There are lots of thing that I miss from living in France. 4€ bottles of wine (minimum 15$ in Nova Scotia); good bakeries and bread; long, relaxed lunch breaks…. but near the top of the list is office supplies, specifically A4 paper.
Yes North American readers, the rest of the planet does not use “Letter” and “Legal” sized paper in their inkjet printers. And I suppose it’s worth noting that they also wouldn’t describe anything as “8 1/2 inches by 11 inches.”
The truth is, once again, that the Rest of the World operates on one standard, while the US and Canada stick to their own oddball choice. As reported at Wikipedia, “ By 1977, A4 was the standard letter format in 88 of 148 countries. Today the standard has been adopted by all countries in the world except the United States and Canada.”
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A4 has its roots, perhaps not surprisingly, in France, and was established as a standard in Germany on 1922, and as an international standard in 1975. Except of course for North America….
Wikipedia’s explanation for the development of Letter sized paper is hilarious….
The origins of the exact dimensions of Letter size paper are lost in tradition and not well documented. The American Forest and Paper Association argues that the dimension originates from the days of manual papermaking and that the 11-inch length of the page is about a quarter of "the average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms."[25] However, this does not explain the width or aspect ratio.
Beyond history though, or even standards, A4 has one attribute that Letter and Legal size will never match: it is elegant. Once you’ve been accustomed to reading official paperwork on A4 pages, it can be jarring to recieve letters from the Government of Canada or others. The short, stumpy Letter sized page is ungainly and not terribly pleasant.
It’s almost as if one page was designed with thought and science, and with an appreciation for art, culture, and proportion, while the other was developed to match "the average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms."
The larger question though, and one worth considering, is what damage is done to Canada when it so steadfastly refuses to adopt international standards? How does sticking to inches and feet, and pounds, and Letter sized paper, affect trade with other countries? Or, is our slavish adherence to whatever the Americans tell us to do actually doing our country more harm than good?
Canada, and especially Canadian politicians, have for many decades trumpeted the claim that we are World Class®. Just how can that be true if we reject the trading standards of nearly every other country of note, only to stick to the backwards preferences of our neighbours to the south?