Sticker Shock
Ephemera's Marty Weil recently interviewed ’80s sticker collector Shawn Robare on his weblog. An interesting talk on something that isn’t usually thought of as a collectible. I also enjoyed Shawn’s weblog, Branded In The ’80s. Those stickers remind me of my fave local shop from back then, a multi-purpose gift store called Jutenhoops. They sold jokey greeting cards, board games, puzzles, kites and other such “fun” stuff (picture a more cluttered version of Over Our Heads from The Facts of Life), but one thing I definitely remember is the store’s section with rolls and rolls of stickers of every kind. It was amazing. This was around 1983-85, the same period as this sticker collecting vogue. Incidentally, Jutenhoops has stayed in business locally up until very recently, still having a healthy stock of “fun” stuff (but not as many stickers).
Tangentally related: x-entertainment’s piece on McDonald’s tray liners throughout the years is a fun and fascinating read (via Coudal).
The weekly cassette mp3s shared at 
Yesterday I satisfied an odd Pringles fix by buying a can of Original at the local convenience store. It’s been a while, and I hadn’t noticed that the standard Cheez-Ums flavor is now called Cheddar Cheese. Anyway, the can’s protective seal advertised something called “Pringles Minis”. I can imagine the thinking behind this latest Pringles permutation: “Our focus groups continue to love the delicious taste of our product, but many feel inconvenienced by having to open wide to eat them.”
