Nostalgia and Name Brands

This post is purely nostalgic. I hate to admit that my nostalgia even tips towards something as foolish as a name brand. Nostalgic for places? Sure. Nostalgic for good times with people crucial to your life? Sure. Nostalgic for when your kids were little and loved to snuggle you endlessly? Sure. But nostalgic for commerce? Ooooo, seems a little shallow. Nonetheless, I am a child of the advertising age. I may have grown up with only two TV channels, but it was during the time that advertising came into its own and started convincing us that we were not buying just a product ... we were buying a lifestyle. It turns out, in a way, that we were. Those products became so intertwined with stages in our lives, that to think of one makes us recall the other.

I just read an article predicting 10 name brands that will go out of existence in the next year. This isn't rocket science; they've been known to be wrong. But the odds are pretty high that these name brands will disappear forever, either through complete bankruptcy or absorption into another company who won't maintain the identity of the brand name. Three of those named really stirred up memories.

According to the article, some time in the next year Sears is expected to disappear. That's a name brand that became familiar early in my life, back in the days when every child eagerly awaited their issue of the "Christmas Wish Book" catalog in the mail. I don't think anything under my Christmas tree ever came from there. We were pretty poor and most things were handmade or handed-down at Christmas.  But oh ... how I loved to look through it and imagine myself playing with that kitchen set, that doll, that Davy Crockett rifle. (I was an eclectic child.)  My husband, who grew up in northern NH where stores were few and far between, remembers actually picking out a list of longed for items from the catalog and having his parents choose a gift or two from it. Mail order was a vital part of the economy of the North Country even in those days.  But alas, time marched on and the catalog disappeared. Then the Sears stores became the "anchor" for something new called "shopping malls."  I counted on them to carry sturdy clothes for my children and well-made basics for me.  How many "Winnie the Pooh" blanket sleepers I bought and relied upon to keep my children warm in our drafty old house!  And I can recall one particular hooded red winter jacket that was so indestructible it was used by Beth a few years, then by all three Francis girls... and it still looked brand new!

Another brand expected to disappear soon is A&W restaurants. They're mostly gone already, but still, the idea of never driving past one again makes me a little nostalgic. When I think of A&W drive-ins, I think of my teenaged years in Newport, NH (1963-1968). I even knew the kids of the owner of our local A&W; one was in my class. I remember she gave the required "Explain How to Do Something" oral speech in English class by demonstrating how to make extruded french fries. We thought that was pretty remarkable! No peeling or slicing required! :)  And the absolutely coolest thing that could happen to you in those days was to be seen at the A&W with a cool guy in a cool car. Hats off to all the cool guys with cool cars who took me there!

The third brand expected to disappear this year transports me back to my late college years and the decade following. If they're right, Saab will be driving into the sunset soon. But in the early 70's those who could afford to do so chose Saab or Volvo. Mustangs were still cool, but Saabs and Volvos let the world know you had become an adult... even better, a cool adult.  Put a ski rack on the back and you were good to go!  And then one day you put one of those new safety innovations, a child seat for the car, in it and knew your children were doubly safe. Very responsible ... yet still very cool.

So goodbye Sears, A&W and Saab. I'm not cool any more, and apparently neither are you.  But surprisingly, you became so intertwined with my life, you came to represent my childhood, my teen years, my young adulthood and my young motherhood.  If you're a young person and just can't identify with my silly nostalgia, stop a minute and imagine Apple, amazon and Starbucks going out of business... it might happen some day.  After all, My Space was also on that list.