Comment On Souvenir Potpourri: Makin' It Fit

Ever since the first Free Sticker Week ended back in February '07, I've been sending out WTF Stickers to anyone that mailed me a SASE or a small souvenir. Nothing specific; per the instructions page, "anything will do." Well, here goes anything, yet again! (previous: Survival Edition).

"I work in a moped shop," Jeremy J Starcher (Tallmadge, OH) wrote, "and we, too, see our share of unexplainable things. A customer brought in a bike that had the wrong spark plug. REALLY the wrong plug. It didn't fit in the hole, so they used a series of spacers to "pad it out" about where the plug should be. The larger plug is included so you can see the difference."

This fun mix of incense, bar stuff, Linux, and Microsoft came from Mark (Ft. Collins, CO).

"This is official propaganda from the current political party in Switzerland," writes David (Helvetia, Switzerland). For those of you who don't speak Switzerlandese, this brochure is imploring people to STOP taking Band-Aids from random weirdoes holding wooden crates on the street corner. I'm sure you're all well aware of the danger random street-corner bandages impose -- unsterile, not sticky enough, too sticky, occasionally used -- but, as a refresher, I took a picture of the inside, which also includes some helpful graphs and charts.

Alexander A Jenkins (Arlington, TX) sent these official Flents Wipe'N Clears...

Scott Schrader (New Brighton, MN) traded in these stickers for some TDWTF ones. I think he got the better end of the deal.

Gary (New Zealand) found this attached to a bottle of non-Dual Action Mylanta. Obviously, he scoffed and picked up the Dual Action bottle. Seriously, who wants only Single Action!?

"I didn't know men had an 'Official Supplier," wrote Vicki Scullion (Lawrenceville, GA). Oh yes, Vicki, we do.

"This mousepad is supposed to advertise some Finnish educational site," Antti Nykanen (Noormarkku, Finland) writes, "why it has flying cows is beyond me."

At first, I thought this small package of black shards from E. Kallanki (Jyraskyla, Finland) was that awful salty licorice "candy". Upon closer inspection, however, I realized that it's Haganol, which must be Finnish for "miniature roof tiles for doll houses." Tasting the Haganol confirmed that suspicion.

"I just moved to Switzerland," wrote Markus (Heerbrugg, Switzerland), "and the people here are crazy enough to rename the 'Mars' bar to 'Hopp' for the European Soccer Championship. They also have a song and Karaoke. Oh, and the Swiss also make a delicious chocolate called Frigor... which was so delicious that I ate it myself."

Michael Marcus (New Haven, CT) sent a ticket from the Louvre, a recipe book from some restaurant, and a coaster from a cafe near Notre Dame.

S.D. Croon (Sugar Land, TX) sent this canceled stock certificate from the Cleveland Graphite Bronze Company and a JD Powers mousepad. "Funny thing," S.D. mentioned, "but contractually, a company that advertises JD Powers wins isn't allowed to mention the fact that they had previously won a bunch if they somehow skip one year." Guess which company won consecutively from 2000-2005, lost in 2006, and won again in 2007.

B. Baldwin (New York City) sent this ticket receipt and the Least Likely to be Used, Ever trade-show schwag: a Cannon CR-Series money clip.

"Bio is what you Americans call Organic when it comes to food," Martin Ibert (Berlin, Germany) writes, "grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizer, etc." Actually Martin, most of us Americans just call that "sissy food."

Zach Kanzler (Odessa, FL) was kind enough to share a Croissanwich® and some memory cards.

"Two of these coins don't belong," wrote Joel Synder (Tuscon, AZ), "As for the screwdriver, the 'Professional' emblem refers to a PDP-11-based personal computer that Digital sold maybe 1984-1986-ish. They were the coolest looking computers. If you watched Buckaroo Banzai, the PC-as-TV that the President is watching was a Decmate, which was the PDP-8 version of the same thing, a little smaller."

Phew, and I suppose we'll wrap things up with a some miscellaneousness, including the packaging from Crochet Gloves, a QSO Card, a Hot Topic frequent-buyer card with enough stamps for 15%-off, and a US Quarter sent from Canada.

Don't forget to snail-mail in your own souvenirs for some WTF stickers.