Saturday, July 31, 2010

Jade East

OK, I thought to keep this blog going I would add another memory from my youth. Does everyone remember Jade East cologne? I sure do. It was the sure-fire way to get girls to dance with you at the high school dances. The bottle shown here is an actual bottle from Dad's collection of colognes that I got after his passing. My son Jonathan still uses it occasionally, but I really think the all encompassing fragrance has lost its potency quite a bit after more than 40 years.

I figured this bottle was probably purchased by Dad some time in the late 60's. It could not have been mine because mine would be used up! It cannot have been made before 1963 since the manufacturer's zip code is present and that did not start until 1963. I thought this stuff went passe some time in the early 70's but, to my surprise, I have learned it is still being made! This bottle was made by Regency Cosmetics (who still sell it) and it is also made by Songo. I guess the tried and true good cologne never dies, right? Truth be told, the fragrance of this cologne, even in its full potency, I believe suits teens better than older adults. But I may have to get a new bottle and "proof" it for Jonathan.

Does anybody else remember when Dad used to like wearing Bay Rum cologne? I used to hate the smell of that stuff. In my opinion, it ranked (or reeked) right up there with Limburger cheese. I know Dad used to also like Old Spice.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Train Track Pennies

Maybe this memory applies only to Thom and myself, but maybe the girls also engaged in this exciting activity. I can remember being with friends of mine when we placed pennies on train tracks and left them for a day or so. Then when we came back they were smashed flat. The photo on the left is not an actual picture of mine, but I can remember the pennies being much flatter, maybe more like the second photo (also not mine).


Along with the excitement of seeing something flattened by thousands of pounds of steel was the myth was that placing a penny on the track could de-rail the train. Never happened - not in Flat Rock anyway.

An interesting thing I learned is pennies made before 1982 actually have a metallurgical value of more than 1 cent (about 2.3 cents). Even the current nickel of today, has a metallurgical value of 6.3 cents. Who says our money is not worth anything!? It is also ironic that in 2007, pennies cost 1.7 cents each to ship, and nickels cost 9.5 cents each. Pennies made before 1982, i.e. the ones we flattened with locomotive engines, were 95% copper and 5% zinc; pennies made today are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper with the copper being plated over a zinc core.

OK, so Marie or Linda fess up! Did you ever do the penny on the train track thing? Or was it just a guy thing?