Frugality, at a discount

Boulet, my favorite French cartoonist, has decided to spend some time amongst us -- well, in Los Angeles, which kind of modifies the "us" part -- and not only cartooned about it yesterday, as seen here, but already has a new one up.

I hope he's not just toying with us. (This is a snippet -- go read the rest.)

Not only is this an absolutely excellent time for a little Tocqueville redux, but, if he keeps it up, it will mean a month or two of stuff from un bon gar whose site is often updated en englais rather sporadically.

 

That's not funny, Hilary

Today's Rhymes With Orange is not funny. It's a really good idea. 

On the surface. But let's trace my disillusion.

My first take was that 20 bucks an hour plus free coffee seems a little steep, though if my Internet at home went down, I'd have to pay it.

And besides, Hilary Price lives in suburban Northampton, a hipster haven in Western Mass where $20 is chump change. (Disclaimer: I like, and have many very pleasant associations with, the place, but I couldn't afford to live there.)

My second take, however, was that, much as they could afford this new approach, they're there to hook up, sure, but not to the Internet.

And, more relevant to this proposed business model, they are there to game the system.

Some of the biggest cheapskates and chiselers I have known were people who had no need to pinch pennies, and, no, that's not why they were so well off. They're not frugal. They're self-centered jerks.

So this is a really good idea but a really bad business model, and I can picture the place packed on the day before the new system goes into effect and empty the day after.

Sigh. I guess this just isn't a moment in time when any of us are inclined to believe good things about each other.

Though maybe if you had really fast, reliable Internet and decent coffee ...

Nope. Can't do it.

 

Now THIS is true frugality, or, at least, it was ...

Knight Life has just launched a story arc on sneakers, or tennis shoes or plimsolls or whatever the hell they are, and Keefe recalls the days when you could still be sincerely frugal.

I guess you had to be there.

I don't mind companies trying to make a little lemonade out of their lemons. Back about the time Keefe and his little pals were rooting around behind the sneakertennieshoeplimsoll factory, my folks had moved to Buffalo, and, when we'd visit them, the Champion Factory Outlet store was a must-visit.

They didn't just have irregulars at rock-bottom prices. They had custom-print disasters and some of those babies were collector's items.

My favorite was a forest-green polo shirt with "(Name of School) Field Hockey" and a number printed on the breast, together with a crossed pair of ... lacrosse sticks. 

Not only did the fact that they had a full rack of these horrors suggest an entire sequence of reactions and letters back and forth, but, when you wore one of the shirts, you could watch people's eyes wander as they went through the "hey, wait a minute" process.

And I used to stop at an LL Bean outlet in Concord, NH, where out-of-season clothes were deeply discounted and you could get a bargain on misprinted backpacks and dog beds.

That was then. This is now.

The Bean store in Freeport still has a corner with misprints, but factory outlets, whatever the company, from Kittery to Lake George to North Conway are now focused on screwing retailers, not giving you a bargain: The stuff isn't even at wholesale, much less fire sale, prices.

Actual retail stores do have clearance bins, however, and I remember going to a sporting goods store when my son was a senior in HS to get him his soccer cleats for the upcoming season. He was closing in on 6'4" and in no danger of tipping over, so it was hard to find shoes his size, but they did turn up on the clearance shelves because so few people needed them.

We found (at full price, dammit) cleats in his size, but then he pawed through the bin for a pair of plimsolltennisshoesneakers to stick in his locker for gym class, and emerged with the ugliest, nastiest-looking semi-velvet gold-and-black slip-ons I had ever seen, marked down to five bucks.

"Won't your friends make fun of you?" I asked. 

"Not when they find out what I paid for them," he replied.

He and Keefe are kindred spirits. Must have been the times.

 

Still on the topic of memories

The King Features archivist has a feature up about Snuffy Smith, honoring the century since creator Fred Laswell was born, and it is packed with trivia and, better yet, trivial images like this promo from back in the days when newspapers had the sense to promote the things they were putting in the paper so you'd buy it, or enjoy it more, or whatever.

I mean, before they started eliminating the things in the paper that might induce you to buy it, or to enjoy reading it.

But I digress.

Tyrone, for those who care and even for those who don't, is in Pennsylvania, which provides a weak but tenable link to this ....

        ... 1963 drawing contest from Philly which promoted the addition of Snuffy Smif animated cartoons on TV.

My grandfather lived in the Philadelphia area and I well remember going down there and camping out in front of their set to watch, clockwise from top right, Happy the Clown, Sally Starr and Chief Halftown.

And I'm only slightly miffed that nobody ever mentions Gene London or Pixanne. I suppose it's because their stations didn't lay on the promo as thickly.

Getting lost and forgotten happens when you fail to promote yourself. And feeling that way is why I'm no longer in newspapers.

I was insufficiently frugal.

 

Now here's your hillbilly frugality West Coast zen mashup:

 

Comments

[Bob]

Mike - was the Champion outlet in Perry, NY? That was a frequent road trip destination for kids (myself included) from my high school. Also, it served as an alibi (though a weak one) if a coach/teacher caught you wearing a purloined sports jersey.

[Mike Peterson]

Nah, this one would have been within spitting distance of Tonawanda. But I'm sure yours has been closed and/or ruined, too!

[sean martin]

There is a Tanger Outlet near where some of my friends live, so on a lark we went to take a look.

I gather "outlet" now means "pay full price but pretend you're not".

[Boise Ed]

Hmmm. Lacrosse sticks have the little net on the end, right? And field hockey uses those upside-down walking sticks?

[Lori B]

A nice clerk at one of the outlet malls around the Northwest told us years ago that they aren't stocked with irregulars and seconds and last season's merchandise, instead it's all made specifically for the outlet market. Just in case anyone thought they'd get some fabulous first-quality deals, yeah, probably not.

[Robin (from racs)]

Lands' End still offers seconds, overstock, and returned items at pretty deep discounts at its handful of outlets. You have to hunt past the showy displays of new stuff, but it's there, and I managed to keep two growing boys in coats for two decades that way. A more interesting update of the outlet concept, though, is the "Goodwill Outlet" in certain cities. The name prompts some double-takes, but it really is the last-ditch sales option for stuff that was on the shelf at the thrift store for more than a month. Most of the goods are sold by the pound, and I've made killer finds there.