Sticker Loot

In my younger years, ten, 11 maybe 12 (perhaps earlier) I would frequent the Hallmark store in Trolley Square retail center, Salt Lake City at least every week, usually on Friday's after school.  Once I got the courage to sweet talk my dad into $20 (like it was ever a task).  Back then $20 was gold! Each week I was either with some friends or by myself (can you image walking by yourself to Trolley Square today...at 10?!)  One of my most favorite stores to rush into was Hallmark.  The allure of stickers on rolls!  Yes people, stickers on rolls and the rolls were huge and the amount of rolls on top of another continued.  Wax paper city graffitied by stickers to fit an array of personalities and ages.  I was a collector of fine stickers.

That's right, a collector.  I would select my findings with time and patience, then trim the wax paper leaving a fine line in between the stickers...when I say "fine line" I emphasis my non-straight lines that today I still choose to cut, and for this story we will call it my artistic cut.  There was always more than one sticker purchased each week; if I can remember right, it was a loot full of stickers, five, ten, 20.  No, I didn't spend the entire $20 on stickers...I think.  But it was a great margin of my money going toward their profits.  Close your eyes and envision me skipping through Trolley Square with my bag full of stickers and a huge grin upon my face!

The best was when my eldest sister worked there, it was two bonus' in one fun filled trip!  To see my sister out of home life, see pride behind her inviting smile, and then to browse through the stickers!  This was a skilled art you see, not many had the patience to turn the huge wheel of wax paper with art stuck to it, one inch wide and, in my ten year old mind, 500 feet of stickers rolled up.  She also worked at Taco Bell sometime in this story line...loved Taco Bell back then, "Bean and Cheese Burrito with no Onions."  Picky then and a pickaterian today.  Back to the story...

I frequented another Hallmark today as I waited for my car tires to be worked on; sadly, I did not find stickers on rolls upon rolls of wax paper.  Instead, it was 10 hideous stickers, all the same, packaged into one.  Where did the creativity go with being able to choose 10 different designs?  Now the marketers think the kids today, or adults, want all of one the same thing...not using their own heads to come up with what they desire.  I know what I want, I want the rolls of stickers back!

Vera Bradley and hopefully soon Curly Girl Design, but no rolls.  What has this world come too?  Ah, you wait, with my persistence and persuasiveness  the marketers will come back and it will be like Madonna coming out with Material Girl again.

I am perplexed as to where my coveted stickers ended up?  I am sure I had bags and boxes full of stickers, but where are they today?  Sure I put a sticker on a book here or a sticker on a pencil there but for the most of their lives they stayed on their wax paper, pristine.