Calendars may be the oldest form of corporate swag. Pinup calendars were a gas station staple for decades. Banks and pharmacies used to give them out, and among the gifts in Allen Sherman’s Twelve Days Of Christmas, between the green polka-dot pajamas and the simulated alligator wallet, is “a calendar book with the name of my insurance man”. Maybe their heyday has passed but in the library where I work a few of us still look forward every year to the Harrassowitz calendars which always feature pages from medieval manuscripts and other artworks, usually from German universities and museums.The 2025 calendar features manuscripts from the University of Bremen.
Harrassowitz is a company based in Germany that works with publishers and libraries. Rather than dealing with hundreds of different publishers libraries can order through Harrassowitz. Among other things this is helpful with multi-volume reference works that are published over years, even decades because publishers, especially the small academic publishers that specialize in things like multi-volume reference works, don’t always keep the best records. Harrassowitz, on the other hand…well, there’s truth in the stereotype that Germans are incredibly efficient. Once at work I got a volume of, I think, a Phoenician etymological dictionary. The library had previous volumes but hadn’t gotten one in over twenty years and had no record of an order. I emailed Harrassowitz to say I thought they made a mistake. The answer was, “No mistake. We’re sending you the next volume in your order.” After a little digging, which involved going down to a dusty basement room and pulling an old, dusty binder off a dusty shelf, I sent an apology to Harrassowitz. The last volume had been published before the library started using computers. The people at Harrassowitz made sure we didn’t miss the next one.
With service like that I think we should be sending them a calendar.
Nothing I love more than a free calendar! Ken usually makes one every year from his photographs, and I love those even more!
As you know, Chris, I love the Daily Bitch Calendar, and I can find nothing to bitch about here.
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