Monday, February 6, 2012
47 Varieties
While watching a clip on TV of a very clever dog performing cute tricks, The Missus said, “Those Heinz 47 dogs are often smarter than the purebreds.” I had heard her use the expression a few days ago, but I did not want to correct her in front of others; but in the privacy of the kitchen, I said, “That would be Heinz 57.” She replied, “Well, it was only 47 when I was young.” Yikes! I am married to a woman so old she can remember when Heinz had only 47 varieties. Double yikes. I am older than she.
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3 comments:
Your wife is right - the mutts do seem a lot smarter than the purebreds...as to 47 vs. 57 - Not to start a war or anything, I Googled it and...
"While riding a train in New York City in 1896, Henry Heinz saw a sign advertising 21 styles of shoes, which he thought was clever. Although Heinz was manufacturing more than 60 products at the time, Henry thought 57 was a lucky number. So, he began using the slogan "57 Varieties" in all his advertising. Today the company has more than 5,700 products around the globe, but still uses the magic number of "57."
I can remember when phone numbers started with letters. And the TV went off the air at 10:00. My kids have no idea what that would be like.
Grace, thanks for the history. I knew I had never heard anything other than '57'.
Lin, oh, Dearie, life was cheery...
and you're much older than I!
I'm kidding of course. I remember our first phone number was "7 Red" and there was no TV at all.
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