For many an Earthling, a quick assessment of 2020 might lead to the same conclusion: "Adulting bites!". As a Disney-weaned-and-raised, adult-toddler suffering from a, self-diagnosed, severe, adulting allergy, 2020 not only has me crying and reaching out for my fave blanky, TV, but also for my fave purveyors of the fun, the funky and the feel-good. Some folks indulge in comfort food, some in risky behaviour. Moi? Media and Mastercard, in moderation, of course. A preferred purveyor is the delightfully devilish domain of Retroagogo.com (Ragg!): recognizable to some of you JennyPopCom Instagram followers, as JennyPop's unofficial parasol supplier. 

So, the world wasn't perfect mid-Century. We know this. You know what was perfect, though? Saturday mornings ... and the cereal, before hippies took all the fun out of our breakfast. (I know of what I speak, because, raised by well-meaning , NorCal hippies, Moi was subject to oatmeal, wheat germ or a poached egg on wheat toast every morning.) Cruel sugar-rations implemented during WWII, led to an inevitable dumptruck of pure cane goodness generously added to post-War cereals. With the reintroduction of sugar, came real breakfast fun: back-of-the-box mazes to do as you watched Scooby-Doo (soooo easy to solve), bowls of blue or pink milk to slurp when all the cereal bits were gone, plus all the dorky mascots children, and many adults, still cherish today. What better time than now, amidst the weirdest couch-potato contest in modern recollection, to indulge in comfort TV and comfort sugar highs, at least the happy memories thereof? I mean, really, what's better than a sugar-crash nap in front of the TV, peacefully drifting in and out to the antics of Scooby-Doo, Spongebob or Grandpa Munster? 

Nestled in the historic, Detroit-suburb of Howell, MI, a farmers' market and Autumn festival kind of town where one wouldn't be surprised to see Pee Wee Herman contentedly bicycling, sits Retro-a-go-go! HQ. On a Mayberryesque street, in a modest brick building, tagged with space-retro, Jetsons-styled, mid-Century-turquoise signage, hums the full Ragg operation. Sure, a tour around their brick-and-mortar or supafun website evokes a full-time funhouse. Yet, as any business-owner will tell you, there's some wicked work ethic behind all the carousels and cotton candy kiosks.

Rocketing from "a kitchen table business" to a full-blown, operational warehouse, including Michigan-manufacturing and shipping, started with a prosaic, de rigueur train ride to Chicago, to visit the fam. Toodling along the rails, Kirsten perused her latest copy of Prick magazine ... tattoos, kittens. Minds out of the gutter. Therein, she spied something she really liked, really needed. All it took was that one little prick: hot rod, rockabilly and pin-up tattoo artist of note, Mitch O'Connell. Within a year, Kirsten and her husband, deadly Doug P'Gosh (Ragg artist and Art Department Head) had licensed O'Connell's work, as well as the unearthly va-va-voom of unrivaled, 1950s, pin-up vixen, Bettie Page. Bettie was their first, as Kirsten tells it.

Fifteen-plus years later, Ragg is still the purveyor of, amongst myriad themes, the OGs: Bettie Page and Mitch O'Connell. Sharing shelf space with Bettie and Mitch is a Who's Who of American pop-culture: The Munsters, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Vampira, Hershey's, Pepsi Co., Weird-Oh's, Bela Lugosi, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Elvira, Mondo, NBC Universal, Mars Attacks, Doug P'gosh, Ghoulsville, General Mills and bonkers more. Available on a bevy of kitsch, Ragg just might be a great place to start your Xmas or Hanukkah shopping. It's never too early! You know there's somebody on your list who loves, nay, needs, a retro tee, tin sign, flask, lighter, embroidered patch, enamel pin, parasol, wallet, tiki barware, silk scarf, cocktail ring or even original artwork.