Star Wars notepads from the 1970s with Chewbacca and Darth Vader

The Force is strong with these nifty vintage notepads: Wookiee Doodle Pad and Official Duty Roster (as if Darth Vader was the one who was assigned to put that duty roster together each week; if so, that task was probably something he hated even more than sand.)

The pads measure about 4¼ inches by 7¼ inches. On the back, the company creating these is listed as Drawing Board Greeting Cards of Dallas, Texas. (American Greetings acquired Drawing Board Greeting Cards in 1985 and came up with the idea of using Drawing Board to publish risqué cards, according to a 1986 article on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel website.)

"Official Duty Roster" is still in its plastic wrapping, and there's a sticker on the front with the Star Wars logo indicating that these "Perky Pads" contain 100 sheets and cost $1.75. The fine print also makes it clear that the trademarks are owned Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and used with authorization. (Of course, the profits went straight into the pocket of George Lucas, who famously secured all of the licensing and merchandising rights for Star Wars prior to its initial release.)

There's not much that I could find online about these pads, which I guess makes sense. They're not as exciting as Star Wars figures or other collectibles. 

According to StarWars.com, though, the pads were popular and were "even used by screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan for notes on a draft of the Return of the Jedi script from 1981."

A few other Star Wars-related posts

• 1979 Star Wars toy ads
• The inspiration provided by Carrie Frances Fisher
• 1970s summer comics nostalgia with Thing and Vision, Episode X
• Watch "Star Wars" in the comfort of your own living room