NYC Blog: Men's Fashion, Retail and Visual Merchandising | The Bespoken: For Gentlemen

Mr. President…I Give You Dunkin' Doughnuts

 

Will Republicans and Democrats ever see eye to eye on the fiscal crisis? Well pass around a dozen assorted to Speaker of the House Boehner and who knows.

 

Washingtonians are blaming each other and big business and small business, millionaires and illegal immigrants, the un-benefited sick and the entitled working poor for the mess. If only America could find common ground, and something to help stimulate the economy.

 

Most of the IPO news has been centered around technology businesses like Groupon, LinkedIn, Pandora, Zynga, etc., but what might really catch America's appetite might be all-American blue-collar brand Dunkin' Donuts which is heading to the public markets.

 

The owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, who also owns the 31 flavors of Baskin Robbins, is looking to raise as much as $460.6 million in a stock offerings, by selling 22.25 million shares. That's about 1.8 million dozen in donut-speak, or half my yearly intake.

The company is currently owned by investment groups Bain Capital Partners, the Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners who acquired the company from Pernod Ricard.

 

I know what I consume on a weekly basis. That stock is secure as long as there’s chocolate frosted and Coolata’s. Did someone in Washington say “Stimulate the economy”? I'll take a dozen shares to go, please.

Talk To Me

The other evening I was invited to MoMA’s latest opening “Talk to Me: Design and the Communication Between People and Objects” (July 24th through November 7th ,2011)   I’ll go to any opening…even the opening of an envelope. If you can’t make it to the exhibit, visit the on-line journal at MoMA.org/talktome. Anyway, a show on “things” as in new products is just my ticket!

As with all events these days, there was an open bar, actually, five open bars, with three waiters each, which still wasn’t enough for the swarming masses of “in” crowd wannabes who lined up in disorderly rows of thirty pretentious people deep. It’s amazing what people will do for a free drink these days. (No, I was not in line too!)

Does this say something? The lines were not as deep for the show, as it was for the bar. I kept thinking who cast this party. Hundreds of cute 30-something guys, you know the look, mid-management types in their skinny Mad Men suits and Thom Brown style skinny jeans, no socks, (yuck) unshaven and nerdy black frame glasses, just like the guys on the TV commercials for Chase Banks, V-8  and Verizon, bona-fied metrosexuals and avowed guy-guys. You know men who act so straight you think they have to be gay. The kind of guy you want to do, until he tells you he presses his jeans. As for being pompous? I overheard the word “jejune” three times from different guys. For every available male there were two neurotic girls in bright summer print dresses from the DVF collection, naturally with towering chunky heels, constantly pulling the center parted hair out of their faces, sipping their vodka and cranberry juices through the mixer straws, while hiking up their bras,  klass with a capitol “K”. As with all things MoMA there were the corporate membership sponsors, the well heeled and financially endowed, you know, silver haired men in Zenga double-breasted suits with their second wives. How do I know it was their second wives…? They had the five telltale signs of every second wife, one too many collagen injections in their pouty lips, they were twenty years younger, over streaked blond highlights from Louis David, black lace bra underneath their Roberto Cavalli dresses and tennis bracelets galore. A tennis bracelet at an art opening?

But what about art and technology as in things, and the retail trade….

Talk to Me  explores communication between people and things, devices like cell phones and computers that are designed to provide us with access to complex computer systems and information networks, that behave as instructors, or a kind of guide or interpreter of extemporaneous information.

All objects contain information that goes well beyond their immediate use or appearance. Think about the way that “facebook” has reconstructed the idea of what constitutes “friendship”. Whether openly and actively, or in subtle, subliminal ways, things talk to us, and designers help us develop and improvise the dialogue.

