LETTERS FROM THE GLOBAL PROVINCE
Great Giving, Global Province Letter, 31 January 2019
"History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up."—Voltaire
Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good".—Gresham's Law
Hollow Be Thy Name. Indeed, the wooden shoes have been climbing the back stairs, and bad goods of all sorts have been proliferating since the early 90's, certainly since the chequered years of the Clinton Administration. From that time forward, we have gradually eroded America's edge in the world, which was to make and sell decent goods at a reasonable price to a people that was mostly earning a living wage.
The mini recessions of the late 20th century almost inevitably led to the depression of 2008, which is still very much with us. Neither the politicos nor the economists of today recognize that our economy has been imploding for 30 to 40 years. Mediocre leadership in business and government has led to a gutting of our economy wherein too much of our capital has drifted to the very unproductive financial sector, larger companies have shown fake profits by shutting down a large part of their capacity and firing their workers, and our economy has been exported to other parts of the globe to get goods made on the cheap. America has become a colony to be toyed with by other countries in the world. Our internal economy has simply become a distribution machine of uninspired products cobbled together from cheap ingredients, makeshift engineering, and underpaid 3rd world labor…
Pardon this prelude. But this is to tell you that you have your work cut out for you if you want to give a great gift. Flannery O'Connor once said, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." You see, it takes good men to make good things. Well, things have moved on since Ms. O'Connor wrote her story, and now it is darn hard to find a good gift to give. Goodness has gone on a long vacation.
Art of Giving. But it is not just hollow products and shallow merchants that we have to reckon with. We have lost the heart and skill where gifts are given with caring and panache and style and fun. We remember so well when we were counseling a Wall Street giant. The partner we were meeting with had to excuse himself for 5 minutes while he left to to distribute several million dollars of bonuses to his 5 key investment eager beavers who, despite the pay, did not like their jobs or the anxiety. There was no time to rejoice.
To give right, one must be fond of the recipient and give in a special way, perhaps in a nice room, often with the miracle of fine packaging and wrapping, a domain where the Japanese and the French excel, and above all with warm, thoughtful conversation. In this regard, we refer you to our look at "The Art of Gifting," and to Dear Tish Baldrige, who knew what giving and gifting were all about. She knew how to delight.
Off the Beaten Path. The junk that passes as gifts today tells us that we are in the last stages of mass manufacturing where the object proffered is less than meets the eye and it gets sold by relentless repetitive repugnant peddling over networks such as Amazon that are themselves crude and impolite ways of delivering the mediocre to one's friends. Bear with us, then, if we share a few special ideas with you which may be a treat both for you and your giftee.
- White Towel Services. People aplenty work at a fevered pace today for too many hours. You might consider giving them a WT-7B Deluxe Towel Warmer, which is simple to use and rests nicely on a kitchen counter. You wrap and wet several hand towels (washcloths) and put them in the heater. They are waiting for you later, nicely hot after a grueling day at the office, or a too enthusiastic bout of exercise, or perhaps an overlong session of weeding in the garden. We almost forgot to tell you that White Towel will give you a free replacement if your unit breaks.
- Fruition. Lately a few foodies have been making a stir over Alex Seidel's Mercantile Dining and Provision at Union Station in Denver. We favor instead his old 11 year standby Fruition, where the fare is kept simple, fresh, but elegant. Denver is short on good restaurants, so it is not a hard choice when we go there. We eat at Fruition every time And it is even fun, maybe once a year, to chat with Seidel, because he is mellow and polite. As we have said, Denver is at its best when it does not try to overdo it; that's Seidel's secret, too.
- L.L. Bean really got its start when outdoorsman Bean decided to share his wilderness and his duck boots with the world. Over time the store added many fine products which we once purchased every year—a canvas overnight bag, duck boots, hardy moccasins, sturdy blue jean shirts, a simple Bean bath towel with green lettering which said, what else, L.L. Bean. The other good products have all disappeared (and the good fellows who repaired our shoes have been put out to pasture). But the boots are still worth it, and everybody in our family has them. With the amount of muck and mud about us, we counsel you to do the same.
- Pusser's. Shock. Neither the food nor the drink are that great in Germany. But Munich offers a few surprises. Our driver knew a thing or two. We much enjoyed drinking and talking at this cocktail bar which runs circles around all the hotels which are not far away. It's a small place but radiates capacious spirit. We chatted at length with customers and the barkeeps. We asked whether they knew how to make a Ramos gin fizz. "Yes, we can." And they can. It's a favorite drink of ours but it is very hard to get a good one, even in New Orleans where they take pride in their drinks such as the Sazerac. Pusser's topped them all.
- Blue Jean denim shirts. It is hard to find them anymore. To find one that is decent is even harder. But we were pleased to uncover a treasure chest. We had the impression that J. Crew, sort of an undernourished Ivy League imitation, was floating out to sea, with cheap wares and untrained help and failure barking at the door. But through a friend, we have discovered a number of good solid well-cut things there. Good denims. Give it a look.
- Berlin's Askania Watches. Askania's glory days are long since past. But it is still a wonderful enterprise, now totally devoted to fine watches, no longer at the heart of the defense industry. It has both mechanical and digital watches: we bought one of each. We particularly recommend their Elly Beinhorn, a handsome affair named after a famed and colorful aviatrix.
- Winston's. Boston flowers. It's darn hard to combine huge scale and quantity and still offer quality products. It's even impossible to find a decent flower shop in most American cities. Many of the ones we have used for half a century have gone under. But you need not despair in Boston, or in New York City for that matter, since Winston's has opened there. Ted Winston and his brother run a very sizable enterprise. But they always come through. We cannot tell you how long we have bought our stems there, but it's been decades. Boston food is average, so we even recommend you send flowers to whatever eatery you choose, and their flowers will brighten up your party.
- Fort Worth. The magazines and such praise Dallas, but it is really Fort Worth that you want to see. Both the greenery and the museums are better. In brief, it has at least 3 first class museums. We would particularly recommend the Kimbell, which is beautiful and would be worth a visit even if all the art was stolen. It was designed by Louis Kahn: it may be his best building and he may be America's greatest architect, a titanic artist who was somewhat shunned by the Philadelphia establishment (where he lived) which only has a small amount of his work. So you have to go to places like New Haven, Dallas, or Bangladesh to see him in his glory. After you are museumed out in Fort Worth, go see the Japanese Garden in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, easily outdoing anything Dallas has to offer.
- Land Trusts. Maybe you would like to help your friends keep the planet green and friendly. We would recommend that you give them a gift of a Land Trust membership where they, as new members, can help push back the real estate developers and keep the woods growing and the fields untrammeled. Pick a Land Trust to back, perhaps one that is near you so you can see your money go to work. We, for instance, have just given a little support to the Peconic Land Trust out on Long Island, which not only is supporting green patches but is even helping keep family farms in business. You can find a list of trusts on the web at Land Trust Alliance. We recommend smaller trusts, which tend to stay focused and don't get diverted into other activities.
Living Well is the Best Revenge. We very much like this quote from Mr. George Herbert, and like even better that it comes from his 1640 collection, Outlandish Proverbs, number 524. Whatever one's circumstance, we think it behooves one, in good times and bad, to live well and give one's best to one and all. Give your all to giving and gifting. We only make the world a bit better if we can dress our actions with the exceptional and outlandish.
Respectfully, GPS, 930AM
P.S. Generosity helps us accept change. Generosity is ultimately what equips us to better understand all we do not understand. Be generous: give somebody a break when they have a lapse in conduct or tone. Be generous: give somebody the unexpected and he or she will unbury their souls. When somebody aggresses: stop or take three steps backwards.
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