A Facebook meme lists a bunch of stuff that’s supposedly out of date and asks how many of us use any of these items? I forget the list, but it probably included washboards, spring wagons, Springfield M1861 rifled muskets, and wall calendars.
So, you tell me, what’s old fashioned about wall calendars? You can see the entire month at a glance and you get a pretty picture to go with it. Of course, my PC and my cell phone tell me today’s date. Yes, I can display the entire month, but–and maybe this is just me–it’s a lot easier to glance at the wall. Plus, I don’t know where my cell phone is most of the time, while I can usually find the wall.
If you’ve ever been a member of a conservation organization, it’s not like you have to pay for the calendar. If you’re a member now, the calendar shows up every year. If you’re not a member, multiple calendars show up every fall to shame you into joining up again as a way of saying “thank you” for the nice calendar and the accompanying return-adress stickers.
My office usually has a Montana Historical Society calendar in it. Lots of cool stuff from the archives. Sometimes scenics. Sometimes special themes like historic railroads. The kitchen wall calendar usually has something colorful and/or scenic. When my brother and his wifew visited Hawai’i, we saw lush tropical scenes in the kitchen. When they traveled to Scotland, we had great pictures of the old country. Last year, nobody went anywhere so we have a cat calendar.
If you visit a national park or some other cool location, you’ll probably spend $1000000 in the gift shop buying shot glasses, coffee mugs, coasters, and tee shirts. Might as well pick up a wall calendar to beautify your kitchen or, at least, your garage.
I guess I could tape my cell phone to the wall with a calendar displayed on it (the phone). I would at least know where the phone is, but the calendar would be too small to read from across the room. And let’s face it, you could be almost anywhere in the room when somebody asks, “Hey, is July 23 on a Friday?” I can answer that because my wall calendar is 1.5 feet away.
Sure, I suppose it’s modern and enlightened never to use wall calendars or spring wagons these days. That view comes mostly from peer pressure. That is to say, people will laugh at you if you ride a spring wagon to work or if they see a wall calendar in your kitchen. The point is not to care.
There might be other points, but I don’t know what they are.
–Malcolm
Malcolm R. Campbell
Publisher: Thomas-Jacob Publishing
Nook, Kindle, paperpack, hard cover, and audiobook.
Malcolm's Round Table 
I use a wall calendar, too. It’s on the wall right next to my desk. As you said, I could look at my phone or computer (both on the desk), but it’s just easier to look at the wall. And I write on it, too – my schedule, all the things I have to do each month.
Thank you for your confession.
I always have a wall calendar in the kitchen. Living here, I am spoiled for locally produced calendars of the wonderful places and creatures surrounding us. As you say – great pictures!
I use wall calendar to keep track of how much work I do each week. And when the pets’ flea treatments are due. I use a paper diary as well. That has different uses. AND a paper address book, although I may abandon that soon as being just too old-fashioned. Except that addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for everyone reside in so many different places, sometimes the only reliable source is still the paper book.
The calendars definitely help us keep track of things, though we write appointments into an engagement calendar next to the phone. We don’t care whether people think they’re old-fashioned or not.
I also still use a paper address book. It includes phone numbers, email addresses, etc., all in one nifty place! 🙂
🙂