Have you tried to buy a fly swatter lately? I mean, a real, old-fashioned screen-type fly swatter, not a piece of plastic that falls apart the first time you whack it against a counter, not an electronic gadget ironically tricked out to look like a tennis racket. You can order one at Amazon, o’course (that place is as good as The Country Store for carrying seldom-seen products of yore) — but only, we’re told, because it’s been made possible by the “Add-on program.” The Country Store, BTW, does not feature fly swatters in its online catalog.
Neither, in their brick-&-mortar incarnations, do Target, Walgreen’s, Safeway, Fry’s, or Albertson’s…least not so’s I can tell.
Nor do they sell a real, honest-to-God whisk broom, or a true dust-pan broom of the sort that actually picks up debris and is large enough to matter. Or a true, really tough scrub brush. Yeah, they have some stupid little brooms and brushes: flimsy imitations made with fake fibers that don’t have anything like enough substance to do the job.
Comes the Crate and Barrel catalog in the mail, and lo! They have exactly these items — real brushes and a strange little fly swatter that probably will do the job better than plastic and may work as well as a real one. They’re only available online, although you can call an 800 number and order through an actual human being. Through May 19, they’re offering a free shipping promotion.
Apparently this new department is meant to compete with Restoration Hardware, which, last time I was in one of those stores, no longer offers many of the dozens of extremely cool “hardware” items RH used to sell. All my fault, no doubt, for rarely ever buying the stuff: Restoration Hardware prices were out of my league, even back when I had a decent job. RH still offers some of those things online, but…well. A dustpan brush similar to Crate & Barrel’s $14.95 number goes for an amazing $38…and that’s with the 20% discount presently in place. The actual price is $45!!
Presumably it’s meant as a decorator item, something you hang on the wall in the kitchen to evoke homey days of old. You sure wouldn’t want to damage a $45 dust brush by actually using it.
Annoying, to have to pay ultra-premium prices for what used to be (and still ought to be) the most ordinary household products, available at every corner dime store. Well, I’m glad to see at least of few of them coming back, although it would be better still to find them widely and at more accessible retailers. Crate & Barrel is not only underpricing Restoration Hardware, its $9.95 price (!) for the fly swatter beats the $12 plus shipping at something called Nessentials.
When did the banal become the effete?
I have a fly swatter that’s probably 15 years old. My wife laughs whenever I go grab it, but usually stops laughing when the fly becomes dead from using it 🙂
LOL! Nothing like an experienced and well broken-in fly swatter to do the job.
Fly becomes dead. Reminds me of M’hijito’s dog, who seems mysteriously to “become” things.
He becomes on the sofa. He becomes in possession of socks. He becomes upside-down on the floor. All very weird.
Have you tried Ace or other small hardware stores? Those tend to carry that kind of stuff still, though at prices higher than you’ll find if you hit up the flea market.
I do like the idea of nostalgia cleaning supplies being decorator items, though. So hilarious.
Yeah, the Ace hardware stores here often have good loot. The other day M’hjito found some orange oil (for furniture) there: major discovery, saving us both from having to order it up from Amazon.
I was going to say hardware stores–esp in a small town, like the one I live in.
Maybe it’s just ’cause I’m in the Midwest, but when I want old-fashioned stuff I always check Lehman’s website. Their customer base includes a large number of Amish, so they always have non-electric, old-timey supplies. Here’s a fly swatter they offer for $5.95. https://www.lehmans.com/p-3300-leather-fly-swatter.aspx
DW bought me the very dustpan you have pictured WITH foxtail brush only mine is red…from the Lehmans catalog. They have some very cool stuff….a bit pricey but cool just the same.
I’ll definitely check out Lehmans. Red, red…oh, beaut-ee-ful red metal dustpan. That’s one of the few “hardware” items I did buy at RH back in Employed Days. It’s still holding up magnificently.
I refuse on general principles to pay $9.95 for a fly swatter! And buckets for $10-15? We kept the gallon ice cream buckets after they were empty, and used them for everything – back when they were sturdier and had metal handles – now they are flimsy and have plastic handles.
Can’t remember where I picked mine up at – CVS or Walmart I think – plain standard twisted wire handle, floppy plastic top to it, the kind we had growing up. I think it was $3?
I will say that my cheapo Ikea toilet brushes were a waste of money – they are disintegrating!
I would like to find a small nail brush like we had growing up – my father, a mechanic, went through several a year, so we always had some around the house.
Augh, yes! Nail brushes…you can’t find good stiff-bristled ones anymore, either. Check Amazon for something called the “Lola Hand and Nail Brush.” It has earned as many one-star reviews as five-stars, but that’s because the picture shows three of them and you only get one when you order. It looks like the stiff-bristled nail brushes of the olden days.
In my experience, the floppy plastic shreds the minute you swat a fly against any hard surface. The things that have stuff like wire screen (remember THAT stuff?) last longer. Ten bucks…yes, beyond outrageous. Such are the extremes to which cranky old ladies are driven.
In the bucket department, check Target or Walmart for the Rubbermaid-type plastic buckets. Those things seem to last a good long time…or at least, the ones I bought several years are still in service. That, one fears, doesn’t mean the buckets on the market today won’t (heh!) kick the bucket right away.
Fly swatter 2 for a $1 at Dollar Tree. Heavy duty “Black Flag” brand. The sturdiest fly swatter I have seen in decades.
Don’t see it on the Dollar Tree’s website.