Anybody who ever went to school in this country within the last 60 years knows about Pee Chee Folders. The one you recognize will pinpoint when you went to school. If the top one is familiar to you, you’re quite old, probably in your 80’s or 90’s. If the middle one is more recognizable, you’re probably somewhere in your 60’s. And if the bottom version brings back feelings of nostalgia, you’re around my age (48) or a little younger. Pee Chee’s always had the worst art on them, and more than one student got in trouble for drawing inappropriate things on them in order to spice up their boring look.
There’s a great web site I found that has articles on the history of advertising in America, and it also had this piece on Pee Chee Folders:
Sadly, the most recognized element of my own school days is no longer being made, even though it lasted almost 60 years, and became the most abused item in every student's arsenal of paper.
The yellow Pee Chee Folder was first released in 1943 by the Western Tablet and Stationery Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Early versions featured young boys and girls at the soda shop, or wartime images such as jeeps and navy ships.
By 1964, Mead Paper had bought Western Tablet and introduced new artwork to the Pee Chee line. These images of tennis players, football heroes, track stars, and dancers were drawn by Francis Golden, who received only a one-time fee for pictures that would grace millions of folders each year. Golden later became a prominent water colorist, and over the years new artists took over illustrating Pee Chee folder updates. According to Mead, the style of art was updated approximately every ten years.
The modification of Pee Chee folders could probably serve as some sort of psychological study-sort of like reading inkblots or tealeaves. Every student except the most fastidious, added elements, colored in parts, scratched out eyes, doodled on, or sexually modified the familiar images to suit their own bent and grade level. In my era, swastikas were a popular addition, as were Rat-Fink-style car drawings and rocket ships. Girls tended to favor romantic elements, such as hearts and flowers, while the boys were more likely to use a good eraser to blot out the faces of the runners, or add anatomically correct appendages. But since I went to Catholic school, none of that was left intact for very long. Consequently, in my classes many Pee Chee folders were drenched in ink, layer after layer first revealing, then covering up various parts of the drawings.
Ratdog has been hired by www.bayareacritic.com to do a series of reviews about popular pet places in the Bay Area, including dog-friendly hotels, retsurants, parks and stores. This is his first review, so bear with him. 
It's been an exciting couple of weeks for Angelina and I. Amazingly, both of our dogs have made it to the 2007 Pet Twister Finals, to be held in Milpitas this weekend. That's right -- after extensive training and practice, both Ratdog and Shelly are in the finals. We're really thrilled -- it's been like watching our kids play Little League. Shelly was able to upset a Great Dane who had twice her reach in the large dog semi-finals , while Ratdog initially lost a heart breaker to a toy poodle, but advanced to the small-dog finals when the mutt tested positive for steroids and was subsequently stripped of her title. 
Can you believe that this ad actually ran in major magazines in 1950? What the hell were people thinking? Man, times sure have changed -- and in some cases, for the better. If a cigarette company tried to run an ad campaign like this today, they'd be lynched! But 57 years ago, this was considered cute.
I remember this ad like it was yesterday. I so badly wanted to be the guy who kicks the bully's ass. I yearned to be Joe. Instead, I ate sand and liked it. My life sucks!
Last night we went to BATS Improv in San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center. BATS Improv is a non-profit education and performance theatre company that has been entertaining Bay Area audiences since 1986. Their unique style of acting-based improvisational theatre has made BATS Northern California’s largest improv theatre company and school and is a benchmark for improv all over the world. BATS performs year-round at the 200-seat Bayfront Theater, which is the ideal size venue for this type of thing – intimate and personal. You feel like the improvisational actors are performing just for you in your living room. Some comedy clubs are so big and spread out that you end up sitting too far away from the action on stage. The Bayfront is perfect – comfortable with great sound and lights. BATS takes its inspiration from the work of Theatresports creator Keith Johnstone. Everything that takes place at BATS is 100% improvised – from the dialogue, to the movement, music, songs, lighting and more. I’ve been to some improv shows where a lot of what they do isn’t really truly improvisational. The actors have done it enough that they know what will get laughs and it’s canned stuff. Not with BATS – they’re the real thing, pure and unadulterated. It’s experimental improv with an emphasis on stories. It blows away some of the so-called improv that I’ve seen at other places. These people are professional actors who get paid and have been doing improv for many years. They explore both short and long-form improv, which isn’t easy. Anyone can do a funny 2-minute sketch, but to perform a 40-minute play with fully developed characters and a structured storyline with a plot is difficult, especially when the actors are creating everything on the fly. The typical show at BATS is broken up into two parts. The first half of the show consists of short bits based on audience suggestions. The second half is a full-length improvisational drama with only the title having been suggested by the audience. The performers we saw the other night were wonderful and had varied styles. There was Rafe Chase – a multi-dimensional performer with a dry, quick wit. Dave Dennison – an actor with great facial expressions who reminded me a lot of local comedian Larry “Bubbles” Brown. Zoe Galvez – a cute, fun actress who played a wide range of characters. John Kovacevich – the emcee and leader, who reminded me a lot of Steve Carell from “The Office.” And Gerri Lawlor – probably the best actor in the bunch; very physical with fully formed characters. Lawlor was by far the standout of the evening. She possesses a certain flair and energy that I can’t do justice describing here. She reminded me of a cross between Carol Burnett and Phyllis Diller. Another bright spot is Music Director Joshua Raoul Brody, who plays keyboards along with the show, complete with great sound effects and timely tunes. I was amazed at how he could play songs on the spot that were directly related to the action on stage. A good improv show needs a guy like Brody to keep it moving along and Joshua was magnificent. BATS is at B350 Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. There’s plenty of paid parking, but if you don’t mind walking a little, you can usually park free along the Marina. Their phone number is: (415) 474-6776.
