Artifact: The Rolodex

[Kali]

https://borderlore.org/artifact-the-rolodex

Remembering a mentor and his rotating cards of access and connection

by Maribel Alvarez

When Dr. James “Big Jim” Griffith, a folklorist, a friend and mentor to me, and the beloved founder of the annual Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival, passed away in December of 2021, his wife Loma invited friends and colleagues to pick small keepsakes from his home office as remembrances. I selected an out-of-print pamphlet on the Yaqui Easter ceremonies, a bumper sticker from Cananea, Sonora taped to one of his cabinets, and Jim’s personal Rolodex.

more at link
https://borderlore.org/artifact-the-rolodex/

[John1956PA]

1. It was used as a plot element in one of the Hannibal Lecter movies.

Dr. Lecter was incarcerated. Nonetheless, he hacked a prison phone by using a gum wrapper and made an outside call. He reached the secretary at the office of a certain psychiatrist or some other professional. Lechter convinced the secretary to provide him with a certain address contained in the psychiatrist's personal Rolodex.

[twodogsbarking]

2. There was also someone in charge of the Corporate Rolodex and they were a key component to business.

You got a truck delivery you paid cash. Drivers had a man purse with a chain. Arms like Popeye.

[Wednesdays]

3. A blast from the past.

I started keeping my names and addresses database on my MacIntosh Plus around 1988. Haven't used anything resembling a Rolodex ever since.

[Marie Marie]

4. Used the hell out of mine at work when they were a thing.

[Bluestocking]

5. The Rolex is also becoming an artifact