Big Chief Tablets

​Recently, I was organizing my collection of schoolhouse related "stuff" and came across a large lined writing pad, a "Big Chief Tablet." It came to me as a gift at CSAA's 2014 Annual Country School Conference tucked into our conference swag bags. Now this wonderful conference was held in St. Joseph, Missouri at the Pony Express Museum under the direction of Cindy Daffron and it was unforgettable. As for the tablet and the city's connection?

​From Wikipedia:

In 1906, William Albrecht established the Western Tablet Company in St. Joseph, Missouri, which later became the world's largest paper tablet producer.

In 1947, the company trademarked the Big Chief tablet.

The tablets were crafted with newsprint paper and widely spaced lines—perfect for young children learning to write—and featured a bold cover with an American Indian head in full headdress, which inspired the name “Big Chief.

​Production of there tablets ended in St. Joseph, MO from 2001-2004, but relaunched in 2012 under American Trademark Publishing.

I think everyone at the conference but me knew the significance of this bright red tablet with the image of a stately Native American on the cover.They genuinely enjoyed owning one again! It flooded the attendees with memories of their elementary school days and what it meant to most schoolchildren of the 50's and 60's (my vintage),  but I have no recollection of ever owning one. Possibly it was more of a midwest staple as I attended school in a large city in Massachusetts. Help me out on this one.

I use ChatGPT sparingly, but I made a simple request for information on the Big Chief Tablet like this... "Please find information on Big Chief school writing pads. History?" AI graciously filled in the blanks as to the history and evolution of the Western Tablet Company, but more interesting was a blog they cited written by one Kristy Darnell Battani in 2021, entitled, No Big Wahoo.

I will gladly share her link  because she tells the  wonderful history of the Native American image on the cover of the tablets. Battani skirts the issue of cultural sensitivity  with references to Ralphie's use of his Big Chief Tablet in the movie, A Christmas Story, etc. But the public comments at the end of her article assure the reader that childhood memories of the tablet were dear and her historical information about the image is well done. Take what you like and leave the rest.

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NO BIG WAHOO- Kathy Darnell Battani

BIG CHIEF TABLETS-WIKIPEDIA