What do you give the Simpsons fan who has everything? Why not a replica of a classic gag from the show?
Last week, Reddit user cle1110 posted a photo to r/pics and r/woodworking of a spice rack built for a “‘shitty’ gift exchange”—presumably a gift exchange in which the gifts are intentionally terrible. Or maybe it’s a gift exchange that cle1110 personally believes is shitty? In any case, I wish I could be in the room when the recipient unwraps this bad boy. In the photo shared to the Reddit thread, the spice rack is an almost exact replica of a spice rack that Homer Simpson tries to make for Marge in season 2’s “Itchy and Scratchy and Marge”—that is, a misshapen abomination with nails sticking out of it.
But wait! cle1110 isn’t the only Reddit user who has recreated Homer’s spice rack. In 2019, gippy44 posted their own replica of the rack and shared it on r/woodworking. The user confirmed that the rack “holds spices sufficiently.”
In the original episode, Homer’s touched at the amount of care that Marge puts into seasoning her pork chops, and he offers to build her a spice rack. He goes to the garage, consults a thick book devoted to spice racks, and then picks up a hammer with the price tag still on it. Later, he checks the picture in the book with the rack in front of him, and realizes that it doesn’t look exactly the same.
Later in the episode, though, we see Marge using it even though the spices don’t fit and they fall out through the bottom. That’s what makes for a successful marriage! It’s a gesture of love, even though it’s misguided.
As for these two spice racks on Reddit, they seem like a great way to make a Simpsons fan’s day. Yeah, they may not be the prettiest things in the world, but they’re way more unique than most Simpsons merch you can get.
(featured image: 20th Television)
