Another year is coming to end and a new one is about to start. We are very excited by the prospect of supplying more and more Americans with a place to shop where they will be sure to buy only goods Made in USA.
2011 was a good year. It seems that we are a nation on the mend. Many of our customers have told us how they want to buy Made in USA whenever they can. Americas Virtual General Store wants to be that place. We will be adding more and more products to our already wide selection in 2012. So keep checking back. If we do not carry it now, we may in a month.
To thank all our valuable customers we are offering a year end sale. Just enter coupon code END2011 on the checkout screen and get 10% off orders of $25* or more. This offer will expire on Jan 31, 2012, so don’t wait to take advantage of this offer.
*does not include shipping costs or applicable taxes.
No Black Friday
When I was a child no one ever heard of Black Friday and we certainly didn’t know what the word ‘cyber’ meant as in ‘Cyber Monday”. My parents did all the Christmas shopping for their 11 children in one trip. This mega shopping spree usually occurred on the last Friday before Christmas. Daddy would come home from the factory and announce that he and Mom were going out to see Santa . The older children knew that this was code for ‘I got my Christmas bonus today and we’re going Christmas shopping.’ It was a night of anticipation and guessing. We knew that Santa was good and we’d get at least one item we asked for and probably some practical things too; like a new dress, some socks and maybe new hats and gloves. This was also one of the few times when our parents went somewhere with no children tagging along. We were on our own, supervised by the older siblings for the duration.
It did us no good to stay up until they got home, as Daddy would lock all the packages, bags, boxes and other items inside the 1947 brown DeSoto that served as the family bus. Then late at night he’d carry the booty up the stairs past our beds, where we were all supposed to be sleeping, and put the gifts in the attic, securing the door with an old Master combination lock before leaving.
I am very grateful for these delightful memories from my childhood and know that the treasures we received those many years ago cannot be assigned a monetary value. It saddens me to see how many children are cheated of life’s greatest gift, the gift NOT getting everything you ask for.
Now so many people are obsessed with buying so much, spending more than they should on gifts that have no lasting value. Men and women, who are sensible and sane all year long, seem to be possessed as they camp out at Wal-Mart to get the best deals on Black Friday. This year many stores will not make them wait for Friday as they will be opened late on Thanksgiving Day to help their customers spend more money sooner.
And for those who do not venture out to the malls and department stores, but prefer to shop online, we now have the mega online shopping day dubbed ‘Cyber Monday’. What is this supposed to do for us? Is it just another gimmick to get us to spend more money in a different way? I think we all crave simpler times, a time when we didn’t know we needed so much stuff to be happy. When children were ecstatic to get a doll baby who cried and wet her diaper, and every little boy wanted a BB gun or cowboy outfit.
I love snow and I say bring it on. When I wake to see a white landscape, I feel a touch of the first joy of winter and I want to don my winter garb, find a hill, and slide down it all day. Now that my children are grown and gone, I do not act on this impulse, and besides, there are few hills in central Ohio. This place is not like the landscape of the river town, Dayton, Kentucky, where I grew up.
When it snowed in Dayton hoards of kids converged on the riverbank where the best hills were. They came to our side of town from as far away as the railroad tracks with sleds and toboggans in tow. There were several excellent hills, but the best by far was the one at the end of Vine Street, just a block from our house. The paved street ended at the riverbank and became a dirt road, which continued downward right into the water. The wet cold fun went on for hours halting only when parents called out the names of their children to come in for supper.
Most of the kids sliding on our hill had magnificent Flexible Flyers or shiny red toboggans. We, my sisters, brother and several of our friends, had nothing store-bought to slide on, so we improvised, using whatever was available. One year I remember my brother slid down the hill over and over again, curled up like a turtle with nothing but the slick pelt of his faux leather jacket between himself and the frozen earth. To my parents’ dismay, he destroyed his coat, ripping it in tatters before the day was done.
There is one winter afternoon that stands out in my mind. That day I was in no mood to stand around and wait my turn on someone else’s sled, so my sister and I went looking for something to slide on. When we came upon the old ringer-washer that had been standing in the alley awaiting a trip to the dump since the previous summer a light bulb went off above my head. I grabbed the wood knob on the lid; a porcelain covered inverted dish, and lifted it free. My sister held the lid upright, while I banged on the knob with the rock knocking it off. Walla!
Away we flew with our new sled.
Rita was the braver one, so she did not hesitate to sit in the middle of the white metal dish with her legs crossed, holding onto either side with clenched fists. I put both hands on her back and gave a big heave hoe, pushing her down the first hill. Away she flew. She had no controlled of the vehicle whatsoever, but she laughed and screamed with delight, as the saucer spun around and around as it careened down the hill.
We were ecstatic with the results. Our saucer was the star of the day. Not only did we fly down the hill over and over, but also for the first time, we had something the others envied. And with this honor came the pleasure of divvying up rides to the line of kids who patiently waited their turn on the flying saucer.
10th Anniversary – NCY 9/11 Remembrance
Field of Honor: 3,000 Flag Display * One Life:One Flag * September 8 -12, 2011 * Battery Park, Manhattan * Free to the Public Click to View Annin’s Flag of Honor and Flag of Heroes
Sponsored by:
Annin Flagmakers
Healing Field Foundation/ Colonial Flag Foundation
Click to View Annin’s Flag of Honor and Flag of Heroes
