AppleTree@.cOm A Tisket, A Tasket, Love This Basket FYI X-Tra Interesting News Fox's Jewish dad not have existed five years earlier. Mark Lichterman Found, not surprisingly, at AppleTree Staff Writer Elizabeth Applebaum , the Internet AppleTree Editor http://lsraelgift.com he Internet has become an I version of Dash Cham is orga- FYI: His name is Amram extremely powerful tool nized and easy to use. The home For reasons FYI still can't under- which can propel, virtually page contains a well-written I stand, millions of women each I overnight, a small, local business 1 description of services, and access 1 week turn into "The X-Files" where :into the global marketplace. The 1 to the other areas within the site. they swoon over agent Fox (have istory of a Jerusalem-based food- I Click on the "Gift Center" and you you ever in your life met anyone : basket business demonstrates the see a catalog of products for sale. 1 with the first name Fox?) Mulder, 1 For $39 you can send your phenomenon. aka David Duchovny. But did you In ancient times, 1990, two I favorite soldier or student a basket know that David's father, Amram, 1women met while dropping off their : full of goodies, and for S49 you I was a publicist for the American :children at the same Jerusalem gan, : can send visitors to Israel choco- Jewish Committee? Amram's son preschool. After a few such meet- lates, nuts, dried fruit and other was born in New York in 1960 : ings the women became friends 1 treats to make their stay a bit (his mother is Scottish) and after and decided to go into business .sweeter. 1 studying at Princeton and Yale, together. They called themselves Other finds at Dash Cham: bas- 1 where his major was English litera- 1 Dash Cham, warm greeting, and kets for newlyweds and new par- 1 ture, he began appearing in off- 'their purpose was to sell and ship ents, and items from the "Simcha Broadway plays. After :food baskets for births, holidays I Club," with a list of 10 regularly starring in some occurring simchas such as wed- land other occasions. really exciting Their products were high quality : ding anniversaries, birthdays, etc., AT&T and land their service was good. They when one might consider sending beer com- lwere, however, local people, sell- 1 a basket. As each of these dates mercials, ing local products locally. Period. draws near, the system will send David Duchovny won Then in the late 1990s an 800- mail reminding the recipient that, the "X-Files" role in 1993. 1 pound gorilla called the Internet I for example, the fifth anniversary i Laugh all you want about those arrived on the scene, and business I of his dog's graduation from obedi- space aliens, my friend, but has never been the same. With the ence school is fast approaching. It I Duchovny is making a reported $6 investment of a few shekels (rela- : also will suggest a variety of, in million for his part in the new "X- tively speaking) to develop an this instance, doggy-appropriate 1 Files" films. And who 'interactive Web site, the owners basket ideas. The customer need 1 knows how much 1, gained the potential for worldwide 1 only point, click and provide a • 1 he's pulling in :exposure formerly reserved for 1 fresh credit card number to avoid I for his Ford I large corporations with big adver- the embarrassment of forgetting commercial tising budgets. The Web allowed 1 such an important event. :the owners of Dash Cham to reach 1 The evolution of Dash Cham from 1 that airs I only in into a new market: Americans I a small, home-based business to Britain. That's !wishing to send gift baskets to one that anyone anywhere in the right, Mr. world can use is as clear a 1 Israel. Duchovny, FYI demonstration of the power of the Thus born IsraelGifts.com , which I knows all about your latest "perfo r- j unlike most other businesses could I Internet as I have ever seen. mance." As you may have heard, I Regardless of whether it succeeds, I Mark Lichterman lives in Hunt- 1 a number of big celebrities would the trail has been blazed and ' ington Woods with his wife and j never lower themselve's to appear there is no going back. ❑ two children. l 1 i 7/3 1998 100 in advertisements in the United I States, but they have no problem doing so abroad. They get paid 1 millions for a 2 minute stint of which they think American audi- ences know nothing. So how did FYI learn about David Duchovny's j Ford commercial? A little space , alien told us ... - FYI: Bet you didn't know this - about Dinah ... Born Frances Rose Shore, singer 1 Dinah Shore was only 2 when she 1 caught polio. For years her right l&-/ 1 and foot were disabled because of 1 the disease, and were restored to : normal functioning only after years of exercise and massage. Dinah made her first public performance when she was 14, and appeared — singing and playing the ukelele — at a local nightclub. Later, she became a cheerleader and was voted "Best All Around Girl" at high 1 school. She attended Vanderbilt J University, graduating in 1938. I After securing fame in Nashville (she even appeared on the Grand Ole Opry stage), Dinah went on to I become a popular singer through- out the country and gain a reputation as a gracious TV host, artist, athlete and excellent cook. Hmm, wonder who was in the kitchen with Dinah when she was cooking, and was he strumming on the ukelele or the old banjo? ❑ 1