The Proper Mustard - - - 'Yellow Journalism at its Best!'
The Official Newsletter of the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum ~~~~ August, 2007
Editor-in-chief: Barry Levenson  [email protected]
[View Encoding is Unicode (UTF-8)]

Feel free to print this out and share it with your friends.

MUSTARD DAY 2007 — IT ROCKED !

The 3,000 Oscar Mayer hot dogs disappeared into the bellies of the mustard faithful by 2:00 p.m. while the rhythms of the POUPON U Accordion Band, Clear Blue Betty, and the Red Hot Horn Dawgs electrified Mount Horeb’s Main Street. It was another wild and raucous Mustard Day celebration.

Thanks to everyone who made National Mustard Day such a big success. To all of our sponsors, volunteers, and everyone who came for the party – a hearty mustard THANK YOU. But the biggest Thank You goes to Patti Levenson (Mrs. Mustard) who coordinated the entire festival.

If you were at national Mustard Day this year and have photos you’d like to share, please email them to me at [email protected]

Join us next year for National Mustard Day 2008 on Saturday, August 2.

BABY’S FIRST MUSTARD DAY

Little Caleb Good was one of many little mustard lovers at National Mustard Day and, as you can see, he was quite the hit. His mother Gail tells us how mustard has been an important part of the their lives:

"My husband (Brian) first learned about Mustard Day through a Far Side Calendar of "Wacky Holidays."  He first attended your event in 1999.  He had such a great time that he brought friends back each year.  The only Mustard Day celebration he has missed since then was for our wedding.  We got married on National Mustard Day, August 2, 2003.  We gave our rehearsal dinner guests mustard as a gift and told them all about our favorite holiday!  We have brought countless out of town visitors to your museum and were briefly mustard of the month members.

Thanks for another great celebration today!  We had an excellent time and are already looking forward to next year."

NEW AND SPECIAL FOR AUGUST

GT74 – Our new German Mustard Sampler, with six different senfs (that’s German for mustards) for you to try at your next bratwurst party. $39.00

FFR110 – Mustard with Grape Must. The classic Moutarde Violette, with grape must. Fruity and distinctive. $15.00

DDM100 – Diamond Don’s Sweet Hot Mustard. Made in nearby Stoughton, this pepper-laced mustard packs a mighty little wallop. $6.25

WKD100 – Wicked Natural Caramel Mustard Dip. Is it a mustard or is it a dessert sauce? We think it’s both and we think it’s great. $7.25

PMM125 – Pommery Moutarde Royale. The elusive grainy cognac mustard from France is here. $22.00

See More August Specials & Sale Items Here

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MUSTARD & KETCHUP AWARDS

Our August Golden Mustard Award goes to Fleming’s Steakhouse of Madison. The Curator and Mrs. Mustard stumbled into Fleming’s a few weeks ago and were blown away by the delicious prime rib (Sundays only). But more than that, the whole dining experience, from the attentive service to the comfortable atmosphere, was fabulous. The Curator thought that a gift certificate to Fleming’s would be a great top prize for our new Mustard Day game, "MUSTARD OR NO MUSTARD."

So the Curator (never shy when it comes to Mustard Day) asked and manager Alex Speaker came up with a $300 Fleming’s Gift Certificate. Of course, the chances of a contestant picking the lucky mustard jar and not being tempted to sell it to the banker (sound familiar?) were remote, meaning that we would likely be returning the certificate to Fleming’s. Alex would not hear of it! "If no one wins it, it’s yours."

Sad to report, our contestant did not choose the lucky mustard jar but we can’t feel too bad for her. She had chosen the worst jar, the one with a ketchup packet inside, but took the bank’s offer of a Mustard Day T-Shirt and a SLIMM & NUNNE Gift box.

Thanks to Fleming’s we highly recommend it. (To find a Fleming’s Steakhouse in your area, go to www.flemingssteakhouse.com.)

This Month’s Yucky Ketchup Award goes to our pals at CapitolOne ("What’s Left in Your Wallet?"). Mrs. Mustard used their oh-so-compassionate Healthcare Finance credit card loan for some dental work. After all, zero per cent financing for eighteen months sounds great. You’d think it would revert to a regular credit card rate on the unpaid balance at the end of the eighteenth month. Not exactly. It’s 19.99% on the unpaid balance plus 19.99% on the average daily balance of the loan during the first eighteen months RETROACTIVELY APPLIED. Yes, it was part of the fine print. We paid it off just in time to avoid the hefty retroactive wallop. What a concept, so fiendish that only a ketchup eater could have designed it.

Congratulations to JILL COOK of Benicia, California, and DOUG REED of Stoughton, Wisconsin, co-winners of our SEEDS OF PASSION WRITING CONEST. You can read their winning Chapters here.

We will announce the theme for our 2007-08 writing contest next month.

MUSTARD BITS FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE JAR

MUSTARD DAY T-SHIRT – NOW MORE THAN EVER

< < < Little did we know how prophetic our Mustard Day T-Shirt would be.

Five days after National Mustard Day, a photo of a burning house appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal. The caption: "SHE LEFT TO BUY KETCHUP AND HOUSE BURNED."

We are not making this up. A woman in Racine, Wisconsin, left the stove on when she took her 1-year-old daughter to the store to buy ketchup!

You can still get your official Mustard Day 2007 t-shirt for only $15.00. It’s the surest way to annoy your ketchup-loving relatives.

MUSTARD MUSEUM LOBBYING EXPENSE DISCLOSED

In the interests of clean government, the Mustard Museum has decided to step forward and disclose our 2006 lobbying expenditures. We are not exactly in the same league as the NRA, the tobacco companies, and the insurance moguls, but we believe that every lobbying interest should publicly reveal what it spends to influence and distort our government.

In 2006, the Mustard Museum spent $.73 on lobbying. Yes, 73 cents. That covered the cost of one sheet of paper, one envelope, one stamp, and a used pencil to cover the cost of a letter sent to Senator Feingold asking him to support any pro-mustard legislation that might come his way. It was probably an unnecessary expense because we happen to know that Senator Feingold loves mustard anyway.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Until next time - Hasta la Mustard, Everyone!