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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Jacks Are Better

Guess what? I'll be reviving the blog, now that I work in a more necktie-ish establishment than I did for the last 3+ years. First I have a little catching up to do; I wore this wide, vintage polyester number last November. Inside each little box is a jack (as in playing cards); see below for an enlargement of the detail. Why jacks? Beats me, but they remind of me of the cut-price cigarettes formerly sold at Sheetz with the slogan "Jacks Are Better" (taken from the oft-invoked poker rule "jacks or better [to open]"). What Jacks were better than was never specified, which was a smart move, because they were certainly not better than any name-brand cigarette, and it's doubtful they were better than any other budget cigarette either. Plus they burned down really fast, or so I am told. ;-)

Sheetz is also home to the elegantly-named Shmuffin, though they have retired their most glorious hot food name ever: Hamzel & Pretzel (the only name more ridiculous than Denny's Moons Over My Hammy). It's now just a Ham Pretzel Melt. Why they got rid of that and kept Shmagelz and Shmiscuits (Sheetz's brands of magels and miscuits, apparently) is one of a million marketing decisions that don't seem to make any sense.

2 comments:

LondonGirl said...

I am very glad you are back with your lovely tie pix! I had missed them.
I kept the URL for your blog on my favourites list just in case you returned, and when I checked today - there were new entries - yay!
I particularly like the Liberty ties - and the story of your wedding tie artwork.
Thank you for your blog - the patterns, colours, styles and associated stories are really interesting!

Burl Veneer said...

Thank you for the note! It certainly does feel good to be remembered. Cheers! :-)