SMUCKERS GRAPE JAM PRESENTS “GRAPE (GREAT) MOMENTS IN HISTORY!”

Who:

Tom Petty (of the Heartbreakers), Norm Abram (of the Hardware Store Lobby), the Heartbreakers (of Tom Petty’s ride)

What:

Hardware Stores to Tom Petty: “Do Come Around Here Yes More!”

When:

December 12th, 1985

Where:

Camp David (Bar, not famous presidential retreat)

Why:

Fresh off the success of the hit single “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” Tom Petty signed a compact with the American Hardware Store Association, ensuring that his music would be playing whenever someone enters a hardware store for the rest of recorded time. In exchange, Tom Petty would write lyrics that advocated do-it-yourself home repair. Witness the 1988 Traveling Wilburys’hit, Handle With Care:  

“I’ve been uptight and made a mess/ But I’ll clean it up myself, I guess.”

Tom Petty originally intended the lyric to read “But I’ll clean it up myself, and it’ll be easy on account of the wide selection of tools available at my local hardware store,” but Bob Dylan fucked it up. Like he always does.

Photo taken by Dan Cohen