Posted on 12/23/2006 10:59:08 AM PST by Screamname
'Seinfeld' spurs Festivus pole sales By DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press Writer December 21, 2006 at 5:43 pm
Kevin Campanella hates buying and receiving Christmas presents that he says inevitably disappoint. This year, no such worries.
Campanella plans to seek "serenity now" by celebrating Festivus, a wacky holiday popularized in a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode. Billed as "Festivus for the rest of us," the holiday celebrated by the Costanza clan on Dec. 23 features an airing of grievances and feats of strength in which a guest must pin the host before the party ends.
In protest of Christmas' commercialism, character Frank Costanza puts up an unadorned aluminum pole instead of a tree. The metal, he says admiringly, has a "very high strength-to-weight ratio."
"I just always loved that episode," said Campanella, 28, a landscaper from Warwick, R.I. "But it's not so much about the show — I think the idea of Festivus is a good idea."
So does The Wagner Companies. The Milwaukee-based maker of hand-railing components is bringing back its line of Festivus poles for the holiday season. The company had plenty of metal rails on hand already and launched the product last year on a whim.
"We did it mainly as a lark. We never looked at it as a tremendous moneymaking scheme," said Tony Leto, the firm's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "But in many ways, Festivus is taking on a life of its own."
Wagner, which made $15 million last year from products including handrail brackets and pipe elbows, earned only a few thousand dollars from Festivus pole sales. Leto said the company received some media publicity upon launch of the poles but he credits bloggers with strong "Seinfeld" loyalties for spreading the news far and wide.
Wagner sold about 250 poles in 2005, with around 100 sales coming from the firm's 120 employees. This season, it sold about 300 poles by mid-December and was on pace to sell twice that number by Saturday, said Leto, whose claim to fame is that he shared a drama class with Jerry Seinfeld at Queens College in New York.
Wagner offers a 6-foot Festivus pole for $38 and a 2-foot-8-inch tabletop model for $30. The setup is simple: a hollow pipe, 1.9 inches in diameter, inserted into a collapsible aluminum base.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, a "Seinfeld" fanatic who claims to have seen every episode eight times, proudly displayed one of the company's poles last year at the governor's mansion in Madison. But Doyle said he will donate the pole to the Wisconsin Historical Museum after reports that "Seinfeld" co-star Michael Richards used racial slurs during a standup comedy routine last month.
Leto said he hoped the Richards incident wouldn't affect his company's sales.
"Fans know it was a Costanza holiday, not a Kramer holiday," he said, referring to characters played by Jerry Stiller and Richards. "Anyway, Kramer eventually rejects the holiday at the end of the episode."
Gabriel Morales, 32, of Atlanta, said Richards' tirade didn't keep him from ordering a Festivus pole earlier this month.
"You know, people make mistakes, they say stupid things," said Morales, an information technology analyst who held his Festivus party early this year to coincide with a monthly dinner club. "No one at the party really cared about that either."
The "Seinfeld" Festivus episode developed from series writer Dan O'Keefe's childhood experiences. His father invented the holiday in the 1960s.
"As a kid, we'd come home and there'd be weird decorations," said the 30-something O'Keefe. "There was the playing of strange German and Italian pop music from the '50s. And the airing of grievances was a real thing."
Instead of a pole, his family celebration featured a clock and a bag. (O'Keefe said his father won't say what they symbolized.)
Wagner's Leto acknowledged the irony of making money off a holiday that celebrates anti-commercialism. But the company is having too much fun with the holiday to stop now, he said.
O'Keefe doesn't begrudge Wagner's commercial efforts.
"It sounds to me like they're making a good living — good for them," O'Keefe said. "It's just this joke holiday on a TV show. If they want to make a buck on it, go for it."
Or, as Seinfeld might say, not that there's anything wrong with that.
This one is at least in good fun rather than a scam. No one celebrates Festivus to try and get in touch with imagined roots.
Mine is who to choke with the stupid orange scarf one of my sisters gave me for Christmas 2 years ago and who's butt to stuff the stupid socks she gave me last year that fell to my ankles the first time I wore them........
"That explains why I got a man-bra for Christmas."
was it a mansiere or a bro????
Probably secular people who don't care for the commercialism of Christmas. You got to have something to do around the holidays, why not air grievances.
No. This is a joke. The people who made up Kwanzaa were serious.
But, did she air them?
Gotta be one of the funniest lines EVER in a sitcom!
I love your taste! I always say that I AM George Costanza. I just howl at the Marbled Rye episode with George caught reeling in the loaf. And when George falls face down with his pants down on Jerry's floor.
Now I don't feel so bad for looking up on the net all the recipes I could find for Brijole!
Loved when Raymond put the fish in the dishwasher. HOLY CRAP!....:)
Some of my favorite Senfeld moments:
the Beefareeno horse fiasco
the candybar lineup
George playing "the rebel"
George and his shrinkage
Kenny Rogers Chicken
...and so many more!
Hellloooo Newmannnnn!!!
And the one where Robert goes African American!!!!
This is MY SHOW. Nothing comes even close to "Jeeeeeerrrrryyyy and the gang" for me!
Happy FESTIVUS everyone!
I would! Also love Robert's wedding episode, a two parter. Ray's best man speech, and Robert and Amy's dance are priceless!
Be sure Dr. Van Nostrand gets one of those for Christmas. He found a questionable looking mole on the back of my boss, Mr. Kruger.
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