Saturday, May 01, 2004
Pool Party!
One of the gifts that my daughter was lucky enough to receive today (and if you live in the Portland, Oregon area you'll understand why she was so lucky), was a baby pool. This was not something she had requested. That request came from me. I had thought long and hard about how such a thing would work. As the temperature climbs and things get hot I could set the pool in the backyard, put on some shorts and slide in and relax. My wife is always kind enough to remind me that my daughter and I would have such fun, but as I recall she wasn't part of my original plan. Never-the-less I think I can manage to relax in the pool with her just the same. So, the pool is very nice and relatively large too (with a 60" diameter), but more importantly and in large letters on the front of the box, it is "The Most Convenient Pool Ever!"
Up to this point in my life I had not been aware that there had been such a fierce battle for supremacy amongst pool makers for convenience. A quick check on-line revealed that, in fact, this war had been fought for years. It started back in 1962 when Johnson Pools of Ithaca, New York, had created the hard plastic pool called "Pool Fun". "Pool Fun" was the hit of the summer and as one rival pool maker executive stated, "If that damn thing isn't the most convenient pool ever made, I'll eat my Diatomaceous Earth!"
Every year after that, pools were created filling that most convenient void. "Surf's Up!" took the title the next year. Then Backyard Pools and Patio created "The Circus Pool." This dominant force in convenient pools featured, plastic steps, a collage of circus images and two bars on the bottom of the pool allowing it to be taken anywhere on the top of your station wagon.
This fight became so ugly, culminating in an in-ground pool company claiming their 1974 "Mediterranean Pleasure" was "The Most Convenient Pool Ever", that the government stepped in and created a regulatory board.
Sometimes that government bureaucracy can be a hassle, but right now, thanks to Federal Aqua-convenience Control Board I know that I now own the official "Most Convenient Pool Ever!"
Up to this point in my life I had not been aware that there had been such a fierce battle for supremacy amongst pool makers for convenience. A quick check on-line revealed that, in fact, this war had been fought for years. It started back in 1962 when Johnson Pools of Ithaca, New York, had created the hard plastic pool called "Pool Fun". "Pool Fun" was the hit of the summer and as one rival pool maker executive stated, "If that damn thing isn't the most convenient pool ever made, I'll eat my Diatomaceous Earth!"
Every year after that, pools were created filling that most convenient void. "Surf's Up!" took the title the next year. Then Backyard Pools and Patio created "The Circus Pool." This dominant force in convenient pools featured, plastic steps, a collage of circus images and two bars on the bottom of the pool allowing it to be taken anywhere on the top of your station wagon.
This fight became so ugly, culminating in an in-ground pool company claiming their 1974 "Mediterranean Pleasure" was "The Most Convenient Pool Ever", that the government stepped in and created a regulatory board.
Sometimes that government bureaucracy can be a hassle, but right now, thanks to Federal Aqua-convenience Control Board I know that I now own the official "Most Convenient Pool Ever!"