Talk to Me  presents a glimpse of the future, but it’s not a future I readily embrace. It’s a future of hand held devices that think for us. It’s a world of plastic, rubber, metal and tempered glass, its slick, glossy and sterile. Gone are romance, sentiment and beauty. Yes, it’s a world where your phone can say “God bless you”when you sneeze. If a phone can understand what God is? Yes, your teapot can absorb the overhead light to keep its contents warm, your teapot will even jiggles like it has Parkinson’s to keep the tea steeping, so you don’t have to re-heat. And yes, a recycled tree branch sling shot you can pre-program with a “splat”, a colorful message you project on the side of a building with light that disappears when the receiver is turned off. Sans graffiti it’s all the rage in Madrid and Sao Paulo.

 There are undoubtedly great uses of technology, talking thermometers for the blind, prostatic limbs for fallen military, aps that direct our movements and help us make informed decisions, an ap that interprets “Tagging” graffiti like language, and things with multi uses, perfumes that promote healing, fibers that retrain heat or keep you cool. There are kiosks and ATM’s so if there is no strip mall you can shop for sunglasses in the Serengeti or thermal gloves at Gulag Archipelago.

Talk to Mefeatures several hundred potential new technological innovations to whet our appetite. Remember when we were satisfied with Pong and PacMan?

More to the point…Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects  was motivated by a simple, yet revealing question: "What if our devices kept talking back to us after we disposed of them?” Though the exhibition offers a glimpse at where these dead devices go, there's another important story concerning our e-waste that is not addressed, the human health risks posed by the toxic pollutants that are released by discarded and recycled electronics. A 60 Minutes Report examined a "wasteland" in Guiyu, China where gadgets from the United States that are meant to be "recycled" but are disposed of, thus contaminating the air, water, and soil with toxic chemicals such as mercury and cadium. 60 Minutes likens the town to "a sort of Chernobyl of electronic waste where you can't breathe the air or drink the water, a town where the blood of the children is laced with lead."

Welcome to our future.

Paul Stewart On A Summer Day

I adore Paul Stuart. The windows are always dressed to perfection and remind me that creativity needn't always accompany a big budget. To point... Paul Stuart is offering passers-by a picrure postcard view to travel  around the world (albeit)  on Madison Avenue. Stuart uses colorful "flats" and iconic images to suggest a Samuri warrior, a bull fighter, and Indian wedding elepkand and a Mssissipi steamship. Its executed with naievty, and is just brilliant.

 
 

 
 

Windows On A Summer Day

A few summer  time windows for you pleasure...

 

Marc Jacobs on Bleeker Street celebrates the passage of NY city's Defense of Marriage Act allowing Gay's & Lesbians to enter into civil "recognized" marriage ceremonies

 

Also Mark Jacobs, here a gauze rainbow flag  is placed over the Marc Jacobs Arte Verdi neon sign in hot pink

 

United Colors Of Benneton with rust colored bird silhouettes

 

Saks Fifth Avenue places the AIDS Memorial Quilt in its store windows and not on a "special occasion" just to remind passers by to pause and reflect... How lovely art thou Saks?

 

Saks Fifth Avenue places the AIDS Memorial Quilt in its store windows and not on a "special occasion" just to remind passers by to pause and reflect.

 

Saks Men's knit top is so filmy that the mannequin's nipples are pronounced. The added use of bamboo works as a nice abstraction.

 

Saks Mens  continue  to remain hip, sexy and masculine. Its youthful and there is seldom an outfit I don't covet.. Saks merchandise is the star and the restrained use of props is elegant.

 

The temperature is a sweltering 97 degrees but that doesn't stop Versace from selling quilted turtlenecks, The icelandic blue suggests cooler climes.

 

Versace mosaic logo

 

Versace slit leather gown with wool overcoat presents a world  of dominatrixes. The royal gold and aristocratic purple suggest a palate  that defies the blistering temperatures.

The Bigger They Are

The house of Halston is like Humpty Dumpty, and one wonders if all the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men can put poor Halston together again. Halston has fallen… hard… again.

A fashion house is not a soufflé…it is a brick.

