Wisconsin governor backs off Festivus

Posted at 11:32 AM on December 21, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy

If you want to air some grievances, send them to the Wisconson governor's office:

MILWAUKEE (AP) - If you want to celebrate Festivus in style this year, you have two more days to order your Festivus pole from its Milwaukee manufacturer.

Festivus is the wacky holiday made popular by a 1997 episode of "Seinfeld." Character Frank Costanza invents it to protest the commercialism of Christmas.

Festivus - "for the rest of us" - is celebrated on December 23rd. It features airing of grievances, feats of strength and an unadorned aluminum pole.

Last year The Wagner Companies in Milwaukee decided on a lark to sell Festivus poles. It sold about 250 last year and is on pace to sell about 600 this year.

A six-foot Festivus pole costs 38 dollars and a two-foot-eight-inch tabletop model is 30 dollars.

Governor Jim Doyle - a self-professed "Seinfeld" fanatic - displayed one last year in the governor's mansion. But he donated it to the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison after "Seinfeld" co-star Michael Richards used racial slurs during a standup comedy routine last month.

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories