Up-and-comers who aspire to a listing in Who’s Who have at least two hurdles to overcome: getting their names into the book and, then, making certain other people know they’re there. It’s not clear what’s required to achieve the first step, though the more assertive are invited to call the publication’s editorial offices and nominate themselves for inclusion in one of the book’s more than a dozen variations, including Who’s Who in American Nursing and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. (The deceased can lobby for admission into Who Was Who.) For the already-listed, however, things just got a whole lot easier, thanks to a new line of products introduced by the Reed Publishing Company, publishers of Who’s Who (as well as what may be the nation’s definitive “retail clothing buyers guide”). For discriminating “Biographees,” Reed now offers the Lasting Symbols of Achievement collection, knickknacks era blazoned with the buyer’s name alongside the Who’s Who seal.
A set of bookends ($ 134.00) is guaranteed to “stand witness to your achievements.” A quartz clock ($ 155.00) “will not go unnoticed.” A brass plate mounted on rosewood ($ 84.00) “acknowledges your achievements.” A crystal paperweight ($ 115.00) is sure to be “a sparkling testament to your achievements.” And for those who want the appropriate recognition wherever they go, Reed offers Who’s Who lapel pins ($ 49.95), which “quietly declare your accomplishments.”
Or maybe not so quietly.
