Today is Pack Rat Day – a day for all of us to take time to declutter. If you’re a regular reader, you know that my theme for 2021 is decluttering. With that in mind, I had to celebrate this day with something special. Pack Rat Day feels like the perfect day to launch a series I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Welcome to the first edition of Clutter Tales!
I’ll get into more details about the new series in a minute. In the meantime, if you’re anxious to mark Pack Rat Day with some decluttering, check out 52-Week Decluttering Challenge – Free Printable for some ideas. You’ll find links to all my weekly Decluttering Challenge posts on the main Decluttering page.
So, what is Clutter Tales?
Does your clutter tell a tale? Do you ever find an item that transports you back to a different time and place?
As I’ve been decluttering over the last year and half, every once in a while I find something that makes me stop and think. Some of these items make me laugh. Others make me say “What the heck was I thinking?”
Our clutter tells the story of our lives. While it might be just clutter today, at one time these items held value for us. They must have, or we wouldn’t own them, right?
So, to borrow Marie Kondo’s philosophy for a minute, in this series I’ll thank some of these items by telling you their story and what they meant to me. Then, I will say good-bye. Unless, of course, they spark joy. In that case, I’ll hang on to them.
Are you ready for the first installment of Clutter Tales? Here we go!
Clutter Tales 1 – When we needed a book to use the Internet
In my recent book decluttering, I found a lot of interesting things. This one in particular really made me laugh.
Yes, there was a time when I needed a book to learn how to use the Internet. That might be hard for today’s digital natives who were born with a smartphone in their hands to believe. But, in its early days, the Internet was a mystery – an unknown world, full of intrigue and trepidation.
Let me take you back…
In the early days of my career, the Internet wasn’t even a thing. Everything was done on paper. We typed our letters, documents and reports on typewriters. Computers existed but they were big, scary things locked away in a separate room, and operated by nerdy guys.
Heck, we didn’t even have email. When our boss had something to tell everyone, he’d have his secretary type it in an interoffice memo and hand deliver it to us.
The world changed significantly as the Personal Computer gained popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But, the Internet was still a mystery.
I recall a conversation in my boss’s office in the early 90s. He suggested we could create a website where our customers could complete administrative tasks and send transactions, and even money, to us. I’m not sure I really understood what a website was in those days. I definitely remember thinking he must have lost his mind because our customers would never want to do this. Fast forward 30 years and it’s hard to imagine running any kind of business without a customer-facing website.
So what’s in the book?
If you’re wondering what we needed a book to help us with, a quick glance through the book reveals some interesting things. The book covers how to do some tasks we now do on auto-pilot, including …
- Connecting to the Internet
- Creating an email
- Attaching a file to an email
- Subscribing to a mailing list or discussion group
- Using web-based chat
- Identifying different types of files
It also provides some history of the Internet, information on how files are stored, and an introduction to multi-player online games. In its day, it was a great reference.
Before Google, Alexa or Siri
But my favourite part is at the end of the book. About a third of the book is dedicated to a section called Interesting Websites. It’s an alphabetical directory of websites to visit.
Search functionality did exist in those days but it was primitive. We knew nothing of things like Google. And Alexa or Siri were more likely to be your brother’s latest girlfriend. Your best chance of finding a website was knowing the address of the site and typing it directly in the address bar.
Leafing through this book made me realize how much the Internet has changed the way we work, and live.
It’ll never catch on!
We’ve come a long way since those days! This statistic at the beginning of the book caught my eye.
More than 57 million people in over 150 countries throughout the world use the Internet today.
The Internet and World Wide Web – Simplified
This book was published in 1997. Less than 25 years ago! In the history of the world, that’s a very short period of time. Today, we have 4.6 billion internet users around the world.
Doesn’t it make you wonder what the next 25 years will bring?
Happy Pack Rat Day! I hope you enjoyed this first edition of Clutter Tales.
If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!
What do you think this new series? Have you found anything in your decluttering that tells a story? Tell us about it below.
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Is Pack Rat Day a day you created or is that an actual thing? Was the internet and word wide web book actually on your bookshelf with your other books or found within your book collection hidden away somewhere else?
Yes. Pack Rat Day is an actual thing! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pack-rat-day/
The Internet book was actually on the bookshelf in my home office along with all my other books. Looking through it was a real trip down memory lane.
Thanks for the link
That’s so cute! But so true! I remember in the early days of the internet, it was not so easy and intuitive. But Times have changed! I was using a dictionary several year back, and even it was outdated and no good! Great story! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing what else happens in your declutter adventures
Thanks Katherine! It’s interesting that using the Internet has become so automatic. In the beginning, it was such a mystery.
I love your retro revival! Thank goodness the computer applications are much easier today than years ago, I remember using the book “Internet for Dummies”.
Clutter Tales sounds like something I definitely need! Our son has expressed “Mum, you have a lot of “stuff”, why don’t you get rid of some of it?”. ( Although he used the word “junk” 😮😲)
My question is how do we minimize our “nicknacks” because It is so difficult to part with things like books and a multitude of ornamental items people have given to me…but that’s another subject for Clutter Tales! Thank you for sharing.
Yes. I remember the “Internet for Dummies” book.
Sounds like you need to do my decluttering challenge. One small task a week. It really adds up over time. I’m already noticing a difference. It is hard to part with some things, but I always think that if I’m not using it, and someone else will, then why not let them enjoy it.
I will definitely give your suggestions a try, little steps accomplish big things. I’m going to have a campfire and burn old paperwork and income taxes older than 7 years! Such excitement for a long weekend!!
That’s a good place to start. Once you get started, it’s easy to get on a roll.
That is such a fun decluttering find, Michelle! I noticed the cover says, “IN FULL COLOR”. LOL That must have been one of their marketing tools to get people interested in this ‘Internet’ business!
I am looking forward to participating, Michelle! What a fantastic idea!
Ha ha. Good point about “IN FULL COLOR”. I guess a black and white book about the Internet would be pretty boring. I’m excited for this series. I think it will be a lot of fun.
LOL Yes, they had to make sure it was FULL color! Me too, Michelle! 🙂
Neat book! I wonder if any of the list of interesting websites are still in existence?
Good question. I’ll have to pick a few of them to see if they still exist. If they are still in existence, it’s safe to say the sites won’t look anything like they used to.
I love this series idea. I’m excited to read the other tales!
Thanks Suzanne. I think it’s going to be a fun series. It’s amazing how just picking up one item can spark so many memories.
What a find! It’s amazing how much the Internet has taken over our lives in a relatively short space of time. 😀
It is amazing Rachel. Just leafing through this book definitely made me smile.
Oh this is such a fabulous find! Did you hold onto it? I think I’d have a hard time letting that one go. It’s amazing how much the internet has changed in that amount of time. I remember getting internet in high school. I feel lucky to have had to use both encyclopedias and computer searches for school. The best of both worlds 🙂
Thanks Alison. I still have the book. I haven’t been able to bring myself to part with it. It’s these kinds of finds that make decluttering difficult.
What a fun series! Don’t destroy that book. It could be a collector’s item. .
Thanks Judy! Isn’t that the problem with a lot of our clutter? We find things that we know we’ll never use but we just might want them one day, or someone else might want them.