If you've read any of my posts here you'll know I love Labrador retrievers: not just my three, but the breed itself. It's a fabulous breed, one my husband and I will stick with for our lifetimes.
But one part of Labdom drives me a little nuts: Lab stuff. Not Lab supplies or training materials or even a few select items that display a love for Labs (baseball caps, t-shirts, jewelry, or maybe even a decal or two, etc.).
But do we really need these items (found in a recent general search on eBay):
Lab puppy bookends (and I'm a book lover and addict! I'm even an author, but bookends?)
Lab Franklin Mint collector plates
Lab puppy belt buckles
Lab roller-ball pens
Lab collectors' bottle openers
Collectors' 18-wheel truck with Labs painted on the side
Lab-decorated cigar and pill boxs
Tin "Wanted!" sign for Labrador retrievers
a Neimann-Marcus Five-Dancing-Labradors statue (they don't even look like Labs)
I can understand Lab-decorated neck ties, keychains, portraits, socks, Christmas ornaments, door mats, leash hangers, stuffed animals, notecards, wall-paper borders, figurines, playing cards, and the like (all quickly found through an eBay search) ; they make at least a little sense to me. I can see why people would buy them
But roller pens and toy trucks?
Just when is enough stuff enough? Just when has breed marketing gone too far?
Okay (true confessions), I'll admit that hubby and Iuse three Lab mugs between us (all received as gifts); he wears one Lab baseball cap; we each own a Lab sweatshirt, and I have a Lab nightshirt. And we enjoy them all.
We also own boatloads of Lab training books, gift books, videos and DVDs, and veterinary manuals.
But I seriously doubt well ever buy a $150 Neimann Marcus Lab statue or a Lab roller-ball pen.
How silly.
I suppose one man's junk is indeed another's treasure.
At least the breed itself isn't tainted by marketing; Labs are still Labs, and will be for the foreseeable future.
What do you think about Lab stuff? Is it good, bad, or irrelevant?
'Til next time,
Joan
3 comments:
I do have about 10 different Labrador shirts/sweatshirts and a few prints in my home.No statues or pens though!
On our doorstep we have a statue of a black lab puppy that is holding a plaque in its mouth--the plaque has our name on it.
It was a gift, and is so realistic the first time the other labs in our family saw it they did a double-take and thought it was another dog on the front porch.
Let's see, my Lab stuff includes:
2 t-shirts and a sweatshirt, and
2 or 3 keychains that have small bean-stuffed yellow Labs hanging off them. but all of that is souvenier Leader Dog stuff. I also had a wall calendar and a Lab-a-day desk calendar one year that I received as gifts.
I'm actually kind of surprised that I don't have very much Lab stuff, but maybe that's because my Labs are the "no black pigment" variety (like Ridge), and pretty much all of the yellow Lab stuff I've ever seen features those with black noses. I guess I have enough real Labs in my house, that I don't feel the need to buy the statues and painted stuff. :-)
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