Several weeks ago I placed an order at Quarterly Co. for a package designed by Mike Monteiro (aka @Mike_FTW on Twitter and design director at Mule Design in San Francisco). If you follow him on Twitter, you know that you can’t know what to expect.
Of course, the package was beautifully prepared. The brown cardboard box measures 6¾×10×3 inches and was sealed with custom shipping tape describing “A subscription service for wonderful things” and suggesting to “Get lost in your mail” along with other designs.
My trusty Kershaw SpeedSafe® pocket knife made neat work of the packing tape allowing my first glimpse inside. An envelope–meticulously labeled and stamped #FTW01–obscured the prize beneath, which was likewise wrapped neatly in paper and sealed with tape letting me know the bundle was “Packaged with radness in LA.”
I poured the loose contents of the bundle back into the box to find:
- a cloth bag of assorted buttons,
- one (1) pair of PRECISION Cost Cutters stainless steel scissors ARMADA SN507 with blue handle (Made in China),
- two (2) Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pops (orange & raspberry flavors),
- one (1) 4.25 oz. (120 g) bar of Original Grandpa’s Wonder Pine Tar Soap. “Soap from a simpler time” that, in fact, smells a bit like a campfire, and
- one (1) package of Grace brand Cock Flavored Soup Mix, labeled “spicy” and “authentic Jamaican” which favors the American spelling of flavored as opposed to the British flavoured presented at the linked website.
This array of peripatetic elements shipped across all manner of state lines was confusing until I read the story enclosed in the envelope. The brief tale provided the verbal twine necessary to bundle the apparently unrelated materials described above. The King of Cuckolds indeed.
Thanks to Mike for cheering me up after more than a week of being sick during Christmas vacation and for making me think a bit today. See more photos in greater detail gathered together in my #FTW01 Flickr set.
