Networked Knowledge

OK…getting pretty sick of this whole snow thing…it was cute at first…all picturesque and all but now its become annoying, to say the least. Right now I’m supposed to be at KUOW taping an interview about Frederick & Nelson and the Christmas experience but unfortunately the host…and the back up host…are unable to make it in to the station after standing in the snow for hours waiting for the Metro bus that is probably jack-knived in the middle of an intersection near you. Here’s what I wrote in response -

Thanks for giving it a go…I am disappointed that it didn’t work out for today…it would have been the most perfect thing for your listeners to hear today as they are most likely a captive audience! Alas we mere mortals aren’t capable of the lengths F&N would go in their quest for amazing customer service…I’m reminded of the story (I can’t remember if I told Dave) about the 1928 Christmas Ship to Alaska that ran aground destroying all the gifts on board. F&N hunted through hundreds of sales slips by hand, recreated all the orders, commissioned a new boat to sail, and when they arrived in Alaska chartered planes and dog sleds to deliver presents by Christmas Day. Unfortunately all we have is Metro…a poor substitute for a dog sled if I ever saw one.

Then I was perusing the LinkedIn:Seattle discussion that’s been going on regarding memories of F&N and tried to set the record straight on the topic of Frangos using my finest command of weasel words -

Yes…you can get something called an official Frango at Macy’s (there was a heated battle over the rights to the name, shape of the box, etc. when the store closed involving over 9 companies and far too many lawyers) but…is it the recipe we all remember? Or does Seattle Gourmet Chocolates have the Mint That Dares Not Speak Its Name? I’ll just say that at the Frederick & Nelson Retired, Fired, Quit Club Holiday Luncheon, which I had the honor of attending with Lamont MacDonald - the inventor of the Frango mint machine, - what they had available were what they called “the familiar mint” from Seattle Gourmet Chocolates.

When I had my book launch a couple of weeks ago, my friend Kim Carsberg made several Frango mint desserts from recipes she had obtained from the Bon Marche soon after F&N closed (and they held the rights to the Frango name.) They were amazing and were gobbled up immediately. Later we were talking of the history of the Frango and Kim told me that she hadn’t wanted to tell me that getting all the Frangos she needed to make the desserts was just too expensive at Macy’s so she went to Costco and bought Seattle Gourmet Chocolates in bulk. She was afraid I would think them inauthentic…she couldn’t have been more wrong

December 24th, 2008 | Tags: author Ann Wendell, book promotion, Customer Service, Frango, Frederick & Nelson, Local History, Seattle, snow | Category: Christmas Culture, Customer Service, Frederick & Nelson book, Local History | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL