2014 Garden Hose Day “disappointing”
The 2014 National Garden Hose Day, celebrated August 3, was, according to national event chairman Bob Lewis, “disappointing.” Lewis said that this year’s response to the event fell far below expectations. Most would simply say that the event was a big flop.
The National Garden Hose Day has experienced consistent, enthusiastic annual growth since its inception, but the 2014 Garden Hose events were poorly attended in most cities around the US.
In addition, sales of products related to the celebration fell off sharply from last year. One marketing expert said. “I think we overestimated the commercial potential of the event. For one thing, garden hose sales are flat nationwide. There are simply too many garden hoses out there, and they last a long time. When a family has three good garden hoses, it’s hard to sell them another one. Let’s face it: garden hose innovation is difficult. You can’t sell a hose because it has a fancier operating system. Drought in some areas has also driven sales down. If you can’t water your lawn, you don’t need a spiffy new garden hose.”
The slump in event attendance has also been blamed in part on on drought and water shortage in many parts of the country. People do not get excited about recreational events that center on water when water is being rationed. Consequently, one of last year’s most popular events, the Garden Hose Blast (see picture below, from last year’s contest in Des Moines, IA), was cancelled to save water. “Not having the Hose Blast,” Lewis said, “definitely hurt ticket sales. The Hose Blast was really a crowd pleaser.”
Enthusiasm for National Garden Hose Day may also have been dampened by unexpected attacks on the celebration by several conservative talk show hosts whose motives were unclear. It has been suggested that the totally secular nature of Garden Hose Day as well as its lack of patriotic significance have made it unpopular in certain circles. Event Chairman Lewis said, “Garden Hose Day is mainly just about about having a good time. Some Americans seem uncomfortable about having a good time unless they can find justification. If Moses had owned a garden hose, or if Ben Franklin had flown his kite with one, Garden Hose Day would be an easy sell.”
Event Highlights
The Tulsa Tugboats, last year’s third-place finisher in national garden hose pull competition, this afternoon bested their arch-rivals the Wichita Whippets in the 2014 National Garden Hose Pull championship match in Minneapolis. Although the Whippets had a distinct weight advantage, the Tugboats outlasted them to take the title. The event favorite, the Cleveland Pack Mules, were eliminated early in spite of a stellar performance from star puller Paul Browning.