It seemed an odd choice when the ever so fashionably inclined Sex and The City II chose a classic white Halston for its movie poster featuring Ms. Parker. The Sex and The City franchise is all about fashion, but Halston hit the skids way back in the early 1980’s when Roy Halston sold his name and company to a series of licensees that made everything from .99 cent cigarette lighters to automobile tires. Granted, Sarah Jessica Parker looked fabulous in the white gathered sheath with requisite diva fan, but the last time anyone wore Halston, Roy was guesting on ABC’s The Love Boat.

Just in time for the Sex and The City II film junket it was announced that Ms. Parker was taped as the new President and Chief Creative Officer for Halston. It was a publicists dream comes true. SJP would redevelop the “Halston Heritage Collection”, Halston’s discount line. Before Halston; Sarah had designed the line “Bitten”. launched exclusively with discount clothing chain Steve & Barry’s. The company only sold items under $20.00. They have since gone out of business.

It is not without coincidence that film producer; Harvey Weinstein would purchase a good portion of Halston. Weinstein’s wife Georgina Chapman runs fashion line Marchesa. Weinstein and Parker co-produced Sex and The City II and worked on several film projects together. Ahh, now the parts of the puzzle start to fall in place.

Halston and SJP could have been a “natural”. After All SJP is Carrie Bradshaw. Mr. Parker gets press coverage every times she sneezes; one might think she’d apply that to her work at Halston. Well, one might think that…but…

From the get go, the writing was on the wall. Ms. Parker and Mr. Weinstein were really figure heads and seldom showed up at the office. Not a great way to make friends and influence people. Not an ideal way to manage a struggling company. FYI Halston had eight company presidents before Parker and Weinstein. Weinstein presents like a lovely man when interviewed by Piers Morgan, but then so does Ryan O’Neal and Charlie Sheen. Weinstein and the staff of Halston did not see eye to eye. The fights were legendary and gossiped about by industry insiders. Long distance fights to the coast do not a designer make.

Fashion people are notoriously anal retentive and hard working. When your bosses are making millions and unable to make it to the office, resentments do build. Research suggests that Ms. Parker and Mr. Weinstein never took the opportunity to travel overseas to visit their factories where Halston designs are manufactured. Ms. Parker, who is frequently spotted on the red carpet, fashion event, charity functions, talk shows and press events seldom, was spotted wearing Halston product. Can one even imagine Coco Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent showing up for the press wearing their competitor’s duds?  

Too often I have had the opportunity to debate the merits of what happens when celebrities design, with the possible exception of Victoria Beckham and The Olson Twins, celebrity designers have been a death knoll, think Lindsey Lohan for Ungaro, the Kardashians, Paris Hilton. Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus for Wal-Mart, or Mike (the situation) Sorrentino Couture Tee Shirt line. Fashion is a train wreck.

Ms. Parker is one of the entertainment industries highest paying performers. Just prior to joining Halston, Ms. Parker became the mother of twin’s girls through surrogacy. That in itself is a full time job, even if you have and nanny (The Broderick’s do not have “live-in” help) and a stay at home dad like Matthew Broderick. While Ms. Parker did not have a great attendance record at Halston, she’s not a slouch, Ms. Parker did manage to make several films “Did You Hear About the Morgan’s?“ “New Years Eve”, “Smart People”. “I Don’t Know How She Does It”. The last two titles are perhaps the most aptly titled.

In a time when millions of Americans wrestle with living hand to month, Ms. Parker and Mr. Weinstein will walk away with payout packages estimated in the millions.

Christopher Haynes: On Not Taming The Fox

 
"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you're still nothing more than a little boy who's just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I'm nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you'll be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world …" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - Le Petit Prince, 1943

It is not without consequence or coincidence that Christopher Haynes sent me this quote from one of the most beloved books of the 20th century. Mr. Haynes may well be the incarnation of The Little Prince… had he ever grown up. 

Mr. Haynes appeared on my radar via LinkedIn and Facebook, where I followed his activities and postings with some regularity. Just recently I became enamored with a typography and graphic project he was working on, and we’ve exchanged a few e-mails. 

 
Mr. Haynes is what is classically described as a Renaissance man.  His bailiwick is 'Creativity for Commerce' and one of the projects he’s working on right now is creating a brand for Rachel Taylor, a well-known upcoming pattern designer in the UK. www.rachel-taylordesigns.co.uk.  Previously, he has been contracted to assist with European Government backed projects in Birmingham, UK providing photographic services to promote the Southside Bid www.southsidebid.co.uk as a gesture to promote economic development in his home town. This is a man who clearly believes in karma.

Mr. Haynes is perhaps best known for rebranding "http://www.bbrown.co.uk/"  in 2008. During this time he successfully continued in his sales role in the U.K, France and the Middle East. B. Brown is Europe's original supplier of background materials i.e. fabrics and finishing’s for the retail display and interior design industries. BBrown was incorporated in 1934, and continues to source innovative fashion forwards products. 

 
Is a picture worth a thousand words? If you wanted to get a taste of Christopher’s aesthetic sensibilities then you would want to visit OOHGRAPHY© his online photographic art store. You can link to it at www.facebook.com/oohgraphy  and is "a one-man camera adventure, stolen moments, hidden stories and a quest to provide an alternative to mass-produced art". As with any business which is designed to be a 'well kept secret' it relies entirely on word-of-mouth exposure.

As for not taming the fox, Mr. Haynes is not a “yes man”. In fact, he has a reputation for being…  “Politely blunt but charming." "Dangerously honest” and "cheeky, very cheeky!” If this raises your antenna, it’s interestingly to note that Christian Dior offered him the lucrative Visual Merchandising Manager position for The Middle East and India in 2008. He mulled it over, but turned them down. Is he self-destructive? 

Perhaps he was just ready to settle down. They say that travel makes the man. The Petit Prince lived on a small planet with just one tree and a chair. Alas, Mr. Haynes was born on planet Earth. Since birth he’s lived in England, Saint Louis, MO, Paris, Marseille and travelled to over 100 destinations across  Europe, India, The Middle East, Africa and The Americas. 

Mr. Haynes has an interesting approach. In true entrepreneurial spirit he manages his own business, www.christopherhaynes.co.uk which he launched in response to the credit crunch to give SME's a cost-effective solution to help their commercial development and have access to services normally only available to larger companies. It’s a handsome site that offers a lot, here’s just one principal portion, Mr. Haynes describes what he does as being a “Business Buddy”… 

a pay-as-you-go ideas guy…Simple and free idea number 1: 

Drop me a line and give me some details about your company and I think about ideas to inspire you to boost your business and help you get there. 

Here are some things I could help with: Sales & Marketing. Business Development. Logos and Image. Photography and Photoshop. Web Design. Graphic Design. Google popularity. English/French projects. Inspiration. 

 Officially, Mr. Haynes is the Business Development Manager for Rockingham Display in the United Kingdom.  "http://www.rockinghamdisplay.com" I know Rockingham only by reputation, and what one can learn from their internet site, Rockingham is primarily a point of sale manufacturer that specializes in the cosmetic and luxury sectors, where discriminating quality is valued. But what does that really mean in English?  Mr. Haynes reports …“His role is to provide experience, knowledge and creativity to gain acquisitions within the British and European retail display sector and further develop Rockingham’s reputation as an easy company to do business with who understand your projects and deliver your vision. Oh, now I get it!

When you visit the Rockingham site you’ll be impressed with their work, and the diversity of their clients. It’s sort of a who’s who in the UK and global luxury sector. 

 
Of Human Interest and Bondage…

First of all Mr. Haynes works with his shirt on and fur huff cap off. Mr. Haynes is a good twenty years younger than me. He cuts a dashing figure in his skinny jeans and signature sunglasses.

 
Mr. Haynes has an attractive face, a contagious smile, blue eyes and flirts shamelessly. Is he a school girl’s delight? TBD. He stands 6’ 2” tall and wears size 13 shoes. (You know what they say about big shoes.)  He appears to be one of those a good bad boy archetypes. It is surprising that he has not been photographed in a black leather jacket riding a Harley. 

