Category Archives: Articles

July 11, 2024 · 4:54 PM

The Hues of Hogwash

Most English-speaking people have heard the term whitewashing: Literally, it means to paint a surface with a diluted white paint to lighten the surface and conceal blemishes. Figuratively, it means to downplay the negative aspects by emphasizing the positive ones of a person, event, or situation.

Greenwashing is a term related to environmental issues: It is the deliberate dissemination of a false or misleading impression of environmentally friendly practices used to conceal or obscure damaging practices.

Blackwashing is the use of public campaigns and advertising funded by the coal industry to draw attention away from environmentally unsustainable practices or to justify exclusion from carbon taxes.

Bluewashing is to tout a business or organization’s commitment to social responsibility while using this perception for public relations and economic gain; to present a humanitarian front while obscuring actual practices.

Redwashing is the practice of a state, organization, political party, politician or company presenting itself as progressive and concerned about social equality and justice, in order to use this perception for public relations or economic gain.

There are other colours of X-washing, but they all stem from greed: In marketing, these tactics are a way to charge customers more, because the higher price leads people to think, in connection with the misleading information or imagery, that the extra money spent is going to a good cause, e.g. schools for the workers’ children or working children, when in fact it’s likely going toward a CEO’s yacht.

[Image Source: https://spunout.ie/life/climate/greenwashing]

On holiday recently, we’d forgotten to bring towels from home into the motorhome, so we went into a houseware store; I thought the towels would be a bit more expensive than another store I usually buy our towels from, but it was a whopping 50.- per towel more! On each towel was a tag; here’s the translation (the company name withheld):

“Cotton (name)® Made in green, inspiring confidence. Tested for polluting ingredients and sustainably produced according to (name)® guidelines. The label “made in green” gives you the assurance that this textile product has been made by pollutant-free materials in environmentally friendly factories in protected and socially acceptable work environments.”

Nowhere is it mentioned where this product was made; their testing agency, for accountability, is them. Inspires confidence? On what grounds? Price? Notice that they don’t claim to have passed those tests or what they were testing exactly, nor do they state what their guidelines were supposed to be.

These schemes prey on first-world people’s sense of guilt, or of wanting to pay a bit extra to help those less privileged. Yet their concept of “environmentally friendly factories in protected and socially acceptable work environments” might have nothing to do with your or my concepts – would the company’s execs be willing to work in those factories? I doubt it. This is also an example of bluewashing.

An E-Talk was given to show the marketing tactics in connection with the foods we eat. The disclosures made in the short talk are enough to leave the audience in stunned silence. I challenge you to watch the video (less than 7 minutes long) here. Marketing’s most effective, secret weapon is you. They bank on willful ignorance (the avoidance of making undesirable decisions or taking actions that accurate information might prompt).

All of these wash-tactics boil down to hogwash. So the next time you find yourself looking at the claims of a label, or seeing the sunny kitchen in a perfect home with perfect families on a commercial, take a moment to challenge what you’re reading or seeing, and use your purchasing power wisely. Research; see if the company is on any blacklist by organisations that actually care (WEF, Greenpeace, or any from a long list of NGOs). Search the topic online – there are a lot of informative articles out there with practical tips for making informed decisions. Here’s a website for checking a brand’s ratings: https://directory.goodonyou.eco/. If you find that a company is making bogus claims, stop buying their products; make the effort to blow the whistle on them – social media can be a positive tool in that aspect.

This brings us back to that secret weapon of marketers, our willful ignorance: The tragic factor in all of these tactics is that, like water, humans usually choose the path of least resistance… least effort… least active involvement, least time required; and so willful ignorance prevails. However, since we’re making an average of 35,000 decisions a day anyway, (automatic, habitual, emotional, stress-related, worry-related, or environment-related) let’s neutralise that ignorance one wise, informed choice at a time.

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June 21, 2024 · 10:15 AM

10 Tips for De-Cluttering

Although it’s already summer, we have only had one day over 30°C. Don’t get me wrong – I’m perfectly happy with cooler days; you can layer clothes, but when it’s hot, you can only take off so much and still be socially acceptable.

But when the weather begins to warm up, thoughts turn to spring cleaning. The practice goes back centuries: For climates that experience cold winter months, spring cleaning usually takes place when the weather begins to be warm enough to open windows but not warm enough yet for swarms of bugs coming in as a side effect. Also, back when wood was the main source of heat, if it was warm enough not to need the wood-burning stove, it was the ideal time to clean out the soot and to dust the house, letting the breeze help carry it away. In modern times, where most houses no longer depend on wood or fireplaces as the main heat source and windows can be opened year-round (with the heater returning indoors to comfortable temperatures), spring cleaning is still a tradition.

