Notes from the bench

Garden flags are back in stock, and they are heavier

The 12×18 garden flags sold out in the third week of July and stayed out for most of a month. They are back on the shelf now, with two changes worth mentioning.

First, the new run is double-sided. The old ones were printed on one face, which meant half the time your neighbors were looking at a mirror image. These are built from two printed faces with an opaque liner between them, so the flag reads correctly from either direction.

Second, the material moved from 100 to 150 denier polyester. It hangs better in still air and frays a good deal slower on a stand near a driveway. The price went up by two dollars, to $18, and that is the whole of the increase.

Stock number 105 if you are ordering.

How to fold and store a flag, and what actually wears one out

The thirteen-fold method is the one most people learn: fold the flag in half lengthwise twice with the blue field showing, then fold triangles from the striped end up toward the field until only the blue triangle remains and the loose edge tucks into the fold. It takes two people and about a minute.

Storing it that way matters less than most people think. What actually kills a flag is the fly end — the free edge farthest from the pole. In wind, that edge whips faster than the rest of the flag and the stitching there takes nearly all the wear. When a flag starts to look tired, the first sign is almost always fraying there, not fading.

Two things buy you extra seasons. Take the flag down in sustained high wind and freezing rain; ice on a wet flag adds weight the seams were never sized for. And when the fly end starts to fray, have it re-hemmed rather than replacing the flag. A tailor will trim the frayed edge and restitch it for a few dollars and you lose maybe an inch of length. We have flags on our own poles that are on their second hem.

When a flag is genuinely past repair it should be retired properly rather than thrown out. Most local American Legion and VFW posts, and many scout troops, hold retirement ceremonies and will accept a worn flag from anyone who brings one in. None of this is legal advice, and we are not affiliated with any of those organizations.(6)

Why we switched enamel suppliers

Last spring we had three enamel mugs chip in shipping inside about six weeks. Three is not a catastrophe, but on our volume it is a pattern, and every one of them chipped in the same place: the rim.

The cause turned out to be the steel underneath. Our old mugs used a lighter gauge, and enamel over a thin rolled rim has very little to hold onto when a box takes a corner drop. We moved to a supplier using heavier gauge steel with a properly rolled, double-dipped rim. The mugs are about 15 percent heavier in the hand, which we consider a feature.

We also changed the box. Mugs now ship in a die-cut insert instead of loose kraft paper, which costs us more per order and has, so far, ended the problem entirely.

If you bought a mug from us before April 2026 and it chipped, write to us. We will replace it whether or not the return window has closed.

Sewn versus printed, and why the price is different

A printed flag is a single piece of fabric with the design applied to it. A sewn flag is built from separate strips of dyed fabric stitched together, with the stars embroidered onto the blue field. Sewn costs more because it is more work — a 3×5 has a dozen seams in the stripes alone before anyone touches the field.

Sewn flags last longer in weather, and the difference is not subtle after two seasons: a printed flag fades in the sun as one flat sheet, while a sewn flag's colors stay separate because they were never printed on in the first place.

That said, printed has a real place. Below about 2×3, seams add stiffness that keeps a small flag from flying properly in light wind, so our garden flags and bunting are printed on purpose. The catalog says which is which on every item, and we are happy to talk through what makes sense for your pole and your weather.