When I went to high school the cards were sorted manually. On our first day of school we were given a stack of IBM cards, punched with our student information.

When I went to high school the cards were sorted manually. On our first day of school we were given a stack of IBM cards, punched with our student information. We would give one to each teacher when we reported to our first class. At the end of the day, the teacher would have a stack of cards for each of her classes. All these cards were sent somewhere (my school didn't have a computer), sorted. "DO NOT FOLD SPINDLE OR MUTILATE"