By Staff
Go figure. Real people are shouting "serenity now" along with "Seinfeld's" wacky Costanza clan.
"Festivus for the rest of us" was popularized in a 1997 episode of the show about nothing.
On Dec. 23, we air our grievances. Also featured are feats of strength in which a guest must pin the host before the party ends.
Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) put up an aluminum pole to protest the crass commercialism of Christmas.
Which brings us to The Wagner Cos., a Milwaukee maker of hand-railing components.
The company had plenty of metal rails on hand last season, launching the product on a whim.
"We did it mainly as a lark," Tony Leto, executive vice president of sales and marketing," told The Associated Press. "We never looked at it as a tremendous moneymaking scheme. But in many ways, Festivus is taking on a life of its own."
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Wagner made $15 million last year, though only a few thousand from Festivus pole sales.
Wagner sold about 250 poles in 2005, with around 100 sales coming from its own 120 employees.
This season, Wagner sold 300 poles by mid-December and was on pace to move twice that number thanks to Seinfeld fans in the blogosphere.
Leto, by the way, shared a drama class with Jerry Seinfeld at Queens College in New York.
If, like me, you're thinking of getting one for next year, Wagner offers a 6-foot Festivus pole for $38 and a 2-foot, 8-inch tabletop model for $30.
Even Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle is a "Seinfeld" fanatic. He claims to have seen every episode eight times and proudly displayed his Festivus pole last year at the governor's mansion in Madison.
The Festivus episode originated with writer Dan O'Keefe drawing on his own childhood.
His father invented the holiday in the 1960s.
O'Keefe remembers the playing of "strange German and Italian pop music from the '50s" and a real airing of grievances.
Instead of a pole, his family celebration featured a clock and a bag, though his dad is mum on what they symbolized.
So how's that for a heart-warming Christmas story?
And how ironic is it that a company is making money off a holiday celebrating anti-commercialism? Only in America.
Also, check out "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Since Larry David inspired the character of "George," it's like "Seinfeld" never ended.