Flyers Do Actually Fly!

Flyers are all over the place, as you probably know from the little mountain of them that the local curry houses seem capable of shoving through your letter box every week, but did you know there is in fact a reason they’re called “flyers”?

Mc Donalds Menus Delivered to Afghan Courtesy of the US Air Force

Small pieces of printed paper are used to advertise stuff – nothing new in that, it’s been going on since Caxton first decided that squishing bits of carved wood together with ink slapped on them was a really cool idea.  But they were called pamphlets, or handbills or circulars.  However, as soon as man learned to fly (see it coming now??) it didn’t take long for the military to realise they could tell the other side why they were cads and bounders and should desist forthwith by throwing lots of these pamphlets out of the back door over the bad guys’ tents, and hey presto “lets call ’em Flyers”.

So next time you collect your printed flyers from some scruffy oik at the print shop just remember  those bits of paper are hardened veterans and deserve respect.