We’ve all had occasional moments in the office when things haven’t been going well – and around 30 years ago a man named Alex Carswell had one of those episodes. In frustration he threw his pen at the wall and ended up smashing the glass in a framed photograph of his mother. This gave […]
I love my Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint – it’s my favourite everyday writing utensil – but I reckon I could have managed with a reed pen back in the day as I have a liking for calligraphy. A reed pen, as its name suggests, is an ancient writing implement made by cutting and shaping a […]
Scotch Tape is a very useful invention: how else would we tackle the job of wrapping up our Christmas presents every year, and clean the dust off our keyboards without using a Hoover? But this ingenious invention has a chequered history. It was once an essential piece of kit for con men, who used it […]
One ‘mod con’ we all take for granted is the humble toilet roll. Years ago, only kings and queens had access to toilet paper – everyone else used leaves (or later on, newspaper). The first person to use a type of toilet tissue was the Chinese emperor back in the 14th century, who commanded his […]
Paper is such an everyday item, we don’t stop to think about its history. But here are a few interesting paper-related facts: In AD751, it was recorded that two Chinese papermakers were seized as prisoners-of-war during a conflict between Arab and Chinese armies known as the Battle of Talas. The papermakers were allegedly forced to […]
When American Robert Switzer had a nasty accident back in the 1930s, he fell into a coma for several months. When he woke up, his eyesight was impaired and his doctor told him to stay in a dark room while his eyes gradually recovered. But the tragic episode had a bright side! While he was […]
Are you a hotel stationery kleptomaniac? Do you see a pristine, branded notepad and stuff it into your travel bag, along with the pen that has the company’s name on it? And if you do enjoy collecting reams of writing paper from hotels during your travels, are you committing a crime? It seems like rules […]
Here’s a stationery story with a musical twist. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… In the far off days before word processors existed, when documents were bashed out on typewriters, making a mistake was a BIG problem. There was no ‘delete’ key, so red-faced typists had to use an ink rubber which could damage […]
Did you know that the humble paperclip, an everyday object we take for granted, had great symbolic significance in World War II? Paperclips were worn by Norwegians as a sign of resistance against Nazism and anti-Semitism, and wearing one could mean arrest – but many people wore them nevertheless. The paperclip was invented in Norway, […]
Early cuneiform, ca. 3000 BC Office supplies are humdrum. Objects around the office seem to subsist on a mundane plane of existence, interrupting our consciousness only when they are required for some necessary but fundamentally dull task. Scribbling on a Post-it Note, loading Paper into your printer, buying a multipack of biros – what could […]
How to plan the office Christmas party Whether you count down the days, or desperately scrabble around for an excuse not to go, the office Christmas party is an event on almost every company’s calendar. So, how do you plan a party that everyone will enjoy? It’s a tricky balance to get Bob from Accounts […]
Top tips to improve your time management skills Despite what people say, time is not a commodity. It cannot be traded, expanded or reduced. It is fixed. Our perception of time, however, is another concept. How often do you think at 4pm “Where has the day gone?” and go into panic mode to try to […]
Planning in business is essential Everything from the monthly sales drive to a new product launch or project needs planning. It promotes joined-up thinking and good decision-making throughout the whole organisation. “A goal without a plan is just a wish”, observed the famous writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, summing up a key business principle. Each business […]
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