gem

i walked by this little box sitting on our table the other day and did a double take. although fairly innocuous, it grabbed my attention. just a simple box of paper clips. why should it warrant a second look? i picked it up and studied it. it looked very old, as if it could have been produced 70 years ago. a plain cardboard box with single color printing. even the green ink looked ancient. plain. as if war or depression required the maker to reduce costs to make a very simple package.
i guess i was surprised by this fact, since it seems almost everything we buy these days, even the most benign product has been carefully researched and re-packaged to capture our attention. to scream out as we pass other stationery products, and stand out puffing its chest, announcing "i am here!". so much so that we train our brains to filter out the noise of these attention getting practices. and in so doing forget that there was once a simpler time when people just went to buy paper clips. they didn't need to be coerced or prodded to get them. they were a commodity, like milk.
and it seems to me the maker of these paper clips has recognized this fact and seen no reason to redress the presentation. no revised madison avenue slogan. just a reminder that the population grows by millions each day and that these are still made in the u.s.a. no promotions or special offers. commodity. need. and that is what caught my attention. the possibility of an uninterrupted cycle of design, manufacture and marketplace. a rare gem these days.