Althouse: "Her travel expenses were also extravagant; she once spent $2,000 in chewing gum during a stop at SFO."

December 17, 2015

"Her travel expenses were also extravagant; she once spent $2,000 in chewing gum during a stop at SFO."

"An airplane departing Rome was required to do a mid-air U-turn because Imelda realized she’d forgotten to purchase cheese.... During her travels, she purchased several Manhattan skyscrapers, including the Woolworth building. (Rumor has it Imelda declined the Empire State Building for being 'too ostentatious.')"

From "5 Shopping Sprees So Wild, They Made History."

(I guess this is a good place to remind you that if you have any shopping to do — cheese, gum, whatever... buildings — you can do it and simultaneously demonstrate love for this blog by using the The Althouse Amazon Portal... and I absolutely assure you that I didn't compose this post for the purpose of promoting shopping. I just thought it was funny. The cheese and all. Don't be greedy or excessive. Just get things you really need.)

12 comments:

Etienne said...: Henry Ford hated her, because Imelda stole his wife. But hell, Henry was a boring man, and not half as cool as his father Edsel.; 12/17/15, 9:37 AM
Sean Gleeson said...: She spent $2000 in chewing gum! I am impressed she managed to find anyone who accepted chewing gum as a medium of exchange.; 12/17/15, 9:42 AM
Big Mike said...: Well I'm not planning on spending $7M on Amazon, so you and Meade are just plain out of luck.; 12/17/15, 9:42 AM
William said...: I always felt that there was something tragic and sympathetic about Imelda. She got caught up in the tangles of her own desires for that perfect pair of shoes that lay just beyond the horizon in some sunlit, upland Prada.. Many women, I'm sure, have considered her sad example when contemplating the dark abyss of their shoe closet. Shoe lust engenders dark, primal urges.. It starts with Crocs but doesn't end there. We have the life of Imelda to see how badly it can all end. Andrew Lloyd Webber should dramatize the cycle of lust and satiation that drove that woman to her death.; 12/17/15, 9:45 AM
buwaya said...: And this story is just the tip of the iceberg.
Where I come from we learn the smell of corruption early.
Everyone is on the take, and its not for a good reason. There are always cronies to pay off with economic priveleges.
The purpose of the robbery is always some very petty vanity. A nice car, a gold watch, a mistress, all paid for by a $5 take on $100 of wasted public funds or economic damage.
They are really all Imeldas, on a smaller scale.
Hilary and Bill have the powerful smell of Imelda, they just haven't stolen enough yet.; 12/17/15, 9:52 AM
David said...: That's an old article. No Michael Jackson. No Saudi princes or princesses. Not a single Mayor of Detroit. No sultans of obscure oil rich countries. No rap musicians. Not a word about Ted Turner and real estate. No Russian kleptocrats. No Silicon Valley billionaires buying whole islands in Hawaii.

Not even Paul Ryan.; 12/17/15, 9:57 AM
rhhardin said...: I've turned a plane around to get lunch.; 12/17/15, 10:31 AM
the gold digger said...: that perfect pair of shoes

The Holy Grail of Shoes: Heels that are beautiful and comfortable.; 12/17/15, 11:14 AM
Monkeyboy said...: "she once spent $2,000 in chewing gum during a stop at SFO."

So she really did bring enough for everyone...; 12/17/15, 11:19 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: I still remember hearing "Uncle Ninoy got SHOT?" coming from my colleagues office. Don't joke around about the Marcos thugs.; 12/17/15, 12:34 PM
JAORE said...: Were that I could spend $2k on gum through the Althouse Amazon portal...

Has Laslo ever commented on the odd combination of those last three words?; 12/17/15, 1:35 PM
mikee said...: William, Andrew Lloyd Webber is not needed. Steve Martin wrote "The Cruel Shoes" and perfectly captured the concept you describe. With a banjo accompaniment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bhrBdgYTV8; 12/18/15, 12:48 PM