MOTHER'S DAY COMMERCIALISM
by Dale Connelly, 5/12/00

Dc: This is DCR, a news program not to be believed. Mother's Day is Sunday and so the crayons and construction paper have come out to make a nice little handmade something mom will surely appreciate.
And aren't those the very best kind of gifts?
Perky Fitsimmons thinks so. She's our entertainment, social and crafts correspondent, and she's here with some easy crafts that will surely make mom smile. Hi Perky.

Perky: Hi! Happy mother's day.

Dc: Yes, I know that you are against the commercialization of mother's day, aren't you?

Perky: Oh yes. The founder of mother's day in America, Anna Jarvis, did NOT want it to become a commercial holiday. She said near the end of her life that she wished she had never even pushed for it, because of the crass commercializing that had gone on to that day, and she died in 1948!
You can imagine how she'd feel about it now!

Dc: Mad as a hornet, I imagine.

Perky: But we're going to honor her with some simple, do-it-yourself crafts even the smallest kids can manage. Like this here, Dale. I've got an ink pad and an ordinary sheet of construction paper. If I had it I would paste a tiny round picture of you right there in the center.

Dc: The only picture I've got of myself is here, on my driver's license.

Perky: Let's see. Hmmm.

(sfx: shears cutting plastic)

This will do! It's just the right size.

Dc: Hey! I need that!

Perky: Is hanging on to this little piece of plastic more important to you than your own mother?

Dc: Well … I …

Perky: Of course it isn't! Now, you paste that down, then stick your thumb in the ink … and ever so carefully, you roll your thumb off the side of the picture like this … making … a petal. See?

Dc: Oh, sure. So now I …

Perky: Just go around the outside edge of the picture until you're done. Then we cut it out …

(sfx: scissors cutting construction paper)

… isn't it wonderful? Like a daisy?

Dc: A daisy made with fingerprints.

Perky: And then we tape the flower to the end of a pipe cleaner …

(sfx: tape dispenser)

… and we have a beautiful flower.

Dc: My mother will love it.

Perky: What should we put this in?

Dc: A Styrofoam cup?

Perky: Hmmm. How about this?

(music: cheesy infomercial)

Help your mom hold onto special memories like this with a hand crafted Chaff & Flotsam Silver Heart Treasure Vase. This exquisitely crafted, genuine sterling silver vase provides a special place for mom's most precious silk flowers and long stemmed keepsakes … perfect for holding pipe cleaners attached to little flowers made from your thumb!
It's 5 inches around at the base and is 7 and one half inches high! Only $124.44 plus tax and shipping!

(music: end)

Perky: Well?

Dc: What was that? I thought you didn't believe in commercializing Mother's Day!

Perky: I don't. But what's the sense in making such a nice gift for your mother if you don't have a proper way to show it off?

Dc: It seems to me you defeat the purpose when you take a sweet handmade gift and put it in an outrageously expensive thing like that.

Perky: Outrageous? What's more outrageous, parting with $124 dollars you're going to waste anyway, or pushing a big fat baby head out a little tiny opening? Huh?

Dc: Well …

Perky: I pray your mother never finds out what you said.

Dc: Perky Fitsimmons is our entertainment, social and crafts correspondent.

Dale Connelly Reporting Home