CHICAGO – The era of excessively droopy or excessively tight sportswear may be reaching its conclusion,
NEW YORK – The sneaker brand Keds announced what they called a “brand refresh” this week. The Keds shoe brand has an updated logo in a newer shade of blue, in a promotional push coming after DSW’s purchase of the rubber shoe pioneer from Wolverine Worldwide. “The brand refresh is rooted
HERZOGENAURACH, Germany–The athletic shoe company Puma will turn 75 in 2023 and will celebrate its milestones with a series of events throughout the year under the banner of ‘Forever Faster’. “Puma’s founder Rudolf Dassler spoke about giving his athletes the agility and performance of a big cat, today we call
As the ski craze hit America in the 1960s and 1970s, almost every city in the U.S. had an independent ski shop, filled with dozens of independent ski brands. These shops were sometimes ski and sports stores, other times ski and surf shops. It all depended on the climate, the
Could the Corinthian leather be a thing again? Probably not, but in a series of social media posts celebrating the centennial of the Chrysler brand released in the last few days, their parent company Stellantis is going full Mopar with the nostalgia. Chrysler has been a walking zombie of a
For fans of the first Home Alone, brands that appear in the movie are part of the nostalgia. Each year, as we see the movie, we are transported back to the Reagan era. In spite of the three decades, however, the brands are fairly consistent. The brands help define the
Bulova, among the earliest U.S. wristwatch makers, still has a presence at U.S. department stores. Unfortunately, it is no longer a U.S. brand as Citizen Watch Co. Ltd., a Japanese watchmaker, acquired the company in 2008. The brand is one of the surviving American watch brands, which included a pantheon
Minwax and parent Sherwin Williams have shuttered the beloved Homer Formby furniture refinishing brand. With the closing, a whole approach to conserving furniture has disappeared. An online search for the brand, eponymously named by America’s most famous furniture fixer, refers customers to a defunct web page for the Sherwin Williams
This week, John Kelly of The Washington Post reminisced about the clear Nescafe globe mug, famous from 1970s commercials. Kelly was kind enough to mention a column on General Foods International Coffee, which is still sold as Maxwell House International Coffee. One of Kelly’s readers, in a comment, mentioned the
CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Chemex drip coffee maker, that perfect symbol of 20th century product design, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. The coffeemaker, created in 1941, is still made in the U.S., by a family owned company. The product is deceptively simple, namely an X-shaped beaker. The beaker has
“Buy only the best pencils. The others are a snare, a delusion and utterly useless.” -Eberhard Faber II The book Quintessence, published in 1983, profiled a series of American products that were perfect, and could not be improved. One of those brands, along with Coca-Cola, Slinky, Oreo and the Cartier
The year 1959 was the 100th anniversary of A&P, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. Eisenhower was president. America was atop the world, as was A&P, which at that time was the largest grocery chain in the world. The company, never looking back except to evoke its own greatness,
QUINCY, Ill. – One of the best known, but forgotten, kitchen cleaners of the 20th century is Bab-O. Today, the brand is a trademark and product of, and a perfect complement to, the cleaning products of the family owned Fitzpatrick Brothers of Quincy, Illinois. Their operating manifesto? A business with
ATLANTA – One of the happier trademarks in the U.S. is Mod Podge, the decoupage coating. Georgia entrepreneuse and interior designer Jan Wetstone, whose Buckhead shop Jan’s Interiors is shown as the original owner of the brand, invented the Mod-Podge in 1965. Note that it was first trademarked with a
Many powerful brands lose their shelf space, and end up shuttered or at least diminished. But there is one category where many smaller brands have survived, and even thrived. Underarm deodorant and anti-perspirant. At a Florida Publix, the power of these brands is evidenced by the fact that even in
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – Of the many cold and sore throat remedies, there is one brand, Sucrets, that has a mystery and lore about it larger than its original use. Not only are Sucret lozenges valued as a relief for sore throats, the tins well outlast the original product, and are
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – There are perhaps no American brands that are more trusted than Johnson & Johnson. A key part of the J&J brand identity, other than their blood red color and the trademark Johnson & Johnson script, is the company’s red Greek cross logo. Since 1888, the company
