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A set of Gerber-12 steak knives circa 1950.   Source:   houseinprogress Y ou might think this is the story of a struggling knife maker making it big through sheer dint of effort.  The story of Gerber Legendary Blades is one of serendipity and the Christmas of 1939.  The name Gerber in hometown Portland, Oregon, is often associated with the regional advertising agency started by Joseph Gerber in 1910.  The agency dealt in advertising, which in those days required the agency have their own printing presses in addition to the standard staff of writers, artists and account managers.  By 1939, Gerber Advertising was one of three large agencies in Portland, with a staff of around thirty employees. As a present to the agency's clients, Joseph Gerber, commissioned a knife maker to create 25 sets of steak knives which were delivered at Christmas that year.  The knives were such a hit that catalog retailer Abercrombie & Fitch made a big order - fro...

I passed this business some months ago, then found this story on the West Seattle Washington blog.  It is reprinted here due to the interest of so many people - lots of hits ~ Meet West Seattle’s “Psychic Barber”: He KNOWS you need a cut R ick Cook, owner of Rick’s Barber Shop at 5251 California SW (in West Seattle, Washington), has inherited both a sign and a claim to fame: “Psychic Barber.”      You’ve probably laughed, driving along California SW, when out of the corner of your eye you caught a glimpse of two white neon signs next to each other: “Psychic” “Barber.” That reaction was partly by design; after a psychic moved in next door to Rick’s Barber Shop, Rick had a matching white neon “Barber” sign made by the same person who created the “Psychic” sign.      Now, Rick owns the “Psychic” portion of the signage as well, and his front window proudly announces “Psychic Barber.”   The Psychic Barber attention came after Rick had already been...

The Burning Man question: " What makes life worth living ?" ~ Larry Harvey , founder, The Burning Man Festival This is not a question economists know how to ask let alone answer.  Yet it is the driving question you must answer when making any life decision such as whether or not to start a business.  Why?  How do you quantify or measure quality of life with numbers?  Figure that out and you'll win a Nobel in Economics. Rather, economists spend their careers quantifying what they can and of necessity ignoring any aspect of quality of life that cannot be set to numbers.  So in the dismal world inhabited by economists, the ONLY reason to start a business is growth as defined by increasing (or decreasing) some numbers of "things", usually money or jobs or efficiency or productivity.  Economists have no language for discussing the core reasons for starting and running a business.  Take Mr. Harvey's guiding princ...

Introducing the Fringe Economy You’re snacking from a food cart at a music festival, strolling through a swap meet, perusing home-made goods at a craft or holiday fair, spending Saturday garage sale-ing, dropping a dollar bill in a busker’s cup or scanning the ads on Craigslist or Ebay.  Without knowing it y ou are probably supporting the Fringe Economy, also known as the Informal Economy, the Grey Market, System D, the Underground Economy, the Street Market and so on. How to understand the Fringe Economy? Well, the Fringe Economy is to the traditional economy as Fringe Theater is to traditional theater: an opportunity for those on the outside of the institution to find a way into that select group.   Not familiar with Fringe Festivals?  Here’s a brief description courtesy of Wikipedia ~ Street performers at the Edinburgh Fringe, the world's oldest and largest Fringe Theater Festival. Photo source: www.culturalweekly.com “ Fringe theatre is theatre that is...