Hello, My Name is Mud.

November 28, 2012 5:46 AM

Just in time for the holidays: ACME Product Catalog.
posted by Miko (32 comments total)

Oh this is awesome, thank you!

Now that we're on the subject, is the Blu-Ray Looney Tunes (Platinum?) collection worth it? I have no idea how to get my hands on those old cartoons. Even the shadier corners of the internet just have rips of the DVD/Blu-Rays.
posted by griphus at 5:55 AM on November 28, 2012

Loving the Dehydrated Boulders just add water
posted by DanCall at 5:55 AM on November 28, 2012

There appears to be a more complete one here?
posted by vacapinta at 5:56 AM on November 28, 2012 [4 favorites]

I didn't see any Instant Hole. I guess Acme stopped selling them since you can just download one from the internet for free.
posted by three blind mice at 5:57 AM on November 28, 2012 [3 favorites]

The Acme Catalog: Quality Is Out #1 Dream
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:10 AM on November 28, 2012

ACME Bat-Man's Outfit

from the ACME Corporation Youtube Channel
posted by jammy at 6:12 AM on November 28, 2012

In grade school I went through a phase where I thought it was funny write ACME in black marker on any unattended box I saw. My dream was to someday own a large wood crate with ACME painted on it.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:20 AM on November 28, 2012 [9 favorites]

Ooh, that other catalog is more complete. Apologies, I just stumbled across this, thought "how cool!" and posted, and didn't do any more digging. Thanks for adding.
posted by Miko at 6:21 AM on November 28, 2012

Excuse me, but this is store-brand nerve tonic.
posted by Egg Shen at 6:23 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

No Portable Hole?!?

What good is it, then?
posted by tel3path at 6:40 AM on November 28, 2012 [3 favorites]

So excellent!
posted by OmieWise at 6:42 AM on November 28, 2012

I just got curious and did some Googling....

From Wikipedia:

The company name in the Road Runner cartoons is ironic, since the word acme is derived from Greek (ακμή; English transliteration: acmē) meaning the peak, zenith or prime, and products from the fictional Acme Corporation are both generic and failure-prone.

The name Acme became popular for businesses by the 1920s, when alphabetized business telephone directories such as the Yellow Pages began to be widespread. There were a flood of businesses named Acme (some of these still survive). For example, early Sears catalogs contained a number of products with the "Acme" trademark, including anvils, which are frequently used in Warner Bros. cartoons.

There are indeed a few actual businesses named Acme, although a couple admit that they named themselves after the cartoon.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:47 AM on November 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

Friend of ours from Taiwan is named Acme. Her mum opened a dictionary and liked the sound of it, so Acme it was. Suits her too, although I have yet to see her catch a roadrunner.
posted by arcticseal at 6:56 AM on November 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

How much fun could be had with a box of dehydrated boulders (just add water)?
posted by caddis at 6:59 AM on November 28, 2012

How much fun could be had with a box of dehydrated boulders (just add water)?

Order some, let's find out!
posted by Old'n'Busted at 7:04 AM on November 28, 2012

This is wonderful, thanks! When I was a kid I desperately wanted a portable hole, or the ability to paint doorways and tunnels like Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote were always doing.

The "dehydrated [x]" always cracked me up, too. I'm sure there was an episode in which Bugs was some sort of spy, and had a kit which included a dehydrated human pyramid of cheerleaders to lift him over a fence, and an entire, functional fighter plane. Oh wow, I have to break out the Warner Brothers DVDs when I get home tonight...
posted by metaBugs at 7:11 AM on November 28, 2012

There are indeed a few actual businesses named Acme

That's a common mistake. The Philadelphia area grocery store you've linked to is actually pronounced, "Ac-a-me."