Most people have those areas in their homes where things can stand around for months or even years before they put them in their proper places; sometimes those things that don’t have a proper place stand around even longer. Spring cleaning is the ideal occasion to look around, notice those stand-arounds, and put them away properly or eliminate them altogether.

“Mis en place” is a French culinary term meaning “putting in place”, or “gathering” (as in gathering ingredients in preparation for cooking). Outside of the kitchen, it can be used as a description for putting everything in its place. Spring cleaning and mis en place is a great opportunity to de-clutter.

Here are 10 tips for de-cluttering:

  1. Once-in-the-hand principle: Firstly, get yourself a basket to carry from room to room to gather things that need putting in their places; once the basket is full, put the items where they go. Don’t lay things down somewhere else “for now”!
  2. Two-Year Gauge: If you haven’t touched, missed, or used an item in the past two years, chances are you won’t miss it – give it away, donate it to a second-hand shop, or recycle it.
  3. Clothes: Do you have clothes you’ve kept but never wear, or they’re the wrong size, or they’re worn out? Keep one worn-out outfit for dirty work, but bag up the other items to donate, scrap, or give away.
  4. Kitchen: Go through your food cupboards: Toss out anything past its expiry date (this is at your discretion; foods today rather more honestly call it a “best before date”, as canned goods are often good for a while past that…); rotate the older cans of food to the front, the newest toward the back (also best practice when putting away new shopping); toss out any spices that have gone off or are stale.
  5. Storage: Do you have plastic containers without matching lids or lids without containers? Get rid of them. Do you have duplicate utensils that you don’t need? Donate them. Do you have pots or pans that are worn out? Replace them if need be.
  6. Linens (towels, bedding, etc.): Toss or recycle any threadbare, ripped, or worn-out items. Fold the keepers and store them neatly (stacks tend to get lazy over time, don’t they?).
  7. Electronic Gadgets: Go through your electronic items and match cables to each piece of (working) equipment, and recycle the rest. Along the same line, clean out your inbox of superfluous emails.
  8. Toiletries: Toss anything that has gone off – hand cream, makeup, nail polish and medicines included.
  9. Paperwork: Get rid of any guarantees that have expired, old paperwork, or manuals for items you no longer own; file and organize what you keep. While you’re there, check those pens to see which ones still work and chuck the rest.
  10. Sentimentality: Don’t hold on to something out of guilt (someone gave you X…) or obligation (they might notice I’ve tossed it). If it brings you no joy, is not practical, or isn’t in keeping with your aesthetic, don’t keep it.

Have you already started spring cleaning this year? Tackling one point at a time (in a day, or a week) will make it possible, and you’ll be done before the cat can lick its ear!

I’m curious to know if any of these tips inspire you to de-clutter a specific area – please comment below!

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June 14, 2024 · 4:04 PM

Fieldnotes

A few months ago, I began something that has added a layer of creativity and organisation to my life which, to be honest, is fairly creative and organised as it is. But this little addition adds a nice colour: Fieldnotes.

The original concept of taking fieldnotes comes from the scientific disciplines: An archaeologist in the field, taking notes on where, what and when something was uncovered; a geologist, botanist, ornithologist, or entomologist taking notes on observations, perhaps drawing an illustration of a specimen or a map of the landscape.

Fieldnotes can include writing, diagrams, drawings, or visual clues within an entry such as arrows or other visual connectors. They differ from a daily journal in that the fieldnotes are concise… rambling or expanding on a thought belongs elsewhere, but not in a “quick-draw” situation (pun intended).

Creative thinkers have jumped on the idea for reasons other than scientific observation: As a writer, fieldnotes help me capture snippets of ideas, dialogue, or an observation when out in public (I love to people-watch), or something I read – sometimes the comments on YouTube videos are a great capsule of humour! I also use fieldnotes to keep track of tasks on a busy day – lists of to-dos, to-writes, and so on. When I have a creative project, I take notes on the steps taken – such as making giant flowers that no one else has ever made; how to scale up a smaller version of a crepe paper flower is not always straightforward, and if I have several to make, it helps to have those detailed notes of the prototype phase for the next time around.

