Wallets are strangely intimate things to shop for. But if you do it right, you don't have to do it again for a long, long time. I carried one wallet every day for about 18 years, from my last year at college through not-so-young adulthood, except for a five- or six-year period when I wore suits or sportcoats nearly every day and carried a breast pocket wallet, a handsome thing (the wallet, not me), slim and tall (again, the wallet, not me), supple lizard skin on the outside and soft leather on the inside. That wallet is tucked away in a drawer, awaiting the return of my inner clothes horse, a creature that shies away from life with small children.
Anyway, that wallet I first mentioned, the 18-year one, was given to me by my eldest sister and brother-in-law as a wedding party gift. It was a good wallet, which is one reason it lasted so long. Then I got a Buxton Cardex (in brown "oily buffalo") for under $15, which lasted about five years. My new wallet was bought at the end of May 2007: a Johnston & Murphy "Slimfold" model in tumbled brown leather. I bought it from eBags, an online retailer, with a 20%-off coupon so it cost $41.60 plus $5.95 shipping, for a grand total of $47.55. That's not as much as some high-end brands, but considerably more than the Buxton.
The wallet is beautifully built and finished. Despite its heavily pebbled texture, the leather is butter-soft. The scent of it took me back to the tack room my family had when I was a kid, cool and dark with leather harnesses and butt-shined Western saddles hanging on pegs. The color is "Burnished Mahogany," which is a dark British tan. My scan, above, makes it look redder than it is. The bill section is lined with a nobby woven fabric in a khaki color; a handy outer storage slot is partially lined with a similar but hardier fabric in a darker color. It is slightly wider than it is tall. "Johnston & Murphy" is embossed in the lower right corner of the interior; no branding appears on the outside. It's now nearly four years old, and the leather and workmanship are holding up nicely: wearing in without wearing out.
OK, so much for my review of the Johnston & Murphy Slimfold wallet. Here's a peek at what I'm carrying in mine.
On the left, from top to bottom: That's a Sea World "Gold Passport" card. Behind it are Roy’s Gold Passport and Leo’s Fun Card. The Gold program was discontinued, but we're still paying for it every month so it's back in the wallet until the day comes that they stop auto-billing us. Sea World is great fun!
Automobile Club of Southern California membership card. According to the "Years as Member" notation, I have been a member of the Auto Club for slightly longer than I have been alive. This modest bookkeeping oddity is because I've been a member since birth, having been born into an Auto Club-insured family.
California driver's license in a clear window. Thanks to the cheapo photo editing software that came with my digital camera, you can see me with an approximation of the facial hair I wish I could grow. Long and thick and rakish, like a Confederate general's. I have a new license now, with a new photo, much improved over the last one I must say.
On the right: Bank ATM card. Yes, just an old-fashioned ATM card. My bank periodically sends me a newfangled credit/debit/ATM card, which I cancel and shred, making them send me an ATM-only card. Which they do, very pleasantly, but I think they think I'm one of their stranger customers.
American Express Gold card. The Best Value Guarantee Program (an automatic Gold card perk) turned out to be worth enough to pay for the card for several years.
MasterCard, just a plain credit union-issued card with the lowest possible credit limit. Every few years they send me a "courtesy upgrade" and I have to write letters to get them to put it back down, then additional letters to credit reporting agencies saying I wanted my credit limit reduced and telling them to note that on my file. Sigh.
Membership card to the NAWCC.
San Diego Public Library card, with a County Library system barcode on the back. Your local library is the biggest bargain in the world. Free books, videotapes, DVDs, CDs, educational programs, Internet access, and more, all pre-paid with your tax dollars. If you don't have a library card, get one. Then, use the heck out of it.
In the side storage slots: A spare key to my car door. It works, but you have to jiggle it just right. According to the key guy, this is because Infiniti keys are slightly deeper than Nissan keys, and really should be cut on their own blanks, which he was out of.
Medical insurance cards for self and the kids.
Business cards. You never know when you'll need one.
A cheaply laminated paper card that identifies me as an Eagle Scout, dated 10/23/80. Once, many years ago, this card was accepted as a bona-fide when I wrote an out-of-state check.
A Crave Yogurt Enrichment Card with all the punches! It's worth a free regular 8 oz yougurt!
A Tea N More card: two more to go on this one for a free drink
A Bakery Outlet customer card, filled! It's good for a free loaf of bread ("excluding fruitcakes").
A $2 Subway gift card.
Several dried carp scales. I married into this tradition. On New Year's Eve, we have a carp as part of our traditional German dinner. The scales of the carp are cleaned, dried, and pressed flat. Then, you put them with your money, in order to make sure you will never want for more. Do they work? Well, when money is good I'd say that's proof they work; when money is tight I'd say I wouldn't want to risk being without them. So there you have it, another superstition upheld by the superstition itself.
In the cash section: Eight one dollar bills. Discount coupons for Denny's, Wahlgreen's, and Fresh & Easy, plus a manufacturer coupon for almond milk. A disintegrating but still readable shopper's guide to pesticides in produce.
In the outer storage slot: A $5 Target gift card, a $20 VISA rebate card, and a Fresh & Easy Rewards card.
For archival purposes, click here to see the Buxton Cardex wallet I wore for nearly five years, from October 2002 to June 2007. Before that, this wallet (no name, but of superb quality) lasted about 18 years, in all but five or six of which it was used continuously.
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