The second "a" is an invisible letter - the opposite of a silent one.
posted by snottydick at 7:17 AM on November 28, 2012 [3 favorites]

Questions have been raised as to the safety of this company's products.
posted by PlusDistance at 7:19 AM on November 28, 2012 [4 favorites]

Given its terrible track record it's astonishing that ACME is still in business. Companies that are part of the military–industrial complex usually have to deliver product according to stringent quality requirements - well, at the very least there has to be some, any, quality present - but ACME got away with shipping not only lethal but absolutely dangerous products that more often than not would favor killing their operators over intended targets. It's not the ever-present industry leader that it used to be, but ACME is the quintessential military–industrial complex brand that defined how the industry went about its business and lobbied policy makers more successfully than anyone else. Without ACME it's hard to imagine where companies such as Lockheed Martin, The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon would be today.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:26 AM on November 28, 2012 [3 favorites]

Also, the town of Acme in Washington state, predates the company.
posted by seawallrunner at 7:49 AM on November 28, 2012

Related: a Kickstarter for a poster of every ACME product every made.
posted by me3dia at 8:31 AM on November 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

I get the feeling that ACME is run by Cave Johnson's brother who is less obsessive about product testing.
posted by plinth at 8:32 AM on November 28, 2012

Friend of ours from Taiwan is named Acme. Her mum opened a dictionary and liked the sound of it, so Acme it was. Suits her too, although I have yet to see her catch a roadrunner.

To be fair, if she actually caught a road runner, the name Acme would no longer suit her.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:33 AM on November 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

The URL for the complete catalog that vacapinta linked to is just too perfect.
posted by twsf at 9:08 AM on November 28, 2012

Acme really was ahead of it's time in terms of multi-national corporations whose mergers and acquisitions and hostile takeovers, resulted in such a visionary diversification of products and services. Really everything from military accessories (Rockets, Jets, Particle guns, holes) to foodstuffs, to pet supplies. And I daresay anyone who bought up those original stock options (I think they were 5 cents each) really made a fantastic fortune as each of those pieces (bearer only) stocks are now worth 1 Bajillion dollars each and there's deep suspicion that a certain carrot obsessed rabbit made a killing via fooling a certain Mr. Fudd into thinking that they were actually phony documents...and there's also the insider trading scheme that a certain Mr. W.E. Coyote ("Genius"), got into that's currently still under investigation by the SEC. Seems Mr. Coyote was not only the Acme Co.'s no. 1 consumer of explosives, but he actually ran the research and development wing for Acme under a disguise and feeding knowledge of new products to D. Duck...
posted by Skygazer at 9:40 AM on November 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

Related: a Kickstarter for a poster of every ACME product every made.

Is that legal? Not the link, the poster? I'm genuinely curious. I mean, I think it's not, and that makes me worried that even if I pledge, I will not get mine, but maybe...
posted by OmieWise at 10:03 AM on November 28, 2012

Ah fudgeknuckles...

Ever have one of those days where every ACME brand rocket sled explodes in your face?
posted by Skygazer at 10:13 AM on November 28, 2012

Aw dang I was hoping you could buy them.

this seems like a profitable niche market, someone should get on it
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 11:05 AM on November 28, 2012

OmieWise, what makes you think it's not legal? It's not using copyrighted artwork, and I would be surprised if Acme is a trademark of Warner Brothers. At most, it's using the "character" of ACME created by Warner Brothers -- this can be an issue for fanfic, but it seems like a bit of a stretch to extend this principle to cover a fictional corporation (that shares its name with actual corporations that actually existed beforehand).
posted by afiler at 11:27 AM on November 28, 2012

I finally selected my Secret Quonsar gift, and now I see this!
posted by Catch at 12:38 AM on November 29, 2012

Dang, you're right, that'd be a great Quonsmas gift for the right person.
posted by Miko at 5:55 AM on November 29, 2012

At most, it's using the "character" of ACME created by Warner Brothers

Well, it's a bit more than that. He drew all kinds of Acme products from the cartoons, things that had already been drawn in the cartoons. I don't know that it is illegal, that's why I'm asking.
posted by OmieWise at 6:06 AM on November 29, 2012