Posted something on pineapple, and @TiQuinn noted it would fit here!
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Just read the following and couldn't think of a place to post it. From a John McAleer interview of Rex Stout:
Q: Why do you invent names for cars, liquors, rugs, guns, locks, fishing tackle rather than using brand names?
A: A character's liking for a Heron car or Ten-Mile Creek bourbon cannot be impugned.
Note that the Heron car was used in the Wolfe novels well before the New Zealand kit cars and the Tenmile Distillery in NY was founded decades after Stout wrote. And the interview might not give all the truth. Wikipedia notes that:
"Stout initially used many real brands: Archie drives a Ford, carries a Colt Pistol or revolver, and uses an Underwood typewriter. Stout was bothered when his stationer mentioned that, every time Stout mentioned Underwood's in a story, sales of that brand went up – and so switched to fictional brands. Ian Fleming, a fan of Stout, borrowed the technique for the James Bond novels, both fictional and real."
I haven't found confirmation of the part about the stationer.
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Just read the following and couldn't think of a place to post it. From a John McAleer interview of Rex Stout:
Q: Why do you invent names for cars, liquors, rugs, guns, locks, fishing tackle rather than using brand names?
A: A character's liking for a Heron car or Ten-Mile Creek bourbon cannot be impugned.
Note that the Heron car was used in the Wolfe novels well before the New Zealand kit cars and the Tenmile Distillery in NY was founded decades after Stout wrote. And the interview might not give all the truth. Wikipedia notes that:
"Stout initially used many real brands: Archie drives a Ford, carries a Colt Pistol or revolver, and uses an Underwood typewriter. Stout was bothered when his stationer mentioned that, every time Stout mentioned Underwood's in a story, sales of that brand went up – and so switched to fictional brands. Ian Fleming, a fan of Stout, borrowed the technique for the James Bond novels, both fictional and real."
I haven't found confirmation of the part about the stationer.