223: Classifieds
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Hi, it's Eric Lass. Today's This American Life was Earth's broadcast back in 2002, which actually explains the premise of the show, which was to do an entire program based on the classified section of the newspaper. Now, of course, Greg's list has taken the place of a lot of this classified advertising putting the entire newspaper business in peril. So in just seven years, this has turned into a look at what once was. Here's the show. Marilyn Tanius is working in the classifieds for 27 years at five different newspapers and when she reads the ads, she sees things that you and I don't. The other day, she was sitting in her office at the Chicago Sun Times with two over collies and with me flipping through the paper and telling stories. She talked about the gun ads that Timothy McVay used to pick up and the Arizona Republic back when she worked there long before he blew up the federal building in Oklahoma. Or there was the time that Marilyn's own mother caught a thief when some stuff that had been stolen from one of their neighbors showed up in the four sale ads. Marilyn turned the page and spotted this ad in the use car section. Okay. Here's an ad. Here's an ad that tells me something. Okay. I'm going to read this ad to you and I'm going to see what do you think it tells you. Okay. Volvo 92, a four-door sedan automatic mint condition in and out, 37K, Texas car exclamation point, properly maintained and serviced mechanically perfect needs nothing, must see to believe, respect and appreciate $5,850 in the phone number. She'll see the three of us like, well, isn't it obvious then she points at the ad. This line must see to believe, respect and appreciate this person doesn't want to sell this car. Someone has forced him to sell this car. It's either his wife had a baby, they have to get a minivan, I can tell he didn't want to sell the car. What's that? Respect. You must see to respect. Marilyn says that when you read your newspaper, you've got the news part of trial, which gives you the public life of the city. If you have the sports, you have the entertainment, you have politics, and if you read the classifieds, it's really about individual personal lives. It's my children have grown up, do I really need the piano anymore? I'm really broke. I have to sell my possessions to live. I think you really get a sense of people's personal lives. With that in mind, a few weeks ago, we, the staff of this radio program, took one Sunday edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, and that same week's edition of the Chicago Reader, which is this weekly paper that we wanted to use because of the musicians classifieds and the personal ads that they run, and then we hit the streets, tracking down the ads. For instance, new, never worn wedding dress, tulle, beaded bodice, $750, or best offer. There are several wedding dresses, then a bunch of wedding rings for sale in the Chicago Sun-Times.
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