November 26, 2001
4:16 PM Subscribe
The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year in America. False. This and many other popular xmas legends debunked at snopes (also notable: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer created by the Montgomery Ward store chain).
Snopes is the reason the Internet was invented.
Need proof?
posted by Shadowkeeper at 4:57 PM on November 26, 2001
Need proof?
posted by Shadowkeeper at 4:57 PM on November 26, 2001
Snopes gets five golden rings, but four lashings for embedded wav files. Here's an idea, why doesn't snopes offer an email filter plug-in that rids your email inbox of $100 cookie recipe and good times virus crap.
posted by machaus at 5:21 PM on November 26, 2001
posted by machaus at 5:21 PM on November 26, 2001
I've had the pleasure of knowing Snopes (and the more active of the pair, Mrs. Snopes) online for a number of years, back in alt.folklore.urban, whose faq (TAFKAC/the Archive Formerly Known as Cathouse) used to be the first place to look. Recently their star has risen, and the site is regularly cited in news stories, even by the CDC (!) as an authority; and they were interviewed on network news a month or so ago. (Okay, it was World News Now, and I wasn't wearing pants.)
I've tried to give them some interface advice but they like the place to have a home-made feel. (Jeez, I just wish they'd go with the ordinary What's New instead of the baffling Additions .... paging Jakob Nielsen ...). And I wish they could make the thing work economically without pop-ups.
posted by dhartung at 5:41 PM on November 26, 2001
I've tried to give them some interface advice but they like the place to have a home-made feel. (Jeez, I just wish they'd go with the ordinary What's New instead of the baffling Additions .... paging Jakob Nielsen ...). And I wish they could make the thing work economically without pop-ups.
posted by dhartung at 5:41 PM on November 26, 2001
Shadowkeeper --- ever been to any part of Minnesota outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro? The pants exchanging brothers being from Minnesota explains a great, great many things....
posted by nathan_teske at 5:44 PM on November 26, 2001
posted by nathan_teske at 5:44 PM on November 26, 2001
Every one of the approximately 9,000 times I heard broadcasters refer to Friday, Nov. 23rd as the most important, most $, busiest, blah blah, day of the year, I got annoyed. I spent 10 years in retail, and it was never the busiest or most $$.
The lion's share of our cashflow and profits was from mid-October to December 24. From January to May, here in balmy New England, we pretty much only opened the store to air it out.
Bonus of working retail: I never had to travel for the holidays. "Sorry, I can't visit the hometown to participate in this year's dysfunctional revels, I have to work." It was almost worth the crummy hours. I'm gettin' all nostalgic.
posted by theora55 at 6:18 PM on November 26, 2001
The lion's share of our cashflow and profits was from mid-October to December 24. From January to May, here in balmy New England, we pretty much only opened the store to air it out.
Bonus of working retail: I never had to travel for the holidays. "Sorry, I can't visit the hometown to participate in this year's dysfunctional revels, I have to work." It was almost worth the crummy hours. I'm gettin' all nostalgic.
posted by theora55 at 6:18 PM on November 26, 2001
The character 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' was created for the Montgomery Ward group of department stores.
True.
This is not one of the legends debunked at snopes, but confirmed (which wasn't exactly clear from the original posting).
posted by yarf at 6:22 PM on November 26, 2001
True.
This is not one of the legends debunked at snopes, but confirmed (which wasn't exactly clear from the original posting).
posted by yarf at 6:22 PM on November 26, 2001
Man, I'd kind of figured Santa wasn't on the level, but Rudolph????
Sigh, another chunk of my childhood innocence flush away down the radioactive material chute.
posted by signal at 7:08 PM on November 26, 2001
Sigh, another chunk of my childhood innocence flush away down the radioactive material chute.
posted by signal at 7:08 PM on November 26, 2001
That pants story might be one of the uber-narratives of our modern age.
posted by solistrato at 8:19 PM on November 26, 2001
posted by solistrato at 8:19 PM on November 26, 2001
When I grow up I want to write an uber-narrative. :)
posted by louie at 12:18 AM on November 27, 2001
posted by louie at 12:18 AM on November 27, 2001
« Older Snoop Dogg will save Cadillac | "Do you want to know how to eliminate terrorism?" Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
snopes always breaks my heart. all the strange stories about sex i heard in grade school, military lore, "history"...my life is just lies.
posted by th3ph17 at 4:51 PM on November 26, 2001