Blog parodies what high-end life might be like
‘Catalog Living’ at its finest
It started with figs, on a plate, stashed under a poolside table.
The caption under the photo in the home design catalog urged readers to “enjoy the comfort and ease of indoor entertaining with outdoor sectionals, pillows and accessories.”
But Molly Erdman saw something else. She saw a chance to poke fun at something, well … kinda ridiculous.
The Los Angeles actor/comedian sat down at her computer last June and wrote her own caption.
“Sweetheart,” it said, “the Turners will be here any minute now! Did you put the plate of figs under the table?”
And her blog, “Catalog Living,” was born.
Erdman (you might recognize her as “the wife in the minivan” from the Sonic drive-in commercials) didn’t necessarily set out to create a daily parody of the sometimes serious, overly put-together nature of photos from high-end home accessory catalogs.
One night, though, after she wrote the “fig” caption, she showed it to her boyfriend. He laughed.
Then she wrote more captions and her comedian friends thought those were funny, too.
Erdman realized she was on to something – and as her blog entries multiplied, they started getting attention from Facebook fans and people in the design field.
“I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails from catalog photographers and art directors,” she says. “They say, ‘We always think what we do is ridiculous.’ ”
One of Erdman’s favorites showed a rowboat on a dock filled with pillows.
Her caption: “In her annual end-of-season ritual, Elaine sent the outdated summer cushions out to sea.”
Julie Roller, a “Catalog Living” fan in Wamego, Kan., checks the site every morning right after she reads the news online. She likens the humor to the TV show “Seinfeld.”
“I just can’t get enough of Gary, Elaine and their wacky lives!” Roller says.
Gary and Elaine are the main fictional “characters” in Erdman’s blog. They’re probably in their 40s, she says. They seem to have no jobs, are very wealthy and have a “ridiculous 1,000-room house.”
“Gary’s sort of the bumbling fool, and Elaine has her hands on her hips, telling him what to do all the time,” Erdman explains. “To me, they are the people who live in Pottery Barn.”
Gary and Elaine celebrate holidays, too. One recent “Catalog Living” entry has a photo of a tidy to-do list that includes “DECK THE HALLS” as one of the items.
Erdman’s tag line: “Oh, it’s not all holiday spirit. The Halls are our next door neighbors.”