WWTBAM Bored

I cannot make great claims to gracious living on a daily basis, but on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I do like to use some of my silver or glass candlesticks on the table. This year, there seem to be no tapers for sale at any of the places I've ever bought them before.

The manager of the local Hallmark store said, "Nobody ever buys them any more, so we stopped ordering them." The Hallmark store!

The grocery store doesn't have tapers. WalMart doesn't have them. Target doesn't have them. They all have a wide range of stubby, fat candles, tea candles and votives, about which I do not care.

I will check at places like Pier 1 Imports and Hobby Lobby later today. I'm no longer picky about whether the candles are white or the preferred ivory. I will not quibble about 10" vs. 12" lengths. If I find anything, I will buy a dozen or more to tide me over at least through 2007.

What a dumb thing to waste time on. It has become, however, the principle of the thing.

Oddball suggestion, sc. Try Walgreen's. Their website lists some, but I'm not sure if they have them in the stores.

GW had been looking for some cinnamon red hots, aka imperials, for ages, and could not find them anywhere we could think of. I thought of a web search, and Walgreen's popped up. Got her two boxes of the things at a local store. That's how I came to suggest them for you. Good luck.

silvercamaro wrote:I cannot make great claims to gracious living on a daily basis, but on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I do like to use some of my silver or glass candlesticks on the table. This year, there seem to be no tapers for sale at any of the places I've ever bought them before.

The manager of the local Hallmark store said, "Nobody ever buys them any more, so we stopped ordering them." The Hallmark store!

The grocery store doesn't have tapers. WalMart doesn't have them. Target doesn't have them. They all have a wide range of stubby, fat candles, tea candles and votives, about which I do not care.

I will check at places like Pier 1 Imports and Hobby Lobby later today. I'm no longer picky about whether the candles are white or the preferred ivory. I will not quibble about 10" vs. 12" lengths. If I find anything, I will buy a dozen or more to tide me over at least through 2007.

What a dumb thing to waste time on. It has become, however, the principle of the thing.

We have a place called Hudson Paper Supply. It is where you can get larger quantities of things like paper/plastic plates and plastic glasses for when you are having a big crowd. They have candles there in lots of colors, pretty cheap.

So a party supply type place may work. Call around first.

Thanks for the suggestions, Gordon and Donna. There's a party supply store and a Walgreen's on Main Street in a straight line down from Hobby Lobby. If I don't hit pay dirt (or pay wax) at the closest one, I'll keep driving east.

Maybe a church supply store? I think Catholic church specifications used to call for pure beeswax candles to be used. But the other suggestions seem like better leads.

TheConfessor wrote:Maybe a church supply store? I think Catholic church specifications used to call for pure beeswax candles to be used. But the other suggestions seem like better leads.

I don't think there's a church supply store within 25 miles from me, but I could go to confession about my unsavory thoughts of dropping in at the nearest well-lighted sanctuary.

I quickly overruled that temptation, so perhaps it won't count against me in the long, long run.

I always get tapers at the dollar store. They aren't the best quality and burn down pretty fast, but at 12/$1, I can't complain.

They generally are in ivory, too. I guess the white ones are too popular, so the ivories get shunted down the line.

I know about candles because you can make sexy time with them.

Try Michael's or a PartyLite distributor, as long as they are not a gypsy.

Borat Sagdiyev wrote:I know about candles because you can make sexy time with them.

Oh, Borat baby. I have the candles and I have the time.

Call me.

Update: Problem solved.

My phone rang in midafternoon. The caller identification display indicated a location in the Tulsa area. A quiet female voice, all business, spoke quietly into my ear. "I'm in an aisle at Hobby Lobby. I'm standing in front of bins of 10-in. candles, white or ecru. They are on sale, two for a dollar -- or if that's half-price, then four for a dollar."

I knew what she meant. Great minds think alike, and I'd just returned from the Hobby Lobby nearest my home. I had purchased a dozen 10-in. ivory tapers to get me through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and beyond. I had to look at my sales receipt to realize they were indeed priced at $3 for the dozen. I also bought four tree ornaments -- three dalmatians and a brown dog, all with fireman themes -- and an enormous roll of wrapping paper, because everything was half-price so it would have been rude to pass it by. I would have bought more, but I had neglected to get a basket and I was holding as much as I could carry.

Let us have a moment of silence to honor the magnificent Hobster Lobster and separate but simultaneous shopping with a Millionaire friend.

I love it when problems get solved.

Especially when problems get shared and then solved.

The very first Hobby Lobby I ever went to was in Norman, OK. Now we have one here. It is a great store. Glad you found them and even had help from Tulsa.

I am glad that you were able to find the candles that you needed

Leah sez JoAnn Fabrics (her former employer) always has them.