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The last crack makes me wonder again for the thousandth time how in the world a mainstream business gets away with calling itself “Banana Republic”. Did they once have a “tropical” theme? Not that that excuses the choice of a name which mocks little countries for their weakness in letting us dominate them.
Yes, it was very weird. The stores actually smelled funny — they must have sprayed Eau de Elephant Dung around for ambiance. Sometime between ’92 and ’94 they abandoned it: I was out of the US for those years, and was very disoriented the first time I saw a BR that wasn’t all safari-kitsch.
“As I said above, this is an era of hi-test capitalism, careless economic policy, and weird, wild, suddenly socially acceptable racism; an era in which the grievances of whiny, well-off white men are treated like world-historic tragedies.”
This will make excellent dinner conversation at my next big family get together.
In fact BR did have a catalog, with drawings of its products alongside self-consciously literary descriptions — which is to say it’s the old BR catalog that the JP catalog is imitating.
14 comments
June 17, 2010 at 7:51 am
Vance
Cool.
The last crack makes me wonder again for the thousandth time how in the world a mainstream business gets away with calling itself “Banana Republic”. Did they once have a “tropical” theme? Not that that excuses the choice of a name which mocks little countries for their weakness in letting us dominate them.
June 17, 2010 at 8:30 am
elizardbreath
Did they once have a “tropical” theme?
Yes, it was very weird. The stores actually smelled funny — they must have sprayed Eau de Elephant Dung around for ambiance. Sometime between ’92 and ’94 they abandoned it: I was out of the US for those years, and was very disoriented the first time I saw a BR that wasn’t all safari-kitsch.
June 17, 2010 at 8:32 am
Robin Marie
“As I said above, this is an era of hi-test capitalism, careless economic policy, and weird, wild, suddenly socially acceptable racism; an era in which the grievances of whiny, well-off white men are treated like world-historic tragedies.”
This will make excellent dinner conversation at my next big family get together.
June 17, 2010 at 8:33 am
eric
Did they once have a “tropical” theme?
Yes–back in the day, they sold actual military surplus and stuff like that.
Not that that excuses the choice of a name which mocks little countries for their weakness in letting us dominate them.
In fact BR was founded at about the same time as the modern Sandinista insurrection.
June 17, 2010 at 8:33 am
eric
This will make excellent dinner conversation at my next big family get together.
I aim to please.
June 17, 2010 at 8:35 am
Robin Marie
“I aim to please.”
Or ruin my sister’s engagement party. Either way it’s a good time.
June 17, 2010 at 8:37 am
eric
You don’t have to bring up the blog at your sister’s engagement party!
June 17, 2010 at 9:23 am
Robin Marie
No that would generally be very bad strategy. I was being sarcastic in the first comment.
June 17, 2010 at 11:56 am
jacob
I will be first in line to promise to buy an Eric Rauchway-branded linen suit.
June 17, 2010 at 1:37 pm
kid bitzer
“Also, it’s more fun. You can have as much shooting and sex as you like.”
wait: you mean all you have to do is write some fiction, and then you can have as much sex as you like?
ummm…does it have to be original fiction? ’cause i’m totally okay with unoriginal sex.
June 17, 2010 at 8:57 pm
ben
I agree with jacob.
June 17, 2010 at 10:21 pm
bitchphd
Wasn’t BR basically the same era as the J Peterman catalog?
June 18, 2010 at 7:24 am
elizardbreath
Yeah, it was aiming at the same market, just without the bizarre catalog. Raiders of The Lost Ark colonial nostalgia.
June 19, 2010 at 6:46 am
eric
In fact BR did have a catalog, with drawings of its products alongside self-consciously literary descriptions — which is to say it’s the old BR catalog that the JP catalog is imitating.