This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.

When the collateral costs of an increasingly global marketplace are counted, it is usually the image of the displaced factory worker that comes to mind. But not all the casualties have human faces. Some seven billion ash trees stand to go the way of the American elm and American chestnut, victims of living weapons of mass destruction dispatched unintentionally on the contrails of globalization.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the American chestnut was practically eradicated by chestnut blight, caused by fungus from imported Asiatic chestnut trees. In the 1960s and 70s, hundreds of millions of elms were lost to Dutch Elm disease, a fungus accidentally imported to North America in logs shipped from the Netherlands for use in furniture.

In the late 1990s, a pretty, irridescent green species of beetle, now known as the emerald ash borer, hitched a ride to North America with ash wood products imported from eastern Asia. In less than a decade, its larvae have killed millions of trees in the midwest, and continue to spread. The destruction of a native species is an environmental disaster, of course, with far-reaching effects on the entire ecosystem. But the emerald ash borer is also boring into a significant economic and industrial resource, for the U.S. Ash is a strong and highly resilient hardwood, used for tool handles and sports equipment. Snooker players and guitar heroes will also be affected if the preferred wood for their respective instruments becomes extinct. Ash also has extensive application as veneer for office furniture.

In areas of the country at risk for infestation, public awareness programs, such as http://www.emeraldashborer.info tell people how to identify the pest, report it, and help slow its spread. Let's hope the ash doesn't go the way of the chestnut and elm.

Read the entire series

Top 25 things vanishing from America: #17 -- The ash tree originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is my second pair of black canvas flats from K-Mart's house label, Basic Editions. The first pair cost me about six dollars and change two years ago, and this pair cost about the same, two weeks ago. Sorry, they aren't available online, but if you drop by your friendly neighborhood K-mart, you should find them among the flipflops and summer shoes, in black, white and tan.

The cut is flattering and they look great with nearly everything. I've worn them downtown with cropped jeans, uptown with a designer pencil skirt and out of town with my swim cover-up.

Now, for under ten bucks, you don't get much in the way of engineering. These are thin rubber soles with a canvas lining, and I wouldn't wear them beating the pavement for hours. But for another few dollars, you could pimp them out with cushion insoles. Still cheap, still chic.

Kyran Pittman is a writer and blogger whose essays have been published in Good Housekeeping magazine and elsewhere. She writes about life, family, culture, and anything else she feels like at Notes To Self.

Cheap is the new black: Kmart Canvas Flats originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Move over Pampered Chef and Mary Kay. The latest in-home sales "party" concept has reversed the usual guest-to-rep cash flow. Instead of pixie-sized portions of a demonstration omelet, or a makeover that makes your dog bark at you when you get home, the new guest takeaway is cash.

So claim the many "gold party" services cropping up (curiously, overwhelmingly headquartered in Detroit). Companies like My Gold Party and Gold Party by ADI offer to help convert your friends' gold to cash, either by supplying you (for a fee) with the equipment and training for do-it-yourself appraisals or by sending a representative to your home who will set up shop in your kitchen.

Trading your bling-bling for cash is nothing new, of course. Many folks have turned to the jewelry chest when times are hard. Traditionally, you don a scarf and dark glasses and do it quietly in a back room across town. What's new is the idea that parting with Mom's locket or Dad's pocket watch is a rollicking good way to spend a Friday night, accompanied by spinach dip and boxed wine.

As has been reported by WalletPop previously, would-be gold brokers should proceed with caution, particularly if they are required to make an investment upfront. And there are compelling arguments for keeping the lid on your jewelry box for now.

Kyran Pittman blogs at Notes to Self.

Recession watch: Selling your gold at home parties originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 03 May 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whimsical children's' retailer Land Of Nod is holding its Spring Cleaning Sale, with up to 80% discounts on kids' bedding, furniture, decor, toys and more.

It's a great time to stock up on seasonal items: the Ain't No Mountain High Enough toboggan is marked down to $49 from $129. It would look great under next year's Christmas tree.

Easter baskets, winter holiday crafts and Valentines are also on sale. Heads up to those who read my post on Budget Birthday Party Going for Kids: these designer duds piggy banks (phthalate-free) make a novel birthday gift or party favor for children age 3 to ten, especially accompanied by a roll of nickels, dimes or quarters for their opening day deposit!

Nods 'n' Ends from the Land Of Nod originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So it was refreshing, to say the least, to receive this in an e-letter from a Little Rock, Arkansas business yesterday:

NO HIGHER PRICES!

Boulevards answer to the unbelievably higher prices for flour, (from $10 a bag to $29 a bag), butter, eggs, and all other commodities is to be more efficient, waste less, to work harder, and to build volume through great service and exceptional quality products, (we are working tirelessly to improve service daily)!

