I Come From the Land of Plenty

Yes, I just quoted Men At Work at you, and no, I don't feel bad about it. Let's kick off the holiday season with a brief talk - not about the strong whiff of retail despair coming from the stores in the mall, but about Revisionist History. Changing the story. Straying from the truth. Embellishing, if you will.

You've all seen those little historical themed holiday villages, right? The kind that come with the inevitable Victorian manor, general store, ice skating pond, and several cute figurines in clothing appropriate for some time between 1880-1930? Iron lampposts, fake snow, a couple of decorated trees - they're everywhere. And yours, my dear friend, is vastly incomplete. Because you don't have a Wal-Mart.

I can't find it online - I keep getting lost in Village People stuff and bread - but at least in stores, Wal-Mart is offering an addition - an historicized Wal-Mart store to add to your quaint village for only $12. Never mind that Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in 1962. Now you can pretend it's always been around. Discount corsets, stiff original gold-rush-era Levis, depression glass, firewood, and cast-iron irons for all!

(Anyone with the time to find this product online and link it would be appreciated.) -AL