Craig Robertson. The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2021. 280p. Paper, $27.95 (ISBN 978-1517909468).

Caleb Allen

Abstract

Take a moment and think: when did you last consider the humble filing cabinet? Ubiquitous to the point of invisibility, especially for anyone who has worked in or simply passed through an office, reading Craig Robertson’s The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information set this reviewer’s mind adrift, wondering when I had last seen this piece of furniture. Once a required presence in any office, the filing cabinet now appears to be the purview of interior designers looking to add an industrial chic edge to a loft, or a cheap DIY project of choice for smoked meat enthusiasts. Has the filing cabinet’s moment passed, condemned to become a relic—much like slide rules, banker’s lamps, drafting tables, barrister shelves, and the like—to be fetishized by weekend flea market browsers?

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.1.150
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