Jim Nolan's Blog

Buffalo Bills AFL Stationary

Sent to me by my friend Harley Spiller. I didn't notice it right away, but the oval is a football. The Bills won AFL championships in 1964 and 1965, beating the San Diego Chargers both times. Lou Saban was the Bills' coach.

A Storm of Customers

When snowflakes fall in Buffalo, so do prices at Anderson’s Custard.

The crème de la custard. Credit: Anderson’s.

When I was visiting my family in Buffalo this March, I stopped by Anderson’s Custard to grab a cone—a chocolate-vanilla twist, to be specific. For someone who no longer lives in the area, it is a difficult place to offhandedly drive by. Not only do they serve an excellent roast beef-on-weck sandwich, but their frozen custard is exceptional. Creamy and flavorful, it comes in a variety of flavors, some of which are rotated in and out, so it’s always worth stopping by to see if black raspberry is on the menu that day.

When I went to pay for my cone, I was surprised by the bill. It was light. The young woman behind the counter explained why.

“Look,” she said. “It’s snowing.”

Sure enough, it had just started. I looked at her, dumbly.

“Ice cream’s half off when it’s snowing.”

This knowledge hit me with the force of a lake-effect storm. All these years, I had no idea. But others did. Car after car came barreling in the parking lot. Behind me, a line magically started to form, where just minutes before I had the place to myself.

I realized I had accidentally happened upon one of the all-time great marketing promotions. How do you sell ice cream to Buffalonians over the long, dark winter? Anderson’s figured it out. You combine the two things we can’t resist: ice cream, and a deal.

So instead of dwindling cold-weather sales, Anderson’s brings people in by the droves—at least when it snows. In Buffalo, this is not an infrequent occurrence. In 2019, five feet of snow fell in January’s last two weeks. It must have been busy at Anderson’s.

Every single one of these customers probably tells 10 other people about their delicious half-price dessert. Generating priceless word of mouth for Anderson’s, for next to nothing.

Marketers, while you chase sales with the latest in social media ads, search engine optimization, and email campaigns, don’t forget the brilliant promotional tool pioneered by this small family-owned business in Western New York.

Snow.

Adam Gibson's Awesome Buffalo Forge Grill, Canada edition

Wow! Look at this beautifully restored grill by Adam Gibson. As usual, Adam knocks it out of the park with this creatively restored beauty. It's a salute to the Kitchener, Ontario, Buffalo Forge plant.  

Here's Adam's report:

"So because Buffalo Forge expanded to our neighbor's land, I wanted to do a tribute piece. I spent a long time trying to find the blower and the pendent piece on the blower shield. Both of them came from an eBay seller in Vermont who lives close to Canada. The cover caps are from Howie Mook off an old wagon and I came up with everything else. The colors and the ideas are mine. This grill was an old barn find here but I just added on the parts that I found. It is not one hundred percent perfect and still shows some signs of when it was used. I just wanted to have fun and do something different while honoring the Kitchener Forge plant."

This is an incredible, one-of-a-kind grill, Adam. Just fantastic. Best of all, it's for sale to someone who appreciates its uniqueness. Beyond being completely practical, this is folk art, in my opinion. And a nice display of cross-border friendship and economic interdependence. As Adam writes:

"Hopefully someone finds it cool and wants to buy it."

If you want to learn more, shoot Adam an email at: [email protected]

Types of Shovels Cartoon

Today's "Six Chix" cartoon by my wife, Isabella Bannerman. Isabella grew up in Western New York, and experienced the Blizzard of '77. Fortunately, most snow there gets plowed quickly.

Today's Piece at HumorOutcasts.com

Screengrab from HumorOutcasts.com

A big thank you to Donna Cavanagh and HumorOutcasts.com for running my latest piece. And thanks Isabella Bannerman for the great cartoon accompanying it!

For Father's Day: The Red Barn Incident

The family legend of Dad's Red Barn Rage has delighted his grandson, George. Next week, Dad turns 89. And he is indeed the world's greatest dad. 

Click here to hear The Red Barn Incident 

Snow Angel Cartoon by Isabella Bannerman

Today's "Six Chix" cartoon. You can listen to my essay about snow shoveling here, and see a photo of my dad in 1932 on Granger Place in Buffalo, shovel in hand.

Mamie Moran Wearing 1920's Outfit

My grandfather's sister Mamie and her husband Ross Moran. Mamie was a fashion plate and a beauty, and liked to pinch my brother Chris's cheeks. Mamie, Ross, and my grandmother and grandfather lived on Parkside Avenue in Buffalo across from the lawn bowling field. It had a huge horse chestnut tree in the front yard. I wish I knew where this photo was taken. It may be somewhere in Canada, where Ross was from. I love Ross's shoes. Mamie worked as an assistant to one of the Schoellkopfs, a family of Buffalo industrialists. Click to enlarge.

Dog Sweater Cartoon by Isabella Bannerman

If it had a Buffalo Bills logo, it would have been all right. From Isabella's "Franca & Zoie" series.

Cartoon by Isabella Bannerman

I'm pretty sure this cartoon isn't far from the truth. Growing up, our French poodle Oscar, however, did not have the ability to influence many events. You can listen to an essay about him here.