It wasn’t until college that I got a backpack for school use. And with college it was almost an necessity that I get a backpack.
High school was easy. I managed to get to my locker before each class to grab my books. At the most I had to carry around 2 books. Same way in Junior High. When you get to Junior High, you are sorta still in shock on how to manage your time well enough so that you could get back and forth to your locker without being late for class. But we did manage, without getting our named written on the board for tardies.
In college it was a necessity. You couldn’t possibly get back and forth to your dorm and get your books in time for your next class. So the day before class my freshmen year, I got a backpack from the school’s bookstore. I probably paid too much. A crappy Eastland backpack. Nondurable. And I still have it. I never use it. It is a wonder it lasted so long. Other people would carry around the camping backpacks. I always wondered why they did it. But now I realize they did it for durability.
What did people do in the 70 and 80s when they didn’t have backpacks? I mean did they constantly have to go back and forth to their dorm rooms to get their books. Did they use lockers?