February 10-16, 2005

fine print

Love in the Time of Frostbite

by Cory Frolik

There's a reason spring is the season for lovers. During the long winter months, outward affections tend to hibernate. "Baby, I'd love to kiss you, but I'm afraid our salvia will freeze" is a common sentiment. And forget about holding hands; who can stand all the chafing and cracking?

Enter the Smitten, the mitten made for two, here to rescue romance during long winters of discontent. This hand apparel — dreamed up back in 1996 by Glen Ridge, N.J., hand-holders Gene Nichols and his wife, Barbara — allows a couple to retain finger-locked endearment through the harshest temperatures. The couple has always been perfectly lovey-dovey, avidly holding hands wherever they go. Thus, they invented a product that caters to affectionate needs, especially since most products for lovers are either insanely expensive (jewelry) or exclusively sexual (flavored body paint).

Gene Nichols explains, "It's getting irritating that so [many] commercial products out there make relationships [into] a contest."

Perhaps a hand-holding mitten strikes you as corny, as something worn by disgusting couples who call each other Honey Bunny and spend their time debating who's more snuggly-wuggly. But Terri Orbuch, Detroit radio's renowned "Love Doctor," was so taken with the Smitten she offered it as a prize for a write-in romance contest. Orbuch says, "Many of the "romantic things' we get for Valentine's Day [aren't] really meant to be used, but it is the sentiment and thought that counts."

Not so the Smitten. Adding to the product's industrial-strength cuteness: The two gloves form the shape of a heart.

Smittens are $13.90 (including shipping) and are available for purchase at www.smitten.com.