Wish Book

From shoes to houses to auto parts.  You could get it all through Sears catalogue.  Without doubt, it was the goal of Sears, Roebuck and Co.¹ to be all things to all people.  And Monkey Ward² did all in their power to best Sears.

Both of these giants published humungous catalogues which were delivered to customers' homes via the mail twice a year-- Spring and Summer edition, Fall and Winter edition, not to mention that eagerly awaited special number, The Christmas Catalogue.

The arrival of a catalogue in our home when we were children meant many hours of lying on the floor, chin in hand, book in front, pages being slowly turned, dreams and fantasies of what might be swirling through our heads.

For many years, Sears used the "good, better, best" marketing ploy, dreamed up, no doubt long before companies had "marketing" departments.  Or for that matter, before the term was coined, for all I know.³  As I recall, and who knows how reliable that recall is, a page might show an item marked "Good" and priced at $2.98, a "Better" item of nearly identical appearance priced at $3.49, and finally the "Best" priced at $3.98.  What parent is going to buy the cheapest item, when their offspring deserve only the best?  Well, perhaps the parent for whom that extra dollar might represent two-days' wages.  But only if it were a real need in the first place.

"Wish Book" was the designation applied to each of these things in our home, and apt it was, too.  You may wish all you want, but chances are. . .

¹Also designated "Sit Up and Rear Back" in our childhood world.
²Officially, Montgomery, Ward & Co.  But we always called it "Monkey Wards."
³Term apparently coined in the 16th century.

It's All about the Asterisk

This is the result of a rant I engaged in with respect to disclaimers as used in advertising.  If it turned political, so be it.

We were visiting daughter and son-in-law  I was glancing at a Meijer advertisement, specifically at the "turkey" section.  They were offering some sort of convoluted deal based on size of bird, location of store (maybe), and whether or not Saturn is rising in your sign.  (I made that up; I don't really know what the conditions were, because of the asterisk.  This always leads to a disclaimer, and this was no exception.  I skipped over most of the nonsense, but noted that the last line said something about "see page 8 for further qualifications and conditions.  (I am paraphrasing, but not making it up.)

I went into a rant mode, something to the effect that I could not understand why people couldn't publish a straightforward ad, "Turkey $1.29/lb." or whatever it is that is fair and honest.

Shari said, "You dislike disclaimers?  Here, check this one."  She handed me this: