Sorry to take up all your bandwidth, Brothers!
Apropos of the pocket petition we use in Iowa:
It's a four-fold sheet of heavy paper, printed front and back on a half-sheet lengthwise of letter paper. When folded, it's about the size of a credit card, and most of us carry one or two of them in our wallets.
We, too, have a pocket card that gives the reasons for becoming a Mason; the pocket petition is an entirely different document. Since I was on the committee that proposed it (I'm still on that committee), I think I can speak to its use.
A few years ago, Iowa dropped the admonition that we should not, in a word, recruit new members, and allowed us to discuss Freemasonry—within reason—with men we thought would be good candidates for the fraternity. This often involved having coffee or lunch with the potential candidate, and very few carried the full letter-sized petition with us. Enter the pocket petition. The smaller version contains EVERY question and space as the larger petition, and in the same order.
If you're interested in seeing what it looks like, you can go to this web site:
http://grandlodgeofiowa.org/?page_id=470 and scroll down to Form 8a under "Secretary Forms." Imagine it printed front and back, so that each sheet could make two petitions.
It has been VERY useful to us, since we can say to a prospective candidate, "I have a petition right here. Take it with you, look it over, and fill it out if you're interested. Here—I'll write my phone number on it if you have any questions." It works VERY well in conjunction with our pocket card. In fact, we're probably seeing more pocket petitions in use than the older full-sheet ones.
Thanks for letting me ramble!
John Klaus
Past Master
Mount Vernon Lodge No. 112
Mount Vernon, IA