Available Tomorrow...
Classic American Clothespins
(The 2015 Production Run)

Dateline: 2 October 2015




My short hiatus from blogging here has been due, in part, to my need to be at the work of finishing this year's production run of Classic American clothespins. Long-time readers will recall that I blogged about the idea of starting an American-made clothespin company back in my Blogazine Entry For April 2012. It was the positive feedback from that bog announcement that solidified my commitment to actually follow through with the idea.

But it would not happen until over a year later when (in August of 2013) I announced here that We're Making Clothespins. My oldest son, then fresh out of the Army, was gung-ho about helping with the new idea. Three months later the very first clothespins were available: Finally... Classic American Clothespins

My first clothespins were sold in assemble-them-yourself kits. The primary reason for offering the kits was that I was unable to get the clothespins tumble-sanded as well as I had hoped. Instead of hand-sanding every single piece, I figured that the folks who bought the kits could do that.

Last year (2014) I managed to crank out a production run of about 8,000 clothespins and I put them up for sale on December 1st. They sold out within 12 hours. It was mail-order chaos around here for the next week as I struggled to get the orders packaged and shipped out as quickly as possible. Some people were unable to get their clothespin order in before my inventory ran out (and a couple of them expressed anger at me because they were unable to get their clothespins).

This year, once again, I have around 8,000 clothespins to sell. The manufacturing process has been improved so that no assemble-them-yourself kits are being offered. Only finished and assembled clothespins will be sold this year.

The price per clothespin is the same as last year. Two dollars each (plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $6) is a high price for clothespins, but not really. The material and labor costs that go into making these clothespins is high, and the resulting product is superior to any other clothespin on the market. Which is to say, my clothespins are made to last a lifetime. Besides that, the strong, American-made,  stainless steel springs will dependably hold laundry on the line, even in a stiff breeze.

That said, here is an excerpt from note sent to me by a woman named Jacquie, who recently purchased a sample kit of my clothespins:

"It seems just shy of crazy to get so worked up over clothespins but what I have before me is nothing short of perfection—each clothespin is a mechanical work of art and unique. They are beautiful, practical pieces and I admire and value the efforts you have  made to create them."

I have received other notes with similar sentiments from other people, but Jacquie recognized, and succinctly captured the essence of what I wanted to create, and have created, in a clothespin. 

And so, I am very pleased to announce that this year's crop of Classic American clothespins will go on sale tomorrow, October 3, 2015 at 11:00 AM (eastern time). They will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Click Here to Order Clothespins.


13 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay!!!! My order is in. I can't wait to hear how soon you sell out now.
Good Luck!
Pam

Herrick Kimball said...

Hi Pam,

Thanks for the clothespin order!

Nearly 100 orders came in the first 25 minutes after I put the order button up. That was kind of overwhelming. I took the button down for an hour to put the brakes on and figure out where I was with my inventory. Many of the first orders to come in were for 100 or more clothespins (one order for 300). But the velocity of orders and quantity of clothespins per order has slowed down now, at 5.5 hours later.

I have around 2,000 clothespins left to sell.

And I'll be packaging and shipping orders all week.

Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

I had my timer set to remind me and placed my order at three past the hour. Am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my order. Please keep us posted on how the sales go.
Debbie K

Herrick Kimball said...

Hi Debbie K,

Thanks for the clothespin order!

It is Monday morning now. Less than two days after putting the order buttons up for this year's clothespins. And I now have only around 1,000 left to sell.

I'm hoping to sell out soon, get all the orders shipped by the end of this week, and get back to normality around here. :-)

Chris said...

It's great to see a thriving home business. :)

CLL said...

I almost missed it! (Hoping there were some left...) I only ordered 50 because that's all I could afford but I'm so excited! Spent my birthday money on them (not many people would understand that, I suppose, but we all have our priorities. Mine are my homestead and books.). :)

Marilyn in SW MO said...

Herrick. I, too, thank you for the wonderful workmanship of these clothespins. I purchased one dozen last year just to see what they were like. Wow! I sure was happy with them. Went back to order more but found that you had sold out. So, I ordered some from another craftsman off the list you provided but was sad to find they did not hold a candle to yours. I have waited this entire year to order more from you and was so happy when the order button went back up. Can't wait to have my clothespin bag full of sturdy, working clothespins. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into them. They make our lives easier!

Herrick Kimball said...

Chris—
My sentiments exactly. :-)
And if I can do it, so can others.

CLL—
Thank you, and happy birthday!

Marilyn‚
That's a wonderful testimonial. Thank you.

Mel said...

I was thrilled to be able to order this year. I've not been able to get an order in since the first "finish your own" production run.

Herrick Kimball said...

Mel—
Thank you!

Herrick Kimball said...

Well, this year's production run of Classic American clothespins has now sold out. I will be packaging and shipping orders the rest of this week. My goal is to get all the orders shipped by next Tuesday. Getting a lot of orders all at once is fun and rewarding but ii's a real chore getting them all shipped out in a timely manner, along with everything else that normally has to be done around here every day.

The day before this year's clothespins went on sale, I was contacted by the editor of a popular, large-circulation magazine, letting me know that they will be featuring a small article about my clothespin business, with a photo of one of my clothespins. This editor actually uses some of my clothespins and really likes them. So that's some good news.

I hope to ease back into blogging here later next week. I have lots to write about...

CLL said...

My first batch came today and they are beautiful! (I decided to scrounge up a bit more cash to order 30 more...I was afraid I would regret getting only 50.) Thank you for putting such care into their construction.

Robin

Anonymous said...

We had a big implementation at work this week and I completely missed the date. Bummer. The good news is I'm retiring in January so I should not miss next years order deadline. Glad the orders went so quickly for you but sad I missed them. And I'm planning on getting a chicken plucker next year. Glad thing are going well for you.

HoosierGrany