Expressive…a strong silent type he is not, not a shrinking violet. Like those brooding 'good underneath' bad boy types his demeanor may be provocative, animated, loud, and perhaps abrasive to some, but rest assured it’s certainly a defense mechanism, as I’d stake my reputation that he is really quite sensitive. He says, no, and that… “he’s as subtle as a train wreck”. Well do you want to take that ride? Is exciting better than bland?  

The art of seduction is not lost among the French. He is certainly quite irristible. Sexy. He is often referred to as “Marmite” a product virtually unknown in the US but synonymous in Britain with something you either love or hate. As a man who questions the merits of mass appeal - he's happy with that.

On Facebook he lists about 100 artists as favorites that runs the gamut from The Monkees, Serge Gainsbourg, Louis Armstrong, Kings of Leon, Madonna and Jane Birkin. The Monkee’s? Did he really say The Monkees with my beloved “ Pleasant Valley Sunday”, a chart topper! A song written by Gerry Goffin and his wife Carole King in 1967. I was only 10 years old but neighbor Dorn Kirshner had me record a demo track for Ms. King, for the Monkees. The Goffin’s-Kings lived on Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ) and had picnics every Sunday, hence “it’s just a Pleasant Valley Suuuundaaaay! I was paid 15.00 dollars and got a free 45. It’s a small world.

Not prone to gentrification, Mr. Haynes opts to live in the Chinatown section of Birmingham, UK. Mr. Haynes speaks English (a native) and French fluently. Some things are best left unsaid, while we’ve never spoken, I can well imagine the wonderful accent he has which he himself describes as an 'airport accent'. A deep resonant voice. It’s a shame that we Americans (myself included) speak as if we all have marbles in our mouths.  

 

You already know I’m all about style which Mr. Haynes describes his style being influenced by 1960's France with an enormous dollop of Brit Rock.  Is it affect or not? TBD. He wears signature sunglasses as in everywhere, and all the time. He proudly wears labels like All Saints, D&G, The Kooples, TopMan, H&M and counts among his favorite shops, Colette in Paris and naturally, Selfridges. Mr. Haynes is compulsive and changes his shoes as often as he can but is still happiest 'pieds nus'. His color palate for choosing clothes includes deep colors that like himself can't quite be easily defined, blue/black,  grey/green, wet clay, dark skies......He includes his favorite fashion accessories as his camera, a cup of coffee, and his Marlboro Lights. He is an insomniac. 

That being said, From our few emails and my research I can ascertain that Mr. Haynes is a talent, creatively driven, entrepreneurial, an intellect, and profoundly interested in life. This is a man of passion. His activities and interests on Facebook list over a hundred things. You’ll note most people strain to list ten things. Isn’t there something seductive about a man, who can build anything out of wood, watches life through a lens, reads Elle Déco and Wallpaper and wears military boots?

It is difficult to summarize an unfinished life. Mr. Haynes has sent me intriguing quotes, insightful character sketches, provocative ideas and lots of quirky autobiographical information. Collective enough to create a profile twice this length. I will elect however to commence here and encourage you to pick up the conversation directly with him. I hope you will place him and his work on your radar.

Here is a quote Mr. Haynes has asked me to include...

"Tous les hommes sont menteurs, inconstants, faux, bavards, hypocrites, orgueilleux et lâches, méprisables et sensuels; toutes les femmes sont perfides, artificieuses, vaniteuses, curieuses et dépravées ; le monde n'est qu'un égout sans fond où les phoques les plus informes rampent et se tordent sur des montagnes de fange; mais s'il ya au monde une chose sainte et sublime, c'est l'union de deux de ces êtres si imparfaits et si affreux. On est souvent trompé en amour souvent blessé et souvent malheureux; mais on aime, et quand on est sur le bord de sa tombe, on se retourne pour regarder en arrière, et on se dit : J'ai souffert souvent, je me suis trompé quelques fois: mais j'ai aimé. C'est moi qui ai vécu et non pas un être factice créé par mon orgueil et mon ennui." Alfred de Musset, On ne badine pas avec l'amour (1834)

