Results of the IKEA adventure

Happy Days returned again in 1933

Seventy five years ago today, prohibition ended after a 13-year run. Finance won out over temperance in the midst of the Great Depression.

The Government saw an opportunity to boost sagging tax revenues. When it outlawed alcohol with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, it eliminated a lucrative source of income.

Happy days returned again on December 5, 1933: The people could once again legally imbibe and the Government began acquiring the funds to expand its programs.

Crazy, nutty and a sense of IKEA humor

The Christmas shopping season brings out the best in shoppers and purveyors alike.

I got a wild hair to visit IKEA at the Mall of America on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Having searched in vain all common sense choices (garden centers) for greenery pots for my front steps, I thought, why not IKEA?

Low and behold, I found just the right containers! An added bonus was learning that IKEA is crazy about low prices.

Never thought the Swedes got too worked up about anything. However, a visit to the IKEA Madness section of their website proved me wrong. For the historical perspective, view the charming story of how a boy from the "woods of southern Sweden" created a retail force in 36 countries.