I do not recall my favorite flavor...
A visit to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California today revealed that even a beloved candy company seems unable to stand above the fray of partisan politics. There are no fewer than four Ronald Reagan portraits made entirely out of Jelly Bellies on display, and since you're in line for an hour to take the factory tour, you get plenty of time to stare at them, and perhaps share your favorite Reagan anecdotes.Then there's the Reagan shrine, culled from the 'personal archives' of Jelly Belly CEO Herman Rowland. Rowland sent a steady stream of Jelly Bellies to Reagan starting in the early 1970s, and in a prominently-displayed letter amid the Air Force One red, white and blue Jelly Bellies, Ronnie states that the availability of Jelly Bellies during Cabinet meetings was the reason the Reagan administration was able to get anything done. One wonders what they would have been able to get done without the Jelly Bellies.
But the right-wing fun-fest doesn't stop there, as prominent conservatives are immortalized in bean all over the Jelly Belly factory -- there's Arnold, the Pope, and both Bushes (those portraits weren't on display -- they must be at the National Gallery). I felt decidedly blue state in a red state candy store. (And the availability of an Arabic translation of the Jelly Belly "menu" just confused matters) Between that and the "Revelations 3:20" printed on my In 'n' Out burger wrapper, my jaunt out of Berkeley was an awful reminder of life outside the liberal bubble. I like my bubble, thank you very much. You can have yer stinkin' Roasted Garlic Jelly Bellies. I'll take my Al Gore and my bio-diesel producing Kettle Chips any day!
Labels: A little more to the left. Keep going... keep going...
posted by SJB at 8:03 PM
6 Comments:
My favorite flavor was "stawberry daquiri." This was when I was 12 and thought I was being so cool for liking an alcoholic beverage-inspired flavor.
As everyone in DC knows, however, all presidential portraits are at the newly opened and renovated National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. :)
I clearly am thinking about Jelly Bellys too much--were you tempted to take one out of the Reagan portrait and eat it? He just looks so... delicious! I think I would have laughed my way through the tour. There are some right-wing nutballs out there (to use a DL004D phrase).
I haven't decided yet what food I'd like used for my presidential portrait. But I suppose it would be nice if it came from the "personal archive" of a big-shot executive.
I was pretty sure my inflammatory lefty eye rolling about Reagan was gonna get my ass kicked out of there, so I didn't risk nabbing a blueberry Jelly Belly out of Reagan's nostril...
Helping to make The SJBlog America's No. 1 news source, I tracked down the two Reagan portraits at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery: One that makes him look like the Marlboro Man, and the traditional one.
i hate jellybeans! i hate jellybeans! but i love our liberal bubble, too.
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