Product Recall: Caboodles
This week, we explore Caboodles — the iconic makeup organizer that quickly became a must-have accessory for teens in the 80’s. We dig into Caboodles inventor Leoni Mateer and how her invention got away from her, and her subsequent attempt to back some of Caboodles’ market share with the Sassaby. Plus, we explore Vanna White’s role in the invention of Caboodles!
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Transcript
Kate: Welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I am Kate Spencer.
Doree: And I'm Doree Shafrir.
Kate: And we are not experts.
Doree: No, but we're too friends who like to talk a lot about serums.
Kate: And today we are bringing you product recall, a weekly episode where we dig deeper into the history of an iconic product and its impact every Friday here on Forever35.
Doree: Yes, we do take requests. We've done several of these based on listener requests. And if you want to reach us, you can leave those requests at our voicemail, (781) 591-0390, or text us at that number. Or email us at Forever35podcast@gmail.com. You can visit our website forever35podcast.com. We have an Instagram @Forever35Podcast with a Facebook group. We have a newsletter. We have all these things. We also have a live show coming up on Wednesday. It's going to be fun. We're like nominally celebrating my birthday,
Kate: Nominally. Speak for yourself.
Doree: It's going to be it. It's going to be a party. You can get those tickets at moment.co/Forever35. Please join us. It's going to be fun.
Kate: I'm excited.
Doree: It's Wednesday at 5:30 Pacific, 8:30 Eastern. You can also, if you can't make it at that time, you will be able to watch it for seven days after it airs if you buy a ticket. So that's kind of cool.
Kate: Oh, yes. That's very cool. Yeah. Yeah. So you can just put us on while you're cooking dinner one night.
Doree: Totally
Kate: Experience the magic. Well, Doree, should we get into today's product recall? Cause I'm very excited.
Doree: Yes, let's do it. I'm excited to learn more.
Kate: Okay. So I want to start with this sound. Do you recognize that sound?
Doree: Yes.
Kate: What is it? Doree's thinking?
Doree: It's so familiar.
Kate: It's so familiar, isn't it?
Doree: Yeah, but I can't say what it is. What is it
Kate: That is a sound effect from the TV show, wheel of Fortune?
Doree: Oh, yeah, Of course.
Kate: And the reason we're starting here is because today we are talking about Caboodles. And look, if you don't know what a caboodle is, don't worry. Because by the end of this episode, you will know everything there is to know about a caboodle. But here is the legend of Caboodles. According to an article from Good Morning America's website, a photo surfaced in the eighties of Van White, who as we all know is the co-host of Wheel of Fortune. I forget what you would call her job. She's the person who turns the letter boxes. She's been doing it for decades. And there was a photo of her backstage doing her makeup, and her makeup was held inside of a fishing tackle box.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: Now the legend goes that the, and I will share this photo with all of you. Vanna's posing. I'm going to share it with Doree right now. It's a very sexy, very eighties photo. You are going to just the eighties just jumps off the page. Vanna's got spiky bangs. She's in bunched up socks and high top yellow, Reebok. There's like 50 different hair curlers on the table. And
Doree: what an icon,
Kate: right? A legend, a true legend of the eighties. But there's a fishing tackle box with her makeup in it. So the legend of caboodle goes that the folks at the maker of this fishing tackle box, Plano, is the name of this company. Plano saw this, and they were like, wow, what an idea.
Doree: Oh, wow. Okay.
Kate: And in fact, the director of marketing and brand management at Caboodles told Good Morning America. In this article. They said the folks at Plano saw this and thought, wow, we can pivot from a very masculine, outdoorsy company into the beauty space.
Doree: Oh my goodness.
Kate: And Vanna herself, first of all, she didn't realize that this, that she was part of this legend of caboodles. Her story goes that she used to go fishing with her dad as a kid, and she would see his tackle box. And that was her inspiration for the idea. And when she was starting out as a model and an actress, and she couldn't afford a fancy makeup case, she just used a tackle box. Now, if you've never seen a tackle box, it kind of opens and goes back, and then there's all these little tiny compartments, and it has a handle on top. So Vanna was like, oh, this is the perfect makeup storage kit that I can tote around for all my auditions.Good story. Right?
Doree: Interesting. Yes. A good story.
Kate: A good story. However, that's not, actually, where Caboodles came from.
Doree: Oh man. But that's such a good story.
Kate: It's a great story, and I Sure the folks at Plano love playing up that story. But actually, the true story is that Caboodles was the brainchild of a woman named Leoni Metier. Okay. Leoni Metier is from New Zealand, and she moved to California in the 1980s and wanted to start a business. And her version of the story is this. She saw a model arriving to a photo shoot with a tackle box holding all her makeup, and got the brilliant idea to make a makeup box version. And according to Leoni, she approached this fishing tackle box company, Plano, and said, do you want to make these makeup boxes with me?
Doree: Okay.
Kate: So Leoni has written three books, and one of them is basically about how to start a business. Leoni has had an interesting life. We're going to talk a little bit more about her later. But in her book, she says she approached this Plano, Plano molding, I think is the name of the company. And basically, they hired her to come on as a consultant.
Doree: Oh, wow.
Kate: And helped create the product. But because this is how they started the business, she basically had no ownership of the brand. She became an employee of the company, and the company started the brand,
Doree: Oh, Interesting.
Kate: When Caboodles took off, Leoni didn't really make much from Caboodles.
Doree: Oh, okay.
Kate: Now, this is interesting to me because I feel like so many of these stories, these origin stories of products, as you and I have discussed most of the time, it's like a pharmacist man.
Doree: Totally.
Kate: Living in upstate New York.
Doree: Totally.
Kate: There's always a man, and the man always ends up making a gajillion dollars, right?
Doree: Yes.
Kate: This, we've only had, I think one other female founder. It was the scrunchy lady in our product recall. So I think this is only our second, I guess, and I guess you could say Coco Chanel.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: Right. But Leoni is another woman, and she didn't really get anything from the caboodle creation.
Doree: Great. So we finally have a woman and she gets screwed over.
Kate: That's kind of how I interpreted this history. Basically, Plano took ownership of caboodle, and she worked for them and helped do all the stuff. Helped create it helped market it, allegedly, according to her, she came up with the name sitting in the bathtub, The whole kit and caboodle.
Doree: Yes. Yes, of course.
Kate: So this according to Leoni, is her brainchild, but she really gets none of the credit, especially because, wow. The Vanna White story is what we also hear.
Doree: Well, I mean, the Vanna White story is such a good story. I see why people would want the Vanna White story to be true.
Kate: It's a great story, and it almost seems like both things could be true.
Doree: Oh, okay. Go on.
Kate: Vanna was definitely using a tackle box to hold her makeup. I think that was probably a thing people were doing. Very intuitive, very crafty. So the caboodle essentially has the same formation as a fishing tackle box. It's a plastic box with a flip up lid. It's got multiple compartments for storing all your beauty products. And it is marketed to teenage girls. And a fishing tackle box was kind of hard angled, rectangular, clear, boring. The caboodles were not see-through. They were a rounded shape in bright colors. And if you were a teenage girl, not even a teenage girl, any girl of any age, honestly, in the late eighties, you either knew what caboodles were, or you had a caboodle.
Doree: That's true.
Kate: Doree, did you have a caboodle?
Doree: Oh, of course. I had a caboodle. I will say also, if you went to sleepaway camp, you, hundred percent had a caboodle.
Kate: Oh, you brought your caboodle.
Doree: You brought your caboodle. But yes, I had a caboodle. Did you have a caboodle?
Kate: Oh, I had a caboodle at this point. It's almost like who didn't have a caboodle?
Doree: Everyone I knew had a caboodle, I'm sure. And obviously, you know, had to be able to afford a caboodle, like et cetera, et cetera.
Kate: But we'll talk more about that.
Doree: I knew so many. I mean, you just had a caboodle.
Kate: Everybody had a caboodle.
Doree: Everybody had a caboodle.
Kate: And the more and more I say the name, the more ridiculous it feels. But this is what we were all obsessed with in the late eighties. So I wanted to share, before we go take a break, I wanted to share with you the first caboodle commercial. Let's watch it and then just kind of break it down. Because so many things, it has a visual component to really that needs, that comes across through watching. So we include all links to the stuff on our website. So if you want to check out the first Caboodles commercial, please do so. Doree, I just texted it to you. Why don't we watch that and play it for our listeners
Commercial: When tennis partner's coming over. Great. So In his new push, lets go (song) introducing Caboodles, Amy It's for you.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: So many other commercials we have examined. Everything is done to please the male gaze in this ad. We've got two girls who get excited because one of the brother, the brother's friend, is coming over with this new Porsche. One girl has a caboodle and is super organized in getting her makeup. The other girl is a total disaster. Makeup is spilling out of her bag. She can't get her shit together. Basically, the message is, if you've got a caboodle, you're on it. But then the girl with the caboodle, who successfully does herself up per Porsche, guy goes down to answer the door. And he is what one would describe as a dork in the 1980s. He's got a tennis racket and glasses, which is, I mean, basically
Doree: Shorts hyped up to his chest.
Kate: Yeah. So I'm not quite sure. I guess it's supposed to be funny, but I'm not Like, if you have a caboodle, you'll make it down the stairs faster for a guy that then you're
Doree: Not interested in,
Kate: You wont be interested in. Yeah.
Doree: It doesn't quite work. The message is muddled.
Kate: It's muddled, but what comes across is that you need a caboodle.
Doree: Can I also just say, there's a lot of interesting class signifiers in this commercial.
Kate: Ah, go on.
Doree: And it's two pretty blonde kind of suburban vibe girls. I got a lot of, got a big John Hughes vibe from this commercial.
Kate: Totally,
Doree: Totally. And the older brother has a real James Spader look, and they get excited that the kid is coming over in a Porsche. They live in this nice house. So it also seemed to me like they were saying that having a caboodle is aspirational.
Kate: Well, yes. And you have to wonder the girl who has her makeup in a plastic bag,
Doree: Right?
Kate: Right. There's a hint of a class difference, as you're saying.
Doree: Yes. Yeah.
Kate: Oh, totally think that was, I mean. That's always a big part of messaging. But that I remember, that felt very strong, especially during this time of having the right thing. All right, Doree, on that note, let's take a break, and when we come back, we'll dig more into what was going on with Caboodles at the time, and what kind of splash they made on the market.
Doree: I can't wait. All right. I'll be right back.
Kate: So, Doree, you noted accurately that everybody, if you were a teenage ish girl in the eighties, everyone knew what a caboodle was. So I read a New York Times article while doing my research about Caboodles, and it said at the time that Caboodles, the company said that nearly 80% of teenage girls in America are aware of Caboodles, which is an extremely high number.
Doree: Wow.
Kate: They sold 2 million units in the first two years of sales. So I believe Caboodles won on the market in 1988.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: 2 million. And they were priced between 10 and $20 in the late eighties, Which I of course did not do the markup of what that would cost now, but I would say that's at least probably $50 now.
Doree: I don't think it's quite that much.
Kate: Okay. But that seems like A lot of money.
Doree: Okay. So $10 is $25 today.
Kate: Okay. So Then it's between 25 and 50 bucks.
Doree: $20 is $50. So it's between 25 and 50, which seems it still seems like something you could get at Target.
Kate: Yes. Which it was. And it is. And in this New York Times article, they noted that, like they said, this is a quote, with the help of special promotions and heavy advertising in magazines, Caboodles cosmetic carriers have become one of those products that teenage girls have a seemingly irrational need to possess. In fact,
Doree: rude.
Kate: Yeah, I know Plano now sells far more makeup boxes than it does tackle boxes.
Doree: I was going to say that. I definitely remember these were all over teen magazines,
Kate: So this was fascinating to me. I had a really hard time finding video commercials for Caboodles.
Doree: Yeah,
Kate: You are a hundred percent right. They were in, yeah.
Doree: I just remember so many print advertisements for Caboodles.
Kate: Oh, yes. Everywhere. And everyone, we'll talk about shortly for their competitor. So I wanted to just share one other ad that I was able to find, because it is the most, this was my childhood, this advertisement, it just resonated with me on such a deep level of I would've been like, this would've won me over in two Fricking seconds.
Doree: I can't wait.
Commercial: You Got it together. Caboodles Beauty organizers have spaces and places for all your makeup and accessories, and they come in fantastic fashion colors with Caboodles Girl, you've got it together. You got it together. Hi, I'm Debbie Gibson. You can win your very own private concert with me in Hollywood. Just look for these specially Mark Caboodles in a store near you with Caboodles. You've got it together.
Doree: That was your childhood.
Kate: My childhood. If Debbie Gibson was doing something or wanted me to do something,
Doree: right? Yes.
Kate: I was fucking doing it.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: Because I basically spent all of fourth grade roller skating in my neighbor's basement listening to Debbie Gibson. That was my fucking, just circling the basement on my roller skates, listening to Debbie.
Doree: Amazing.
Kate: She was a legendary teen influencer in the late eighties.
Doree: She was
Kate: I feel like she Doesn't kind of, she's weird. It's like she's a bit overlooked in terms of the influence she had. She was massive,
Doree: Massive, massive, absolutely massive. Yeah. Yes.
Kate: So basically what they were doing is using, they were really doing a lot of marketing to teens, but in a little bit of a different way than I feel like what we've seen from seventies and eighties marketing and really using celebrity influencers. So what ended up happening is that Leoni left Plano after she really wasn't making money for her ideas, and she started a caboodles, excuse me, a caboodles competitor.
Doree: Can I, wait, can I just pause for one second?
Kate: Yes.
Doree: Because I do feel like this, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I do feel like this is maybe the first product that we've talked about that was so specifically marketed to teens, because I feel like even proactive, which I assumed was marketed to teens kind of wasn't. But this was like, we are going after teens and only teens.
Kate: I think you're right. I think what's interesting is that a lot of the products we've talked about that have had that kind of teen Noxema, for example, a lot of them are products that have been around for a long time, and their marketing strategies have changed over time and shifted to targeting teens. But you're right, this was always teens.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: And it's interesting to me that the origin story is Vanna White, who was very much an adult woman at the time.
Doree: Totally.
Kate: But the look of the caboodle, the target audience, it was all teen girls. And I also think it's interesting to note, just kind of in discussing this stuff, the ways in which teen girls are mocked for their passion for the ways in which they love things, but then that's also manipulated to make a sale.
Doree: Totally. Totally.
Kate: Well, look, Leoni rolls in with her alternative to the caboodle. Doree, do you remember the Sasabe?
Doree: Oh my gosh. I didn't remember it until you just said it, but now I haven't heard that word in 30 years.
Kate: But does it not ring a bell? I hadn't heard it either. Yes. And then as I was researching this episode, I was like, oh my God. The fuck. Oh my God. Sassy, sassy sasabe. The Sasabe was Leoni's answer to being put to not making her money on the caboodle. She created the sasabe. So what is the Sasabe? It's basically a caboodle, but they kind of market it with a quote exotic angle. So here's how this printout describes it. An entirely new species of organizers introducing a whole family of exotic, innovative, wildly unique organizers for cosmetic jewelry
Doree: That look exactly like Caboodles.
Kate: Cleverly designed with secret compartments, deep trays and extra long trays for super long pencils, full-size bottles and brushes, travel with ease. Ingenious lipstick keepers, hold lipsticks, upright removable dividers. Keep everything in. When it comes down to getting organized, it has to be a sasabe. Now the Sasabe looks like a caboodle, more or less, a little. It has a ridge, a little
Doree: A little Boxier.
Kate: Yeah, it, it's got some differences that kind of make it, I don't know if fancier is the word. It's definitely different, but the idea is exactly the same.
Doree: Yeah. The Caboodles were wider. They were rectangular, and the Sasabe is more square.
Kate: Now. One thing I loved is that Sassaby was trying to target teens, and they were doing a whole ad campaign with Shannon Doherty as the spokesperson. This is like 1992. So yeah. So you either were a Caboodles girl or a Sassabee girl.
Doree: It's like the VHS or beta of makeup organizers.
Kate: There it is. And we all know. We all know what happened. A vhs. Yeah. Yeah. And nobody knows what a beta tape is.
Doree: Exactly. Okay.
Kate: But what is interesting about Sassy, sassy got into the makeup business and started a makeup line called Jane
Doree: That I, this I do not remember.
Kate: Okay. So Jane was a cos Cosmetics brand, which specifically tried to appeal to 12 to 20 year olds, and it was wildly popular. Let me see if I can show you a Jane. Find a Jane ad. I don't know if I have one. When I hadn't remember Jane, and then when I saw, I looked up an advertisement for Jane Makeup. I think this is it. Here it is.
Doree: All came back.
Kate: It Literally, yes. Similar to the way the Sasabe came back. Here. I'll show you this link to the Jane makeup here. Oh boy. Sorry. It's really loud over here. So Jane, just seeing the images and the print, the logo, I was like, oh, yes. I used to want this makeup and this makeup. What was fascinating to me is that Jane was really popular and Estee Lauder bought it in 1997.
Doree: Yeah.
Kate: So Estee Lauder bought Sassy, which included Jane makeup, and then basically drove it into the ground and ruined it.
Doree: Okay. But you know what, at least what's her face? Metier? Lonnie Metier. Is that
Kate: Leoni? Leoni, Leoni.
Doree: Leoni Metier. At least she got to cash out.
Kate: I Don't know how much she made. We're going to, after the break, we're going to talk a little bit more about what Leoni is up to, because I'm not quite sure if Leoni really ever made it big from these brands.
Doree: Wow. Okay.
Kate: Let's take a break, and then I'm going to just wrap up with how Caboodles petered out, if you will.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: I think what happened with Caboodles is that they essentially grew too big too fast.
Doree: Oh, they flew too close to the sun. Yes.
Kate: That's exactly what I was going to say. They got a little too big for their britches, or I think they did the thing that happens where they're just expanding. Expanding. Cause they got to keep making money and they don't quite know where to go. So they basically started marketing to children, making
Doree: Actual children like
Kate: Actual children. Okay, so let's share one more ad for Caboodles. This is from 1994.
Doree: Okay, but wait, this exists now.
Kate: Are you thinking of LOL dolls?
Doree: No, I'm thinking of
Kate: Shopkins.
Doree: No, the Critters critter. My God. Callico Critters.
Kate: Oh, I can see that.
Doree: This is kind of what they do.
Kate: Yes. I mean, there's a lot
Doree: Theres a salon. There's like, yes. I don't think that this was a crazy pivot for them.
Kate: They started also making mini teeny weenie caboodles, just like mini hold em. How mini stuff is very popular right now with kids? They basically also were making mini caboodles. I don't feel like it's bad or good, or one way or the other. It's more to me just kind of like, where do you go? You know what I mean?
Doree: Totally.
Kate: You just have to keep marketing younger and younger, and then you hook these children on Caboodles, but so by the time they're 12, they get the big one. And
Doree: It's interesting that they didn't try to go older. They didn't try to market to grownups.
Kate: I know. I feel like the Sasabe was trying to kind of get into that early twenties, like Chic College girl age, but
Doree: Oh, interesting. Okay.
Kate: The Sasabe always struck me as slightly more sophisticated than the Caboodle.
Doree: Than the caboodle. Okay.
Kate: Also, The thing we call All It All could have just been using fishing tackle boxes. It's like that thing of
Doree: Totally
Kate: Just taking a thing and giving it a new name, and all of a sudden we're all like, yes, we need it.
Doree: Right.
Kate: Anyway, Leoni is still living her life.
Doree: Is she?
Kate: Still here.
Doree: Okay, good for her
Kate: Website Bio says this puppeteer children's entertainer, owner of a model agency, TV talk show panelist, luxury accommodation, owner, entrepreneur, product developer, brand developer, storyteller, author, and indie publisher. Leoni Metier has lived a full and diverse life.
Doree: I mean, you can say that again.
Kate: Leoni has written a book called The Caboodles Blueprint. It's basically a book about how to be an entrepreneur and start your business. Oh,
Doree: Okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Wait. Hold On a second. Just hold up. She has written a book about how to be an entrepreneur and start her business when she did not own her idea.