"All men are liars, fickle, false, talkative, hypocritical, arrogant, cowardly, despicable and sensual, all women are perfidious, artful, vain, curious and depraved: the world is a bottomless sewer where most shapeless seals crawl and writhe on the mountains of mud, but if the world is holy and sublime, it is the union of two of these creatures so imperfect and hideous. We are often deceived in love, often wounded and often unhappy, but we love, and when you're on the edge of his grave, we turn to look back and say: I have suffered many times, I'm wrong sometimes, but I loved. It was I who lived, and not a fake being created by my pride and my boredom. "Alfred de Musset, No Trifling With Love (1834)

Contact Information…

Website: "http://www.christopherhaynes.co.uk/"

Email: "mailto:christopher.haynes@me.com" christopher.haynes@me.com or  "mailto:christopher.haynes@me.com"  "mailto:christopher.haynes@me.com" christopher.haynes@mac.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com  or  "http://www.facebook.com/oohgraphy" "http://www.facebook.com/oohgraphy" www.facebook.com/oohgraphy

LinkedIn: "http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-haynes/16/bb3/735" View public profile http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-haynes/16/bb3/735

Phone: +44 79 73 95 92 79

COLOR MY WORLD

 
 
Timing is everything in life. Several days ago (June 21^st) I noticed the new Google logo was homage to Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami, known in part for his use of bright colors. Murakami is the new darling of the “art scene”. Well, nothing happens without reason. I receive frequent postings from www.bonobos.com a local (New York City) men’s pants manufacturer who I’ve written about before, “Cute Boys In Pants” (June 6^th 2010) who were promoting their line of colorful pants and wild summer prints. “Look”  I said to myself, “they’re practically drawn from the same color palate. What are the chances? But I dismissed it as mere coincidence. Then as is my practice, I was obsessively checking my facebook, and saw an update on “friend” Christopher Hayes’ page of a recent typography project he was designing using bright colorful text. Among other things, Mr. Hayes is the manages his own business, www.christopherhaynes.co.uk “Look” I said to myself, “it’s practically drawn from the same color palate too.” What are the chances?” Three different people, on three different continents, working in different disciplines, were referencing the same design trend, and one that’s just catching on in popularity. It is not coincidence, I said to myself. “The universe is conspiring and trying to tell me something… but what? Yes, sometimes I am dense.

Timing is everything in life. I came home that evening and pulled out an old album, that’s right, an LP, a disk that requires a turntable. I put on Petula Clark who I accompany while I fix my dinner. We practically sing in the same key. Here it comes… one of my favorites "Colour My World" (written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent) which was released in December of 1966. The song/album failed to chart which was a surprise for the beloved “Downtown” singer. In retrospect, the song (like many trends) was a little bit ahead of its time. It anticipates something that has not quite happened. “Colour My World? Huh? What” said the American public? The emerging psychedelic/hippie generation was just coming into vogue No one over eighteen got it! The song went nowhere fast.

Then something unpredictable happened, all three of the television networks ABC, CBS and NBC (there were only three) converted all their prime time shows to color that following fall. Black & white TV was now passé. Color was introduced to America, and there was no turning back. Advertisers could now sell their new avocado green refrigerators; we could finally see Lucille Ball’s red hair, and the new blue Ford Mustangs, Windex and Scope mouthwash…in color! Reinforcing the racial temperament, the empowerment of color, black is beautiful, rainbow love and acknowledging the tenir of the times, Perry Como was out, and Laugh-in was in. Presto-Chango! A full year after its release, “Color My World” entered the Billboard 200 in February of 1967, and remained on the charts for twenty-seven weeks, peaking at  number forty-nine. Finally. the world caught up. Here's a link!

Petula Clark - Colour My World (1966)

Well what goes around comes around. Its about forty-five years later, and once again we find ourselves on a color precipice. The last twenty years have been full of black, charcoal grey, taupe and navy. The color spectrum of our closets runs from A to B. We are half sick of our uniforms. Granted, these remain economically challenging times but the culture is beginning to embrace color as a form of optimism and identity. 

 

  

 

 

 

 
Murakami, Bonobos and Mr. Hayes can color my world anytime. I’m ready to sign up. Here are a few side by side images of their work. They say great minds think alike. You can see the parallels for yourself.I’m going to invite you to do two things. Visit www.bonobos.com. It’s a terrific company ! And please visit www.christopherhaynes.co.uk  Please return shortly, as I’m going to be posting a full profile on Mr. Hayes later in the week to formally introduce him to you.

   

 

 

 

 



 

  

 

 

The Postcard: The 20th Century Version of Twitter

Political parties, celebrity marriages and professional careers fall faster than a pile of bricks when a “Tweet” goes astray. You need not be former Congressman Anthony Weiner, cyber bully Perez Hilton or anger management participant Chris Brown ranting to find yourself up a creek without a paddle. One might think how much damage can be done with just 140 characters? Answer…Plenty.

“Tweeting” may seem like a technological novelty, a harmless pursuit, but that’s far from the truth. Too bad former Congressman Anthony Weiner, cyber bully Perez Hilton or anger Management participant Chris Brown didn’t live in the 20^th Century. If they might not have felt the public heat because they would have sent the 20^th century version of a “tweet”, which was called a “postcard.” It was a 3.5” by 5.5” card (the approximate size of a cell phone) with a photo, (perhaps risqué) and with just enough space on the back side for about 140 characters, “Dear Zelda, Having a great vacation. Gatsby sends regards! Party was fabulous! Wish you were here! Laughing out loud. Miss you! F. Scott” They would have placed a three cent stamp on it, and chances are the only other person privy to the contents was the postman or maybe a nosey neighbor. Today however, people delude themselves and somehow think that “tweeting” is private, like a right of privacy…when in truth, it’s far from it. Tweeting is as public as the pillory.

Deltiology (postcard collecting) is claimed to be the third largest collecting hobby next only to stamps and coins. “Tweeting” is almost equally as popular!

You might say that “tweeting” has become an addiction, and reflective of our narcissistic culture. That may be, but in the 20^th Century there was a mania for postcards too. Postcards were sold everywhere, for everything and sent for every occasion, including marriage proposals. Not too much has changed, most people sent postcards to announce the most mundane and innocuous information like the weather in Altoona or the progress of the Presidents Memorial at Mount Rushmore. In the year ending 1903, the Post Office is estimated to have delivered about 39 million pictorial cards; by 1906 the number is thought to have risen to 264 million.

As for smart or bawdy humor, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Beiber and the Kardashians do not hold a copyright on the market…the top-selling postcard of all time was said to be a drawing by illustrator, Donald McGill with the caption: He: "Do you like Kipling?"
She: "I don't know, you naughty boy, I've never kippled." It sold about 6 million copies! Between 1904 and his death, (1962). McGill sold more than 350 million cards over his life time.

Oh to be sure, just like “twitter” some postcards were erotic (for their day) and many had gag humor which was racy and culturally misinformed. Political correctness seldom stands the test of time. But amid all the well intentioned humor, there were also criminal offenses, including a case of smuggling in which cards embossed with morphine and cocaine were mailed to a New York prison. And in 1912, local postmasters were permitted to confiscate some of the more risqué cards, such as those showing "feminine ankles, lovers in romantic attitudes, (kissing) and pictures of animals portrayed “without fashionable attire.”

My mother used to say, if you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything. So be careful what you do say. For those of you not yet informed, The Library of Congress has purchased the “twitter” archives and updates The Library of Congress every day. That’s right; every “tweet” you’ve ever made, and will ever make will be available and easily searchable on our National Library’s Database.