About 87% of Americans have magnets on their refrigerator door. I grew up in the 50s and I don’t recall ever seeing magnets on the doors of my friends or relatives. I found one lone picture of our refrigerator at the Kuhn Street house but it’s not a good shot and all I can see is my brother’s black and white grade school picture in a cardboard frame on top of the fridge. I can’t remember how we left messages for each other growing up, but I vaguely think it was a quickly written note leaned up against the sugar bowl on the middle of the old kitchen table.
There’s a big market for magnets today. I know I’ve bought my share through the years. Usually while on vacation. I’ve since thinned down my collection although I wouldn’t say I’ve outgrown them. The magnets in my kitchen this morning are from several states I’ve visited in years past. I seldom go anywhere these days but my magnet collection reminds me of those years when I ventured out of the county. Fond memories all. New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada, Washington DC, Kentucky, Tennessee and a few my daughter gave me from her travels – Chile, Ireland, and London.
I don’t have any of my kids displayed but the grandkids are a different story. My dad and step-mom are featured as well as my ole pal, Susie Bishop Bara, who passed away a few years ago. Sometimes I can’t resist things I see on Facebook – like this one: I just burned 2000 calories. That’s the last time I leave brownies in the oven while I nap. I can identify with that. Another FB cartoon shows half a dozen women sitting in chairs in a circle and one says: Hello. My name is Alice and I haven’t bought fabric for six days. I laughed out loud at that one.
Sometimes I see a picture that needs to be made into a magnet. One I put together is called the ‘Cycle of Life’. Four pictures in silhouette sequences show two children playing with a balloon near a graveyard while the final picture shows an old man sitting in the same graveyard by a tombstone.
The only picture of myself (that I made into a magnet) shows me in my 30’s and considerably thinner with more hair. I have a large butcher knife in my hand and I’m wearing a knee-high t-shirt that declares in big black letters: LEAVE ME ALONE. I suppose that says something about me.
I have two Elvis magnets. One from his early days playing guitar and another of him visiting Nixon at the White House. I have one Port Townsend magnet but I think I’m going to make a better one. The one I have is a PT bay scene from the old days but it’s not that great a photo and I can do better.
One of my funniest magnets shows a woman (cartoon like) wearing a too-small bra and the notation reads: “Delores has been wearing the same lucky bra ever since she was 14.” I find that particularly amusing. Magnets with a movie theme include a scene from The Wizard of Oz, and one simple magnet that simply says “Run Forrest Run.” One of my favorites references the Burt Reynolds’ movie, Deliverance and it reads: “Paddle Faster, I hear Banjos.”
Cartoon figures I have include Nancy (from the old comic books), Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck, and sitting on top of the fridge are four Port Townsend mugs.
One of the first things I like to study when I visit at someone’s home is what they have displayed on their refrigerator door. And now that I think about it, I’m going to make some magnets for Christmas gifts. I’d better get cracking as we’re only 64 days away.