My mind is wrapped around Christmas paper?

Friday December’s 22nd, twenty seventeen

When I was shopping in Sudbury, there was an incident. I’ve been accused of not listening. I admit that I have become more selective with what I pay attention to, but I always listen. I was at the cash with one of ML’s numerous expensive and thoughtful gifts. When I kicked in my attention it looked like the sales person was forcing some credit card on me. I kept saying “no thanks”!! She gave me one last stern stare and said “I’m trying to give you twenty five bucks”. I immediately changed my demeanor and insisted she give me the $25.

I guess while we’ve been out of country CTC has switched to a card to give and receive CTC money. I simply didn’t answer at the cash when accosted about CTC money. I get it now, we are trying to save trees by reducing CTC money in the system. I have to take all my CTC paper money in and deposit it on my card… look forward to how that goes.  I’m sure that all the pulp saved will be put into wrapping paper by the Chinese.

A side note; The guy on the CTC money is a friend of mine, Bill Smith. Bill (may he rest in peace) supervised the construction of a majority of the new generation of CTC stores. He was a Scot. My favourite Bill story, we were out to dinner and it was a soft open for a new restaurant. Bills beer came and it was a little lower than the full line on his glass. Without missing a beat he asked of the waitress “Oh you poor wee thing, you can’t carry a full beer?”

I’m having a problem with the latest batch of weaponized wrapping paper coming from the Chinese. It is flimsy, translucent (if not transparent) tears easily, tape mistakes tear off the image, and it smells funny. I have been unable to date, to wrap a single gift without a tear or rip in the paper. ML picked up the paper at the CTC and even though chose an inexpensive product I expect performance.

And it is true: “The money we spend on it notwithstanding—$2.6 billion annually, per one estimate—there is something quite trivial about wrapping paper. As much as half of the 85 million tons of paper products Americans consume each year, apparently, goes toward packaging, wrapping, and decorating objects—and wrapping paper and shopping bags on their own account for about 4 million tons of the trash we create annually in the U.S. In Britain, per one estimate, people throw away 226,800 miles of wrapping paper over the holidays alone—enough to stretch nine times around the world”.

Kenora dinner jacket tartan
got it! I don’t know what the hell washi tape is though?

It seems that wrapping gifts was done earliest by the Japanese Edo period practice of wrapping gifts in reusable decorative cloth called Furoshiki (風呂敷) That makes sense, you can’t even recycle the wrap we use today. Instead of using tags each person would choose a pattern of cloth for their gifts. I would choose the red plaid of the Kenora dinner jacket fame. Ok, decision made I will seek out some reusable cloth. Does anyone know where I can get plaid tape? I think you could get it in the past.

“Washi tape is actually usually made from natural fibers (like bamboo or hemp) or the bark of trees native to Japan such as mulberry, mitsumata shrub or the gampi tree.”

The North American practice of wrapping and modern wrapping paper can be traced back to a guy named Mark Hall. At Mr. Hall’s store they sold tissue paper for gift wrapping. One Christmas they ran out of paper and sold decorative french shelf lining paper in its stead. Mr. Hall the following season printed his own shelf paper for wrapping gifts and the rest is history. He reversed his names and you will recognize the sappy gift card company we all know well.

If I use cloth perhaps the sewing machine will be best for closing the wrap. I don’t see a christmas setting on the machine… more later

 

 

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