The Gewgaw, Check File from Ohrbach's

Remember Ohrbach's? I used to love shopping there for clothes.

This little organizer is from around the 1950s. The original price tag - a rather elaborate setup with a white string and a little metal tab - is dangling from the elastic band around the middle. Sold for 89 cents. I paid 25 at the tiny Little Company of Mary Thrift on Torrance and Hawthorne Blvds.

There's a graphic of a combination safe dial on the cover - I know my checks will be absolutely secure in a cardboard case with a drawing of a lock and an iron-clad elastic band keeping it closed.

I'm using it for coupons.