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minnesota – Care and attention to the important identity elements of a historic brand can make the difference between a moderately successful brand using its history as a crutch, and long-term successful brand with a future. The case of Mr. Bubble, owned by The Village Company, is the
The humble Q-Tip, that cotton swab on a stick, celebrates 100 years in 2023. In preparation, the brands owner, Unilever, has released centennial packaging, seen in stores, including Publix. That the centennial info is before the actual year is the smart thing for a brand; you can use the century
For generations, the Mennen brand, now part of Colgate-Palmolive, was synonymous with mens’ and babies’ products, from baby oil to Speed Stick, Afta to Skin Bracer. Today, as the Colgate-Palmolive board meets for its annual meeting, it would do well to reconsider the value of the Mennen brand and company
There is a class of basic home remedies, still around, that one could have found at a Main Street independent pharmacy a century ago. One of those classics, often forgotten, is the drawing salve Smile’s Prid. Prid, which dates from 1947, treats blisters and boils, and other noxious conditions one
DENVER – One can never underestimate the cynical desperation for a company to come up a Father’s Day promotion. Shinesty, the underwear maker, is encouraging men to get a vasectomy as a special “severance package.” The company is giving away five vasectomies at $1,000 each, and hoping that its product
Since the 1970s, the greatest magic marker for kids has been the Sanford Mr. Sketch. You know this one; it’s a set of a dozen or so markers, all water soluble, that smell like their colors. They are sold in sets of different sizes, including 4, 8, 12 and 16.MORE HERE
The universe of what we buy in the grocery store often comes from but a few large food manufacturers. The share of pork, beef or chicken comes from but a few major distributors. But back in the 1950s, regional brands were still a powerful part of the landscape, not onlyMORE HERE
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary—officially the semiquincentennial in 2026—a familiar name in American graphic design has once again been called upon to mark the occasion: Chermayeff & Geismar. In 1976, the firm created what became one of the most patriotic symbols of the 20th century. Their red,MORE HERE
End of a uniquely American attraction arrives just ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday. Just in time for America’s 250th birthday in 2026, Walt Disney World will shutter its Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Square Riverboat on July 6, 2025. In their place: a Cars-themed attraction. The river, island, andMORE HERE
Could the Corinthian leather be a thing again? Probably not, but in a series of social media posts celebrating the centennial of the Chrysler brand released in the last few days, their parent company Stellantis is going full Mopar with the nostalgia. Chrysler has been a walking zombie of aMORE HERE
Driving along a favorite country road in Virginia last week, I saw an old Gulf pump, and an lighted OPEN sign that called me in. Someone had reopened the old Cumnor Store in the tiny King and Queen County, Virginia town of Cumnor. Life returns to paradise, I thought. CumnorMORE HERE
Only a few decades ago, one of the dominant features of the refrigerated meat section of the grocery store was hanging sandwich meat. If sausage and bacon were in pull-out packages on a shelf, the sandwich meat was often hanging on hooks; you could see what the meat looked like.MORE HERE
For the first time during a presidential race, consumer food safety is a top issue. This came about in an unlikely way, when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the race. A central actor in this food realignment is Dr. Casey Means, a physician and writer whose best-selling book,MORE HERE
Bulova, among the earliest U.S. wristwatch makers, still has a presence at U.S. department stores. Unfortunately, it is no longer a U.S. brand as Citizen Watch Co. Ltd., a Japanese watchmaker, acquired the company in 2008. The brand is one of the surviving American watch brands, which included a pantheonMORE HERE
There is an odd transposition an advertising, namely the change in race roles in television commercials. The change came firmly about during race riots in the wake of George Floyd, but it had been brewing for some time. That advertisers use race as a part of their marketing has beenMORE HERE
As IBM runs ads this summer to burnish its Watson and AI brands during Wimbledon, it has fully walked away from and discarded the village of its birth, Endicott, New York. There is no place more associated with IBM than Endicott, which is situated near Binghamton. Last year, the companyMORE HERE