You will NOT see a price increase for the foreseeable future! Please continue to support us, every customer is SO appreciated and loved!!!

-Scott McGehee, Boulevard Bread Co.

I called up Scott, who owns and operates the coffee/gourmet food shop, beloved by local hoity-toities and hipsters alike, to ask him about this radical departure from the herd. He told me that he is determined to find reasonable alternatives to making his customers carry the burden of his increased costs. How novel. Most other businesses seem to turn to the consumer's wallet as a line of first defense, not the last resort.

Last week, Walletpopper Zac Bissonette wrote about the dividends of honest customer service. Is goodwill toward an establishment money in the bank? If so, strategies like Boulevard's might yield better returns in the long run than the usual "we're suffering, so should you" line.

Have you heard of any businesses in your community taking a similar approach?

Kyran Pittman blogs about life at Notes to Self. Her essays have been featured three times in Good Housekeeping magazine's "Good Reads" section.

On *not* raising prices: Customer loyalty can go both ways originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-tickets, e-cards, e-gift certificates, and plastic currency. We're used to spending paperless; now how about paperless savings?

Last month I wrote about the Grocery Game, an online subscription service that can enhance coupon savings by matching grocery store specials with coupons. Grocery Game, and a similar (free) coupon tracker, Coupon Mom, both feature printable coupons on their sites. But our own AOL takes couponing to the next stage of digital evolution with Shortcuts, paperless coupons that you store to your grocery store membership/discount card.

Now we're talking.

Just the other day, I came home from a grocery run (where I realized nearly 50% savings, thanks to coupon/sales matching), and realized I'd left about $5 worth of additional savings on the table. Literally. My kitchen table. Grocery Game or not, it's hard to keep track of all those flimsy bits of paper, let alone clipping and sorting them. I love the idea of having them stored on my Kroger card. No coupon left behind!

Unfortunately, the Shortcuts selection at this time is woefully limited. A measly eight coupons. And while my regional chain, Kroger, is a partner store, the full list is quite limited. But I have high hopes that my cutting and sorting days will soon go the way of the 8-track, so I'll be checking back.

Shortcuts is free to anyone with an AOL or AIM account.

Kyran Pittman blogs about life at Notes To Self, where her musings on culture, soul and laundry have been picked up and published three times by Good Housekeeping magazine.

High tech coupon clipping II: Paperless coupons originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The designs so closely mimic the irony-free version (such as those offered by the likes of Successories--seriously--not a parody), it could take weeks before the boss notices that the caption beneath the pretentiously typeset word, "TRADITION" reads, "Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid."

There's never been a better time to find out: Despair Inc. is having an April Fool's special, today only, with site-wide markdowns, and bonus gifts with purchases of $35 and more. To access Despair.com today, enter the user name "april" with the password "fools." All orders placed today will not ship until April 11.

Despair Daily: April Fools at Despair, Inc. originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This post is part of our series on people, places and things finding new life in 2008.

Uno the Beagle made history last month when he took Best of Show in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, becoming the first of his breed to ever do so. Did the winner's triumphant barking herald a comeback of this decidedly un-exotic breed, the Wonder-Bread of canines? Well, not exactly.

The American Kennel Club, which has kept registration statistics of AKC-recognized breeds for nearly a century, reports that the humble Beagle, while perhaps not the most fashionable of its species, has never really gone out of style. Although the Beagle's popularity peaked during the fifties (think Snoopy), when it ranked most popular from 1954 to 1959, it is the only breed that has consistently remained in the top ten most popular since 1915. Not exactly a B-list-er.

Nonetheless, the Westminster victory means the hound can proudly hold his tail upright among any of the other breeds we have come to think of as more fashionable.

Some other classic breeds that may be ripe for renewed appreciation include the poodle, which ranked most popular through the sixties and seventies, and the cocker spaniel, which was overtaken by the Beagle as most popular, after ranking number one from 1936-1953, and made a comeback in the eighties.

2008 Comeback Stories: Everybody's All-American dogs originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This post is part of our series on people, places and things finding new life in 2008.

Call it "green" or think of it as post-modern, but Hollywood seems to be deeply committed to recycling.

Indiana Jones, X-Files, Batman, the Hulk, Harry Potter, and the Mummy will all soon be returning to the big screen. Even Star Trek will boldly go where it has gone, uh, ten times before.

