School Days

We are in the midst of back to school at the shop. How many different kinds ofbackpacks and lunch boxes do they make? I think we have done about 150 school bags and there are only maybe 3 that have been a repeat of what someone else has brought for embroidery.
When my kids were in school, they had some sort of school bag, but it wasn't a back pack. The lunch boxes were metal and had cartoon stuff on them and mostly had a matching thermos with them. That lasted maybe a week, until they forgot to bring them home and they sat around the classroom, usually with a rotting egg still in them. And the thermos would be done within a month because something was left in it as it sat in the window at school. One of my children was better than the other about hanging onto their boxes because after that it was brown paper bags.
When I was in school, I either went home for lunch or we ate at school. No need for lunch boxes and in grade school you couldn't go home after school was out unless all of your work was turned in, so no need for backpacks. No homework..just staying after school if you weren't finished.
By Jr Hi, we graduated to notebooks to carry papers home. When we were really lucky, we had a zipper notebook. Then you could put a book inside and zip it all up and it was easy to carry.
One year, Mother bought a red crocodile looking zipper notebook for me and it had some pockets inside, too. Wow...that was a deal. I carried that through most of high school. I also remember a green one that must have been my jr hi notebook.
Then the grandgirls had backpacks. After awhile I began to wonder if they weren't breaking their backs with them. They carried so much stuff. But then they had lots more homework than we ever had. We used study hall time and class time, so there was not too much homework, except for book reports and things of that nature. One of the girls had a roll around backpack deal and it was great, except that you had to carry it up stairs and one day...soon after school started...it rolled off the curb and the wheels broke.
Now, everyone has their name on the stuff and such fancy backpacks you won't believe. One little bitty one came in that looked like a rhino and the price tag on it was $45. The child could not have been over 4. Oh, well...times change and it is a big boon for us as we make a good bit of money doing them each summer. So, welcome school time. A good time for business. Hopefully a good time for kids.