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Old 03-22-2015, 01:12 PM   #61
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Okay, I'm getting warmed up on this rant thing.

Does anyone else here abhor Hickory Farms?

To wit: their sausage tastes like plastic, probably from all the wax they introduce; their mustards are mostly corn syrup; and the cheez spreads are abominations of cheese-inspired dairy by-products!

And their customer service is even worse! Or at least it was the last time I bought a gift from them (fourteen years ago; I was young, stupid, and frequently drunk).

How are they still in business? Is it simple inertia, like the tradition of fruit cakes? thank goodness that seasonal travesty is nearly extinct.

Whenever DW and I get a box from Hickory Farms, my first reaction is to wonder what I did to the giver. Did I kick their dog the last time we visited or make fun of their drapes?

My second reaction is to plot my passive-aggressive revenge. But absolutely not by sending them a Hickory Farms gift in return. Though poetically justified, That company will never get another dime from me.

How about a fruitcake?


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Old 03-22-2015, 01:33 PM   #62
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I wonder what has happened to all the fruit cakes. I volunteer at a food bank and we gets lots of unwanted hickory farms cr*p and Harry and David exotica but few unwanted fruit cakes.
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Old 03-22-2015, 01:35 PM   #63
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I wonder what has happened to all the fruit cakes. I volunteer at a food bank and we gets lots of unwanted hickory farms cr*p and Harry and David exotica but few unwanted fruit cakes.
I think a valid commercial use was finally found for them in large ships as ballast.
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Old 03-22-2015, 01:44 PM   #64
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I wonder what has happened to all the fruit cakes. I volunteer at a food bank and we gets lots of unwanted hickory farms cr*p and Harry and David exotica but few unwanted fruit cakes.
I recall hearing that there really aren't that many, it just seems there are because people send them back and forth to each other in perpetual re-gifting.
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Old 03-22-2015, 01:46 PM   #65
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There are a lot of old companies still riding on their fame from their good old days.
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Old 03-22-2015, 02:01 PM   #66
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OK. Finally remembered something to rant about. Delivery services (Canada Post, UPS) .........
What's up with shipping stuff from the US to Canada? First, postage is ridiculous and secondly there seems to be tyranny of customs charges, especially when using UPS and FedEx. A number of Canadians seem to have an alternate US address just across the border so that they can avoid the hassle and just drive to the US to retrieve items.

Why is it so hard to buy in the US for Canadians?
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Old 03-22-2015, 02:57 PM   #67
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What's up with shipping stuff from the US to Canada? First, postage is ridiculous and secondly there seems to be tyranny of customs charges, especially when using UPS and FedEx. A number of Canadians seem to have an alternate US address just across the border so that they can avoid the hassle and just drive to the US to retrieve items.

Why is it so hard to buy in the US for Canadians?
FYI, my items were shipped from Canada (Vancouver and Missisauga). No customs, no US address required. Both packages had shipping included.

I have no interest in dealing with the hassle of customs charges, U.S. postal boxes, and adverse exchange rates, so I prefer to order within Canada if the total price is comparable.
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Old 03-22-2015, 03:09 PM   #68
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I wonder what has happened to all the fruit cakes. I volunteer at a food bank and we gets lots of unwanted hickory farms cr*p and Harry and David exotica but few unwanted fruit cakes.
Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas
Fruitcake accounts for 98 percent of the bakery's total sales. The company sells about 3 million pounds of fruitcake each year, which equates to 1.5 million individual cakes.

The majority of orders are placed by mail, and during October to November.


this bakery has been making fruitcakes since 1896..the original ones are probably still ok to eat.. like Twinkies
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Old 03-22-2015, 03:14 PM   #69
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What counts I think is not average or median income, but a sufficient number of affluent customers concentrated in a fairly small area.
Or tradition.

Cincinnati is a smaller city than Seattle, but we have many great butcher shops.

My favorite is one that has been in business here under the same family for over 120 years. They make their own sausage (several dozen varieties), their own smoked bacon (two varieties), their own cold cuts (about a dozen varieties), along with homemade soups, gravies, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

You would love it. But I seem to recall you once lived here and may remember.

We have a huge number of families of German descent, and a good butcher shop is part of the culture. Consequently, we have at least half a dozen of this type of butcher in the city or close to it.
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Old 03-22-2015, 03:49 PM   #70
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I wonder what has happened to all the fruit cakes.

Most are at my former employer...


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Old 03-23-2015, 09:01 AM   #71
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Most are at my former employer...

QUIT RE-GIFTING THEM!!!!! WE HAVE ENOUGH OF OUR OWN!!

Rants are in caps!! It's a rule somewhere..
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Old 03-23-2015, 09:53 AM   #72
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You all need to post much "worse" rants or this thread and the Pet Peeve threads need to be merged! Ratchet it up, folks. That's my rant of the day. .....
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Old 03-23-2015, 11:47 AM   #73
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As I have said, and I will say it once more. Give us some time. We will ramp it up.

Doggone it.

PS. I am headed to my high-country hideout now. Will not be ranting for a while. Hope that this thread still stays open when I come back. You have not heard the last of my rants. And that's a promise.
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Old 03-23-2015, 01:09 PM   #74
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Send the fruitcake to me. I must be the only person that like them

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Old 03-23-2015, 01:41 PM   #75
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I wonder what has happened to all the fruit cakes. I volunteer at a food bank and we gets lots of unwanted hickory farms cr*p and Harry and David exotica but few unwanted fruit cakes.
Because, January 3 is "Fruitcake Toss Day". Come on, get your holidays straight!

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/fruitcake-toss-day/
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Old 03-23-2015, 01:56 PM   #76
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Send the fruitcake to me. I must be the only person that like them

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Me too. I generally like them dunked in rum.
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Old 03-23-2015, 01:57 PM   #77
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This rant thread is really tame. I guess that shows we are a happy bunch overall.
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Old 03-23-2015, 02:01 PM   #78
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This rant thread is really tame. I guess that shows we are a happy bunch overall.
Don't worry, they will come. Gotta save up the real rants for the big stuff. Can't be the boy who cried wolf.

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Old 03-23-2015, 02:10 PM   #79
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Don't worry, they will come. Gotta save up the real rants for the big stuff. Can't be the boy who cried wolf.

-ERD50
I imagine that many 'high emotion' rants have political implications that, as we know, are verboten hereabouts.
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Old 03-23-2015, 02:57 PM   #80
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The flying thread is more rantacious.

Didn't know about the Starbucks race campaign. That was interesting.
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