High end brands that maybe one day go too cheap?

[me203]

On Friday, I wandered through the pen department at Office Depot. Truly a thrilling adventure for a Friday afternoon! (Maybe I need to get out more... )

I was looking for something specific there, but while looking, I discovered they had a Waterman fountain pen in the $20 range, which is pretty cheap for a fountain pen. And I remember a time when Waterman seemed to be one of the high end pen brands. I can remember getting that impression from ads in magazines, at least, back in the 80s. Too bad I didn't see an inexpensive Waterman fountain pen when I was a teenager... I liked fountain pens, and school was the last time in my life I wrote much by hand. I mostly used cheap pencils and ballpoints for school--but I might have loved using a Waterman fountain pen. Maybe it would have made the drudgery of school work more enjoyable...

Heck, I was tempted to get that pen Friday. I have little use for a fountain pen now. But it was a Waterman! For less than $30!

And yet, I'm a bit saddened by the thought of a cheap Waterman fountain pen. The Waterman name had a certain cachet in my mind. Their pens represented something more than a mere writing instrument. And that's sort of eroded by knowing that entry point isn't well over $100--it's under $30...

 

[unloadonme]

Was Waterman ever a high end brand? I think that if I'd ever wanted to spend a lot of money on a fountain pen (and who uses them these days?), I'd have looked for something like a Montblanc.

 

[me203]

Was Waterman ever a high end brand?

Well, Waterman at least seemed like a higher end brand, although admittedly not a Montblanc. Then, again, they weren't Bic, either. Part of my view might just be remembering ads in IIRC The New Yorker. And for all I know, there might have been variations in different markets (in other words, a brand might be positioned as higher end brand in one country than elsewhere).

Then, the only cheap fountain pens I remember seeing for sale in my area in the 80s was Sheaffer.

 

[rareboy]

Most name brands just cheapened their product by having the items made in third world sweat shops and dumbing down the materials and quality of construction.

It is why most brands mean nothing any more.

 

[Peloso]

Most name brands just cheapened their product by having the items made in third world sweat shops and dumbing down the materials and quality of construction.

It is why most brands mean nothing any more.

Did you ever buy store brand frozen waffles? Go ahead, I dare you.

 

[belamyi]

On Friday, I wandered through the pen department at Office Depot. Truly a thrilling adventure for a Friday afternoon! (Maybe I need to get out more... )

I was looking for something specific there, but while looking, I discovered they had a Waterman fountain pen in the $20 range, which is pretty cheap for a fountain pen. And I remember a time when Waterman seemed to be one of the high end pen brands. I can remember getting that impression from ads in magazines, at least, back in the 80s. Too bad I didn't see an inexpensive Waterman fountain pen when I was a teenager... I liked fountain pens, and school was the last time in my life I wrote much by hand. I mostly used cheap pencils and ballpoints for school--but I might have loved using a Waterman fountain pen. Maybe it would have made the drudgery of school work more enjoyable...

Heck, I was tempted to get that pen Friday. I have little use for a fountain pen now. But it was a Waterman! For less than $30!

And yet, I'm a bit saddened by the thought of a cheap Waterman fountain pen. The Waterman name had a certain cachet in my mind. Their pens represented something more than a mere writing instrument. And that's sort of eroded by knowing that entry point isn't well over $100--it's under $30...

1.- The worth of the item was all in one's mind... sorry... in the halo and aura of the marketing.

2.- Customers, irrespective of their worth, are too cheap to care for a luxury/truly exquisite item.

3.- Both of the above.

 

[Vannie]

Did you ever buy store brand frozen waffles? Go ahead, I dare you.

Sounds like you have a big eggo.

 

[Peloso]

Sounds like you have a big eggo.

I don't even like waffles.

 

[Vannie]

I don't even like waffles.

Made a lot of homemade Belgium waffles for catering over the years. Crispy with a little butter in all those nooks and crannies and pure maple syrup

 

[Peloso]

Made a lot of homemade Belgium waffles for catering over the years. Crispy with a little butter in all those nooks and crannies and pure maple syrup

Did you say Maple????

 

[Vannie]

^

 

[me203]

Most name brands just cheapened their product by having the items made in third world sweat shops and dumbing down the materials and quality of construction.

It is why most brands mean nothing any more.

Sad, but true.

Maybe I'm just a nostalgic old fogey...but it's sort of sad seeing brand names that I remember as "good brand" now reduced to nothing more than a name to be slapped on some piece of Chinese made junk.