Why do Minnesotans who already have a perfectly good yardstick at home continue to pick up a new one at the State Fair every year?
"'Cause they're free," said Josh DeBoer, 16, of Minnetonka. Josh, his siblings and his mom also have a unique use for the neon-colored sticks: They hold them up to find each other easily in the crowds.
Easily the most identifiable of the freebie icons at the fair, the yardstick is but a drop in the bucket (another popular giveaway at the Home Depot booth) of the thousands of free trinkets used to entice fairgoers. Pencils, wristbands, tattoos, keychains, fans, candy, coupons and magnets are among them.
Dollars & Sense went in search of the best ones, but some of the freebies come at a cost. The most popular ones are doled out at limited times in limited quantities.
Sheila Schmidt spent 30 minutes in line before St. Thomas University started its afternoon distribution of purple cloth tote bags. Schmidt, a former Minnesotan now living in Orlando, already has 40 assorted cloth bags from around the country at home, but she was standing in line for a bag for her husband, a St. Thomas alum. If you want one of the more coveted freebies, such as a cloth tote, a backpack or a bucket, plan on getting in line 15 to 30 minutes before posted distribution times.
At last check, the yardsticks weren't in short supply, but Blue Flame gives away about 3,000 per day. Don't delay, unless you, like many of us, already have a stash of them at home.
Yardstick (MN Blue Flame Gas Assn., on Nelson St., between Dan Patch and Carnes). They're almost as popular as the sturdier, square models, but those cost $1 with a purchase at Northern Tool (southwest corner of Randall and Underwood).
Five-gallon orange paint bucket (Home Depot on Cosgrove St. across from the Education Building). The same buckets costs about $3 at the store. Ken Stuhlfeier of Blaine uses his when fishing, gardening and working with cement, but admitted, "It's a pain to carry around." Very popular.
