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"Hon" imagery rules in the latest New York Times Baltimore travel feature

October 4, 2009 at 1:28 pm 3

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What we're pitching about Baltimore to the world: Hampden!

Attention world: come to Baltimore and see. . .Hampden!

The New York Times occasionally “reports” on Baltimore but every two or three years it decides to “do” Baltimore . . . and one of those peppy  ”36 hours in Baltimore” weekend travel pieces was in there Saturday.

Compared to the 2007 version, this latest feature is light on the Inner Harbor and heavy on the Hon stuff, which seems to be an enduring marketing motif, even if some locals, like filmmaker John “The Pope of Trash” Waters, consider it “used up” and “condescending.”

A few other observations. . .

* The piece also has a fair amount of North Baltimore (Jones Falls Trail, Woodberry Kitchen, Carma’s Cafe) and they even send readers out to Ellicott City for antiques, since Baltimore’s are “ho-hum.”

* Why, of all places they could have chosen downtown, did they send visitors to a bland convention hotel, the Hilton?

* They rave about how the Hampden home decor store “In Watermelon Sugar” is “decidedly un-Ikea,” but then they link to the global furniture retailer Ikea and not to teeny little In Watermelon Sugar.

* Add yours…..?

  • http://www.ianlogsdon.com Iandanger

    No mention of the Walters Art Gallery and its free admission, no mention of the American Visionary Arts Museum. They didn’t talk about as many restaurants as I was expecting, and they didnt mention the monuments, I mean we’re called the monumental city for crying out loud. This was a really weak tea overview of Baltimore, but that isnt a big deal, its a possitive review of Baltimore from a New York paper. That surprised the hell out of me.

    Oh well, good press is good press.

  • http://baltimorephotography.net Marty Katz

    I got tired of reading it after the reporter and copy editors allowed Fell’s Point instead of Fells, napoleon instead of N, picked Carma’s as noteworthy and opined Brewer’s Art has interesting Trappist beer but overlooked the house brews. They used to spend money and effort even on the non-Sunday travel pieces.

  • Jim Keat

    Not to mention citing Obrycki’s for crabs. Was a great find for visitors when their late, venerated food critic Craig Claiborne discovered it generations ago but it’s just a tourist trap now. And two of their references in South Baltimore, Bicycle and the barbecue counter in the Cross Street Market, are long gone.

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