Brands look back fondly on the last worldwide economic horror
Posted on Mon Jan 12 2009
How many times have you heard the current economic crisis compared to the Great Depression? (Answer: Too many.) But while pundits have been busy revisiting the penultimate period of American misery for talk-show material, brands have been doing the same—to sell stuff. Don't look now, but the Great Depression is ... kinda cool.
Just in time for the holidays, Forever 21 stocked its stores with enough 1930s-era duds to outfit a bread line, including cloche hats, Mary Jane shoes and wool newsboy caps. Designer John Patrick's spring 2009 collection includes Dust Bowl faves like cotton-check prairie dresses. Netflix has seen a spike in rentals of The Grapes of Wrath, while Barnes & Noble has similarly selling more copies of John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash of 1929.
This month, Andrew Shaffer, owner and creative director of greeting-card company St. Nick, added Depression-themed Valentines to his already sardonic selection. One uses a 1930s photo of some down-on-their-luck guys along with the caption: "Box of chocolates? She'll be lucky to get a box of rocks from me this year."
What's next? Perhaps some brand of No. 2 pencil could start selling them on street corners.
—Posted by Robert Klara
