Treasury tag

Three short treasury tags, previously known as India tags.

A treasury tag or India tag is an item of stationery used to fasten sheets of paper together or to a folder.

In His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), a treasury tag was a lace with a sharp metal tag at one end which could be threaded through the holes in a stack of documents or cards and then inserted into a female tag at the other end to form a loop, so binding the documents. The tags in that case were in line with the string, like a shoelace. An India tag was similar but the metal tags were orthogonal to the string, so forming a cross-piece. The India tag did not form a loop as the cross-pieces were sufficiently wide that they did not slip back through the holes.[1]

In current British usage, treasury tag refers to a tag with orthogonal cross-pieces, previously known as an India tag.[2] The cross-pieces may be of metal or of plastic, and the string may be elasticated.[3][4]

Treasury or India tags are threaded through holes in paper or card made with a hole punch or lawyer's bodkin. Strings of various lengths are used to fasten stacks of paper of corresponding thickness and these are sometimes colour-coded by size.[5]

Winston Churchill used treasury tags to hold the notes for his speeches together. He called the punch for making holes a "clop", after the sound that it made.[6] The Duchess of Windsor used India tags for her speeches.[7]

In 2015, a new version made from injection moulded polypropylene was launched in the United Kingdom at the London Stationery Show.[8][9] The manufacturer claims they are the improved alternative to metal, plastic-ended and elastic treasury tags.[10]

References

  1. ↑ List of Articles Authorised to be Supplied by H.M.S.O., 1912
  2. ↑ "Handling documents". The National Archive. Retrieved 26 August 2011. Text states "Files consist of loose sheets held together in one corner by a treasury tag.", image clearly shows orthogonal cross-pieces.
  3. ↑ "Treasury tags". InkAndStuff. Retrieved 26 August 2011. Office supplier's catalogue showing metal and plastic cross-pieces
  4. ↑ "Elasticated treasury tags". Viking. Retrieved 26 August 2011. Office supplier's catalogue showing elasticated tags
  5. ↑ John Bowden (2004), Writing a report, p. 117
  6. ↑ Randolph Spencer Churchill, Martin Gilbert (1966), Winston S. Churchill 8, Heinemann
  7. ↑ Wallis Warfield Windsor (1956), The heart has its reasons
  8. ↑ "T-Tag - Stationery Show". The London Stationery Show. Retrieved 11 August 2015. Text states: "Launching in 2015, the T-Tag is a modern version of the classic treasury tag..."
  9. ↑ "T-Tag - The Modern Treasury Tag". T-Tag. Retrieved 11 August 2015. Supplier's website showing injection moulded polypropylene treasury tags
  10. ↑ "T-Tag - The Modern Treasury Tag". T-Tag. Retrieved 11 August 2015. Text states: "...T-Tag Treasury Tags are the improved alternative to metal, plastic-ended and elastic treasury tags."


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