There hasn’t been a new “Calvin and Hobbes” in more than 20 years, yet in many ways the comic strip remains as popular as ever.
Why?
“The most meaningful art is able to be enjoyed and understood at every stage of life,” explains YouTuber Kristian Williams in a clip posted online last week:
“With ‘Calvin and Hobbes,’ you’re always discovering something new. Read them when you’re 6, and fall in love with the colorful adventures of a boy and his tiger. But revisit them when you’re 16 and 26, and they take on an entirely different and equally impactful meaning.”
That meaning has led to an enduring appeal despite no new comics and zero marketing beyond the books (“Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson was famously against licensed products based on his characters).
Unlike other comics, which have almost interchangeable characters and strips that lead up to a single joke, “Calvin and Hobbes” was more substantial. It was art.
Image caption Variations in retailers’ clothing sizes means Emily Murray buys in four different fits – so lots gets returned
New figures suggest almost two thirds of shoppers who bought women’s clothes online in the last six months sent at least one item back.
So-called “serial returners” are blamed for pushing up prices.
Researchers who questioned over 1,000 online shoppers found women’s clothing had been returned by 63% of them.
Retailers said free returns were an important part of their business but the costs had to be recovered somewhere or they risked going under.
Consumer analysts, Savvy Marketing compiled the figures for BBC Radio 4’s “You and Yours” programme.
It found 56% of all people questioned, who bought any type of clothing online in the six months up to May 2016, had sent one or more items back.
The figure was higher for women’s clothes.
Smartphone revolution
The research also suggested that people aged 18-24 were twice as likely as their parents to do internet shopping using their smartphones.
Image caption This one distribution centre received 80,000 returned items of clothing on the day of filming
Catherine Shuttleworth, from Savvy Marketing, said: “The Smartphone revolution has made shopping ever nearer – it is right next to our purse or our wallet.
“That immediacy and ability to buy things whenever you want is really important to that generation.”
Student Emily Murray is one of this new generation of shoppers.
She said she bought a lot online, especially for occasions when she did not want pictures of herself “popping up repeatedly in the same dress on Facebook”.
She said it was “near impossible” to know which would fit her, so she ordered different sizes.
“I end up sending back pretty much half of what I buy and it might even be more,” she said.
Forty football pitches
Many of the returns are passed onto logistics firms around the country that handle returned goods for major retailers.
Tony Mannix, CEO of Clipper, said that the brands he worked with did not want to be associated with the vast quantities of returns he handled at any one time – enough to cover “forty premier league football pitches”.
You and Yours reporter Samantha Fenwick – who visited one of Clipper’s plants at a secret Yorkshire location – said some of the clothes did not come back in peak condition.
She described lipstick stains and other clear signs that they had been worn.
Sniff test
Mr Mannix said about 5% ended up “being binned”.
“The first check we do is what’s called the sniff test because new clothes smell like new clothes,” he said as he described the checks they use to see if a garment had been washed or worn.
Such wastage can be a big problem for retailers.
Recent research from Barclaycard suggested that one in five online businesses had increased prices to cover the cost of managing and processing customer returns.
By law, retailers had to offer customers the option of returning goods bought online within 14 days.
Once shoppers had informed the retailer they then had another 14 days to return the goods and must be refunded within 14 days of the retailer getting the goods back.
New attitude
Image caption Lavish Alice’s Lee Bloor said they had no idea about the returns issue when they started the business
It is younger shoppers who were more likely to take up that offer and they did not have to provide a reason for the return, although retailers often asked for one.
Lee Bloor, from the online fashion retailer, Lavish Alice, said the boom in e-commerce meant shoppers now had a different relationship with clothes compared with when they just went into a bricks-and-mortar store.
“You would try it on, you would touch it, you would feel it, you would see how it fits in the changing room and when you’ve made that purchase you are more likely to keep hold of it.
“Whereas these days we are noticing a trend of consumers buying multiple sizes of the same product so they use their bedrooms as their changing rooms,” he added.
Dealing with all those returns is a challenge for businesses but Emily Murray is unrepentant about her shopping habits.
She said she spends plenty of money with online retailers.
“They shouldn’t advertise free returns and free deliveries if that’s a problem for them,” she said.
You can hear more on this story on You and Yours on BBC Radio 4 from 12:15 BST on Monday 30th May 2016.
Remember those hours of jumping rope, shooting marbles, and one-footing it through a hopscotch grid? Today’s kids are a lot less likely to experience these pastimes. In fact, they’re less likely to do much of anything that doesn’t involve electronics. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), our grandchildren are four times less active than we were as kids. Some other troubling stats:
The average child gets more than seven hours of “screen time” daily. (The AAP recommends one to two hours)
Just one in three U.S. children is physically active every day.
One of every three U.S. kids is overweight or obese.
What’s a grandparent to do? Play! Get your grandkids up and moving by teaching them pastimes from your childhood.