I admit, I am a-tingle about the return of Indy and (hopefully) his bullwhip. I was a teenage girl during the original trilogy run, and Harrison Ford's performance imprinted on me as the very definition of masculine sexy. Me and Dr. Jones, we had a thing going on. And although Batman has never moved me in that way, I will probably go see Dark Knight out of respect for the late, great Heath Ledger's swan song as the Joker.

But some of these comebacks, like X-Files, make me feel the way I do when I happen to be listening to an "oldies" station and hear the Barenaked Ladies. Or when VH1 rolled out I Love the 90s. Dude. It's too soon.

Nostalgia can't be rushed to the table. Pop culture, the good stuff, needs to be left alone in the dark and forgotten about, before you can uncork it as vintage. The bad kind never does get any better.

2008 Comeback Stories: Recycled movie heroes originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I have an on-again/off-again relationship with couponing. I save the coupon inserts that come in my Sunday paper, but clipping and sorting them is a chore that keeps getting bumped to the bottom of my to-do list. Expiry dates come and go, and I wind up paying full price for items I had coupons for.

From time to time, I've been inspired by someone's testimony to step it up a notch. By strategically matching promotional sales with manufacturer and store coupons, many savvy shoppers say they save hugely. I don't dispute it, but whenever I've attempted to do the same, it took me so much time to get all my couponing ducks in a row, the hourly rate was hardly worth it.

Enter the Grocery Game, an online subscription service that is supposed to do all the thinking for you. For $4.95, I signed up for a four-week trial subscription, which gives me access to a weekly couponing plan of attack. The service matches local sales to locally circulated coupons. Lists vary from state to state. As an Arkansas subscriber, I can choose from one or both of the major supermarket and drugstore chains. I chose both.

Continue reading High-tech coupon clipping: Playing the Grocery Game

High-tech coupon clipping: Playing the Grocery Game originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It can't predict what you'll be when you finally grow up, or whether that tall dark handsome someone is on your horizon, or whether the baby you're expecting will be a boy or a girl, but Voyant claims it can help forecast the financial impact of going back to school, getting married or having a baby.

The new Java application, available for free download and use, is designed to evaluate personal finance in the context of "life stages," like child-rearing, retirement and marriage. Wizards help users set up timelines that can can be revised to reflect the vagaries of fate and desire.

Consider my husband's 40th birthday, when we learned I was unexpectedly pregnant with our third child. Voyant could have quickly run the new scenario against our pre-existing financial data and thrown up a visual snapshot of the feasibility of him retiring before 65. If the application's claim of "game-like usability" extended to animated graphics, it might show snowballs, melting quickly in hell.

Perhaps some knowledge is best left to sink in slowly.

But for those who can handle a glimpse of the future, Voyant promises to make the implications of key life decisions more concrete.

The application also marries social-networking with number crunching, permitting users to engage with others over the platform. Other features include individualized recommendations and referrals to financial planners in specific areas. Voyant supports both Windows and Mac OS.

Future shock: Online app answers big what-if's originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With two kids in grade school and a third in part-time preschool, the number of birthday party invitations we receive is staggering. Over the next 72 hours, I will make two trips to Chuck E. Cheese. Which twice exceeds the quota established by the Council for Not Losing Your Freaking Mind.

The mileage alone is exorbitant. The home birthday party seems to be extinct in my children's' social circle, with celebrations held at whatever newest inflatables / bowling / gymnastics facility has opened, usually in an industrial park on the outskirts of town. I am sure if I added up the fuel cost times three kids at 14 years each, I would do just as well to buy a trailer and make our weekend home the parking lot of whatever party spot is this season's must-rent.

On top of the time and gas money spent, one is not expected to show up empty-handed to these soirees. I have a strict limit of ten dollars per gift, which is on the cheap thrifty side, relative to the other offerings on the gift table. Let's do the math again: three children X 15-20 classmates each X $10.00=a nice annual deposit on an Education IRA.

Birthday parties and presents are part of childhood, however, and my boys love them. With a little advance planning, they don't have to break the bank, and can even (if a monetary value can be placed on good times) be a bargain, considering that entertainment, a snack or meal, and party favors are provided.

Continue reading Happy to you! Budget birthday party-going for kids

Happy to you! Budget birthday party-going for kids originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Survey results released last month at the North American Veterinary Conference showed that pet owners are more likely to cut back on other monthly expenses before skimping on care or supplies for their pets.

The online survey of 665 pet owners (including 602 who have a dog or cat) was conducted in late December by Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, "to help give our animal care clients better insight into how changes in the economy might affect their plans for 2008," said Brian Cox, Fleishman-Hillard senior vice president, quoted in a Reuters article about the survey.

Continue reading Pet owners may tighten belts before leashes

Pet owners may tighten belts before leashes originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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