m not talking about the vinyl binder with zippers. I’m talking about the good stuff. Only the coolest kids in middle school owned a Trapper Keeper – with its often cartoony and psychedelic patterns.

The original Trapper Keeper was hard plastic that had a Velcro flap to keep the heaps of homework intact. A good Trapper Keeper had some ridiculous design – mine was pastel purple with three graceful dolphins on it.

And of course, ‘Trapper Keeper’ was plastered across the front. All the popular students had Trapper Keepers – and the ones who had the most materials in theirs were the center of attention. Trapper Keepers made life so easy – all your homework was in one spot for classes like math, social studies and language arts.

A school year wasn’t a good one unless it started with a ridiculously designed, crisp, fresh Trapper Keeper. But something always kept me wondering: What is a Trapper? And why would you keep it? But then I guess we all had some growing up to do.

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