Highly Classified Ads

I don’t remember when my addiction to reading classified advertisements began. Offers to buy and sell, business opportunities, jobs available or wanted all seemed much more interesting than the slick polished madison avenue ads in the newspapers and magazines that arrived at our house. (And they still do!) 

I do remember a day in early Fall when I read a business opportunity ad about raising chinchillas.  I had no idea what a chinchilla was, but the ad promised FREEDOM and FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE.  To my way of thinking these promises were a whole lot more attractive than what was going on in my fourth grade class.  (Alas, my parents were not OK with the idea of quitting school to raise chinchillas.)

As I got older, I began to realize that each ad was a unique story and that there was a real life situation condensed to just a few words. (What was the story behind the diamond engagement ring for sale? Why was the high chair no longer needed? What’s up with the J.C. Higgins shotgun with the nick in the stock?)

Many years later I discovered that the founder of the Slippery Rock Gazette, Doug Slocum, also loved classified ads. Over the last few years, Doug asked me on several occasions why we didn’t offer FREE classified ads in the SRG. I always mumble something about ink, paper, postage, labor and time. Doug usually replied that it is a shame to put boring details ahead of classified ads.

I know that there is a lot of important stuff that you can do with computers, but it seems to me that one of the most useful things created was Craig’s List. Who would have thunk it? Free, unlimited classified ads!

By the time you read this story, our new Slippery Rock Gazette website should be fully operational. To pay homage to Doug’s vision and the genius behind Craig’s List, we are offering FREE, UNLIMITED, ON-LINE classified ads to our readers. This is not an introductory offer, it will always be FREE. The only restrictions are that the ads relate in some fashion to the work that our readers are doing and that they be suitable for a family magazine. This service is for fabricators and contractors. 

Since my day job, the one that pays the grocery bills, is selling tools for Braxton-Bragg, I have had a few people question why we are doing this, and some have speculated that this could depress new tool sales.

I really don’t have a good answer for those questions, but what the heck? It seems like a cool idea and I hope you like it. I also hope that you give it a try; you might find something even more exciting than raising chinchillas! 

Thanks for reading,

Rich Hassert

Email responses to: publisher@slipperyrockgazette.net