Just the other day, Holly and I were talking about a suburban craze that developed and swept past us without us even knowing about it.
For a houseful of communicators and pop culture junkies, it is hard to imagine but, yet, quite true. Then one day we were sitting in traffic - surrounded by a rainbow assortment of SUVs - and we noticed everyone but us seemed to have them.
The sad thing is…I don’t even know what to call them. That’s how out of touch we are in terms of this particular fad. Since I didn’t know what to call them, I’ll just describe them and then you’ll know exactly what I noticed on the back windows of these vehicles. I’m talking about those vinyl clingy stick figure family outlines that everyone seems to have.
I’m sure you can visualize them now that I’ve described them. And, as I often do, I’m sure I’ve overstated the matter. I doubt it’s possible that every minivan and SUV in Farragut have one (save “Big Blue,” - the affectionate nickname I’ve given our Expedition). IT JUST SEEMS like it.
Still, I don’t know where they came from (when they came) or even what to call them.
All I know is that on an average drive to Turkey Creek, you see them everywhere: Mom. Dad. Little Janey. Little Jimmy. And, often, you also see Spot, Rover, Mittens and Whiskers, too. The shapes typically follow the general sizes of the individuals they are depicting - Dad, followed by Mom, and then Child 1, Child 2, Dog, Cat, etc. The other day, I swear, I saw something smaller than a cat and I wondered: “Do they make these clings for pet turtles, too?”
Sometimes the clings are generic (such as a smiling stick figure mom standing…or waving) or sometimes they depict an activity (such as dad swinging a golf club). I guess, in my case, if we had purchased Gary clings, I would’ve been wearing my Concord Choppers uniform.
But, for some reason, we didn’t know about the development of this product and it simply passed us by. I don’t see a couple of teens putting up with vinyl stick figures, do you? And as grumpy as Roger has been lately, can you see him going for this?
No, I’m afraid we’ll have to sit this one out. Still, I have to admit, I kind of like them. When I see a vehicle with these happy clings displayed in the window, it gives me a good feeling. And I feel like the happy clings must represent a happy family. It’s kind of like displaying a family coat of arms - a Vinyl Cling of Arms.
What would the Gary Cling of Arms depict? Well, there’d have to be baseball involved, of course, and something to depict writing/communication/PR (maybe a laptop?) and something to represent theatre (Comedy/Tragedy Masks?). I think that would pretty well sum us up.
Still, my natural journalistic curiosity nags at me. I want to know an official name so I did an internet search. Naturally, as these things go, there were tons of products. Perhaps someone reading this can shoot me a note to let me know which one was the first?
Online, the first three sites that pop up are (in order of listing):
Family Stickers (www.familystickers.com)
Happy Family Personalized Vinyl Clings (www.currentcatalog.com)
Family Stickers for Cars (www.customlabels4u.com/decals-stickfamily.shtml)
I have to say the first site (Family Stickers) has the images that look the most like the ones I see around this town but also have to give a “shout out” to Happy Family because the family depicted on its website is the “Beyerle Bunch” (“Byerley” is my wife’s maiden name).
In doing an eBay search, I found you can even purchase products by the each - one family member at a time! Guess that could come in handy (you know what I mean…).
In any case, I’m closer to solving my own curiosity (and unraveling this mystery). It sounds like if you use the words “Family” and “Stickers” when describing these adornments, you’ll get pretty close.
And who knows? Maybe one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2012 is to try to talk the Gary family into letting me purchase a set (or even just a dad) for the back window of Big Blue?
JG
(Source: familystickers.com)
Originally posted 12/16/2011
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