Guest Post – Double, Treble, Quadruple by gmax

Back in the 1980s, the range of available Filofax leaves was much wider than today, and there were four sizes of personal leaves:

Single	6¾” x 3¾”	171mm x 95mm
Double	6¾” x 7⅛”	171mm x 181mm
Treble	6¾” x 10½”	171mm x 267mm
Quadruple	6¾” x 13¾” or 6¾” x 13½”	171mm x 350mm or 171mm x 343mm

The three wider sizes were all designed to fold down to single size, so they could be carried in a normal personal binder.

These leaves pre-dated metric measures, and the widths in inches would have reflected the true sizes, while the metric dimensions shown were converted and evidently rounded up to the nearest whole mm. (Quad width of 13¾” actually converts closer to 349mm.)

Two widths for quadruple seem to have existed, although only one was shown in any given catalogue. The duality of size is likely to have arisen from how the leaves were folded, as discussed below. (The catalogues I’ve seen showing the smaller of the quad widths also incorrectly state a metric equivalent of 330mm rather than 343mm.)

From mid-1986, the metric widths seem to have been given in the catalogues with further rounding to the nearest 5mm, making double width come out as 180mm and treble as 265mm. I have also seen earlier treble Lefax leaves of 265mm, so there are certainly some nuances to the sizing!

Double leaves:

Treble leaves:

Quadruple leaves:

Note the variation in the direction of folding. The left-hand variant would allow a slightly wider fourth segment, which I suspect is the reason why two different quad widths were quoted.

I have written previously about the original Deskfax format that used double width personal leaves. This was a convenient way to store and use the double size unfolded. Evidence from leaves bearing the associated “DF” marking suggests that this format was introduced in late 1984, rather than 1985/6 as I’d previously believed.

Looking further back in time, both Lefax and Filofax made simple (non-leather) binders that would hold each of the different sizes unfolded.

As an experiment I decided to recreate these, at least in spirit. I used the ring insert out of a modern Temperley Ikat Filofax and made front and rear covers in each of the sizes by trimming plastic sheets. Here are some photos of the end results.    

Components for treble-sized binder:

Double-sized binder:

Quadruple-sized binder: 

The full set of elements used in the experiment:

Today there are still some fold-out inserts for year planners and the like, but the wider range of plain, lined, quadrille, cash, graph etc. are long discontinued. It’s not too hard to make your own though.

Thank you Max, very useful for people wanting extra page space but not a bigger organiser!