Harvard Schlock

One Harvard Square developer has launched a campaign to allow everyone to "own a piece of the Square."

Sheldon Cohen, founder of Out of Town News, Inc., is marketing a miniature replica of the Out of Town News kiosk which "plays a traditional Harvard football song."

"I thought it would make a great souvenir," Cohen said. "It's one of a kind."

The eight-by-six inch music box sells for $34.95 plus shipping and handling, if ordered through an advertisement run monthly in Harvard Magazine. But yesterday the box went on sale for the same price at eight stores in Harvard Square, including the Harvard Coop, Leavitt and Pierce, "and--of course--Out of Town News," said Cohen.

This tiny version of the building, which entered the Washington-based National Register of Historic Places in 1978, is a scale replica in colorful ceramic. When the removable roof is lifted, the mechanism inside plays "Yo ho, the Good Ship Harvard."

And people indeed seem eager to own this piece of the Square. "Mail order sales have been good," said Florence C. Andruss, who does marketing and promotional work for Cohen's company. Although both Leavitt and Pierce and the Harvard Shop did not report any sales of the item as yet, they had just received the item and appeared confident of its potential, especially during the Christmas season.

Harvard for Youngsters

But if your idea of the perfect Harvard gift means something a little campier, never fear.

One entrepreneurially-minded alum seems to think every Harvard alumni child needs a varsity letter sweater for his Cabbage Patch doll.

John M. Keough '75, of John Harvard Collections, Old Greenwich Conn., advertises such an item in issues of Harvard Magazine.

The ad claims "you'll be enchanting your youngster while subtly pointing a direction for the future." For $11.50, the company will "gladly ship this adorable sweater to whomever you wish."

Although Keough himself was unreachable for comment about the nature of his company, he also markets a varsity letter sweater of soft virgin wool to be worn by a baby. This--along with a silk Brooks Brothers tie crowded with drawings of the John Harvard statue--sells for $35.

But the kitsch doesn't stop there. John Harvard Collections' catalog sports men's and women's traditional cotton neckties, a specially acquired Mercedes-Benz automobile, and autographed books by John H. Updike '54.

"We will continue our strategy of 'for Harvard, by Harvard,'" said Keough.

Whatever happened to nice, cheap presents in the Harvard theme?

Even if you've already bought Harvard sweatshirts, window decals, coffee mugs, and Radcliffe underwear galore, there's one item you might have overlooked.

It's a $8.95 black-and-white desk calendar filled with pictures of Harvard, which Harvard Magazine has advertised in its latest issues.

But sales of the item at The Harvard Shop haven't been terrific, according to cashier Martha A. Fallon. "Some people miss the color."