Kate: Well, she basically says, I learned a lot from what happened with Plano.
Doree: Okay. So she basically, yes, I'm a cautionary tale.
Kate: Yeah. Well, she was basically like learn from my mistakes and think that's A good message. As business owner. An entrepreneur,
Doree: I agree. It just made me chuckle when you first said the title.
Kate: It is called The Caboodles Blueprint.
Doree: Okay. But kind of don't do the Caboodles Blueprint or you'll lose
Kate: A little bit of Learn From My Mistakes, I think.
Doree: Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Kate: Okay. Now, she's also written children's books, two books about psoriasis and how she cured her psoriasis. And a murder mystery series called The Audrey Murders.
Doree: Okay. Now I'm listening.
Kate: Right. Leoni is, she's one of those kind of fascinating creators who I think never tires of making things.
Doree: Yes. I love that for her.
Kate: I do too. She has written 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Audrey murders books.
Doree: Wow. Okay.
Kate: Yeah. And it looks like Audrey is on her website. It says, Audrey Weatherby, the infamous local psychopath and serial killer who was presumed dead over a year ago.
Doree: Like, whoa. It's whoa, whoa, whoa.
Kate: Yeah. Audrey.
Doree: Audrey is the murderer.
Kate: Audrey is,
Doree: Audrey is Dexter.
Kate: I think Audrey is Dexter. Yes. She describes the first book, which is called The Murder Suite. As a fun, fast read, a Thriller with a Difference. This is all on Leoni's website.
Doree: Wow. Okay.
Kate: Yeah. Leoni also sells luxury real estate in New Zealand. I think she splits her time between New Zealand and California or the us
Doree: What doesn't she do?
Kate: I don't. Well, let me tell you. I went on her YouTube and her most recent YouTube, which was posted in the recently, is titled, removing Rats from Inside Your Wall Cavity. And Doree, this video, everything else, is a luxury real estate video, except for the most recent one, which is how she gets rats outside of her wall cavity. And it is, I mean,
Doree: Honestly, I should watch that because I do think something has died in our inaccessible
Kate: Wall space
Doree: Above our ceiling. It's not even a crawlspace because you can't access it, but whatever. I think something died up there.
Kate: Well, I have also had rats in my home, in the attic, in the crawlspace. And so one solidarity, two Leoni might have the answer, which is I believe she blows air into the wall cavity. And then in the video, a rat comes shooting out of a hole on the wall. Very exciting.
Doree: Wow. But a live rat, or is
Kate: That a live rat? No, I don't think she's harming the rats. I think they, oh, no, no,
Doree: But I need tips on getting dead things,
Kate: The dead rats. Oh, I mean, I bet you could contact her and she probably knows what to do.
Doree: I mean, she probably Does. Wow.
Kate: So Caboodles is still owned by the company that acquired Plano, so it's now owned by a company called Pure Fishing.
Doree: Oh, cool.
Kate: And you can still get Caboodles. I found one for $20 at Ulta Beauty.
Doree: Did they go away and come back, or They've just always been here and I have not been paying attention.
Kate: I think they have always been here.
Doree: Wow. Okay. All right.
Kate: And that is the story as I learned it, of Caboodles.
Doree: Wow. I learned a lot today, Kate.
Kate: I did too. This has been all over the place for me,
Doree: This was unexpected.
Kate: Just remembering the Sasabe was a journey for me.
Doree: Oh my gosh. The Sassabe, I mean, Yeah, The sassaby
Kate: Right? The sasabe. Yes. Anyway, if you still use a caboodle or if you're just getting one for the first time, let us know. I have to say, after reading about them, I was like, oh, do I need one? Maybe.
Doree: Maybe. Right. Maybe you do.
Kate: Or is that just marketing and Leoni's wizardry working on me.
Doree: I mean, it's just marketing, but there is a reason they were so popular
Kate: And sound, and you can, I'm find vintage ones, including vintage Sassys, all over the internet, so that could also be a fun collector's item. Doree, thank you for joining me on this journey.
Doree: Thank you for taking me on it. It was great.
Kate: Bye everybody.
Doree: Bye.