Hopscotch (and variations)
If your joints are up for jumping, that is. Draw the squares in the dirt or use sidewalk chalk to create that iconic design. You could also opt for a bell-shaped grid and play “Campana,” an Italian version. Draw a snail and you’ll be playing “Escargot,” as French children call it. The rules for these and other international hopscotch variations are available as a PDF from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Incidentally: Hopscotch was once a soldier’s pastime. Early Roman soldiers were required to don full armor and hop through 100-foot-long grids of squares to build agility and strength. Playtime with your grandkids just became a history lesson!
Jumping rope
If it’s just you and a single grandchild, you can either take turns or skip simultaneously, facing each other. And if you’ve got two or more kids with you that day? Get a longer rope and show off some of your old playground moves, which should return after a little practice.
The ultimate show-stopper? If some of your childhood pals still live in the area, get together forsome old-school jumping. Bonus points if you still remember how to do double dutch. This activity needs jump-rope rhymes, of course. Games Kids Play has an archive of almost four dozen.
Note: If your doctor approves of this pastime you’ll be doing your own body a favor as well—jumping rope is considered both an aerobic and a weight-bearing exercise.
Pops and grounders (a.k.a. flies and grounders)
This can be played with just you and a single grand or with multiple kids. Younger children might do better with a wiffle ball and bat, but older kids will probably want to show off their Little League skills.
To play: Pitch to the batter, who’s allowed to keep hitting until someone has fielded three pop-flies or six ground balls. It’s a great way to teach hand-eye coordination, and it keeps fielders on their toes as they run to scoop up a rolling ball or to position themselves under a fly. Eventually everyone gets a turn at bat and there’s no pressure to win or lose. It’s all about fun.
Oh, and try this old riddle on your grandkids: What has 18 legs and catches flies? A baseball team!
Other ball games
Baseball isn’t the only way to go:
Four Square: Draw your numbered squares in the dirt or with chalk on the pavement. Get a rubber ball. (Anyone remember when this was called a “Spaldeen”?) Follow official rules from SquareFour.org. If you like, give the person in Square One the option of adding a rule like, “You have to say the name of the person you’re hitting to,” or “Use both hands to hit the ball.”
Monkey in the Middle: Also known as “Keep Away” or, in Great Britain, “Piggy in the Middle.” Two players pass a ball back and forth, trying to get it past the kids standing between them. Depending on the age of the players, you could bounce the ball or roll it.
Kickball: Like baseball, but with less equipment and fewer chances for mishaps. It’s a good game for picnics or family reunions, or to start up at a park with other kids, so you’ll have enough for teams.
Olly olly oxen free!
Give kids plenty of time to hide, and provide warnings like “Ready or not, here I come!” or “Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie, who’s not ready holler ‘I’!” Some hide-and-seek variations:
Chain: As each player is found, he or she must join hands with “it.” When the chain becomes more than a few players long, trying to walk (or run!) to find others is a lot of fun.
Amoeba: It’s like Chain, except that hand-holders must form a circle. Trying to walk that way causes great hilarity.
Sardines: In this version only “it” hides. As each player finds this person, she has to hide along with “it.” Soon it becomes impossible to hide completely—or to hide your giggles.
Another tip: Don’t be too good at finding your grands. Little kids love putting one over on their elders.
Ground games
Sometimes you have to get down and dirty—as in, sitting or kneeling on the floor, sidewalk or grass.
Marbles: Shooters, taws, and alleys—though the terminology has changed, the game has been around since 4000 BC.LandOfMarbles.com has basic rules plus 16 variations.
Jacks: The old bounce-and-scoop is a fun way to sharpen hand-eye coordination. Most sets contain 10 jacks but young kids might do better with four or five. As skills improve, add new ways to retrieve jacks. Find options at Fun Games Kids Play.
Duck Duck Goose: Preschoolers may lose sight of the objective—to catch you before you sit down—so be prepared to keep running.
Ring Around the Rosy: This is a game that even the youngest toddlers enjoy. Who doesn’t love an excuse to fall down? Bonus: All that side-to-side stepping will help recent walkers improve their footwork.
You’re it!
Nothing like tag to get the blood pumping. Play in the backyard or in a park; better to tumble onto grass than hardwood floors. Once kids get the hang of it, try:
Freeze tag: Any child you touch is “frozen” until another is able to “thaw” him so he can start running again. Given the popularity of Frozen, you could call this “Elsa and Anna tag.”
Storybook tag: A frozen person has to thaw himself by shouting out the name of a character from one of the stories you’ve read together. Here’s the tough part: A name can be used only once.
Flashlight tag: This hybrid of hide-and-seek and tag starts at dusk. Count to 20 while kids hide in the yard, then turn on your flashlight and search. Kids must get to “base” while you try to tag them with the flashlight beam. First kid to get lit up becomes “it.”
Incidentally, tag is great for toddlers because they’re just getting good at running. But don’t catch that 2-year-old right away. Keep him or her running, the better to burn off energy. They might even take a nap later—and so might you.
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Patricia Phelps
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Jenny Mason
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