Taking fieldnotes might help get your creative juices flowing. If you’d like to start this practice, here are a few tips:

  1. Use a small notebook – one that can fit into a shirt pocket, man-bag, or purse. I’ve made my own with 70gsm blank paper, which allows me to make the same size and style repeatedly. But if you can’t do that, just use something like a moleskin notebook; these come in various sizes, with or without lined pages. There is also a company with books called Field Notes, though they seem a bit pricey for what you can do on your own…
  2. Use a good pen, or pencil, or coloured pencils if you want to sketch something with colour.
  3. You can either take chronological notes, such as dating each entry, or you can organise your notes into groupings: One page per character, scene or topic, or for a to-do list, or whatever you want to capture on the go.
  4. Use visual cues, such as boxes around certain elements or arrows connecting one thing to another. Use illustrations or draw diagrams; attach images from magazines, printouts, etc.
  5. Highlight tags or keywords; consider numbering each page and keeping an index at the back of the book to help you find things later on.
  6. One book that might help kick-start illustrative note-taking if it’s new to you is The Sketchnote Handbook, by Mike Rohde.
  7. Think about how you’re recording things on the page: Do you always want to write straight, top left to bottom right, or do you want to mix things up and write diagonally, sideways, or even backwards? Yes, sometimes that’s a thing; Leonardo da Vinci wrote privately in a mirrored direction, only writing normally when he wanted others to read his notes; he also developed his own shorthand.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, with mirrored writing.

I also have my own shorthand for many things; Sometimes I use what I call pigeon Asian (I use this when I don’t want anyone else to read it); it’s something I learned when living in Hawaii. It looks like Kanji (the logographic writing of Japan), but it’s not – that’s all I’ll explain! I also use logographs, such as the ancient Anglo-Saxon rune of daeg, which includes the concept of day, dawn, intuition or breakthrough; I use this to designate those times when I’m writing: Rather than writing, “Today, I wrote/worked on the manuscript for...” I just write that symbol plus the name of the manuscript and details. I have a whole series of such shorthand symbols that I use daily.

While there are note-taking apps available (and I use one, called “Keep My Notes”, on my phone for things like shopping lists or feedback notes for singing students or bands that I take during performances and review with them later), sometimes it’s helpful to get away from digital screens. Sometimes I’ll write whole scenes away from the computer – I don’t use my fieldnotes for that, though it will probably be used to outline a scene that comes to mind until I get to another notebook. Something about writing long-hand sparks a level of creativity that might not come while working at a computer; hand-eye coordination should never be underestimated in creative endeavours. Once a scene has developed enough away from the screen to be integrated into my current manuscript, it then takes on another reiteration as I type it in, tweaking and changing… it’s what I call a “ripening process” as a wine metaphor for the creative maturing process a scene goes through by this method. It gets my head into a new space figuratively, literally, and literarily!

In an age when we are constantly bombarded with visuals wherever we go, sometimes it’s healthy to go back to good ol’ pen and paper. On those days so busy that I can’t remember what I’ve actually done, it’s helpful to look back at my fieldnotes as I write out my thoughts in my daily journal.

Do you write? Do you ever make lists for shopping, chores, people to contact, or things to do? If so, how have you kept track of such things so far? If it’s a system that works for you, brilliant! But if you find yourself wanting to switch things up or wanting to improve your use of time, would you consider taking fieldnotes? Please comment below!

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May 29, 2024 · 3:43 PM

In a Name

My husband and I have a quirky sense of humour; we recently had a good laugh coming up with pets’ names in pairs (don’t ask why that topic came up – it’s too hard to reconstruct!): There are pairs of names commonly associated with each other, such as Tom and Jerry, or Cain and Abel; last night, we thought of naming two cats Maelstrom and Doldrum – the irony is that these are nautical terms for ocean conditions and we live in a land-locked country. My husband says that if we ever have a snake, he’ll name it “Abebambelela” (which is a Swiss German phrase meaning “to hang down”)! There are certain words that I find funny, like Asparagus (or the old English version, Sparrowgrass), and I can imagine naming cats something Latinesque, some of which are actually quite beautiful (Aurora, Adamaris, etc.)

Pet names are as creative as the owners, so the sky’s the limit! I once heard of a dog called Dillingham Osborn Gunderson… initials being DOG. Naming a pet Velcro, Big Mac, Groucho or Tweezer seems tame to some purebred titles (such as Bluewater Full Metal Jacket – Jack for everyday wear). When our cat had kittens (the mother, Gandria, and father, Caprino, were named after towns along Lake Lugano), we used musical terms (sticking with Italian): The first came out vocal, so he became Crescendo; the second was slow and calm, thus Piano; and the 3rd is gentle but friendly – Allegra. We kept Allegra, who is curled up between my feet as I write this; the other two were adopted by neighbours – who subsequently moved to give the cats more room!

I will never have a purebred pet; more often than not, the animals are sickly, as traits have been unnaturally bred into them; pugs and Persian cats are prime examples of pets that simply cannot breathe properly, and have respiratory infections or even failure. These health issues are hot topics between breeders and vets or those who care for animals such as the Kitten Lady. Give us a good ol’ farm cat, “Heinz 57-pedigree”, and they’ll do just fine! We have three cats: Allegra (born in 2009), Andromeda Zora (from an animal shelter, born in 2020), and Mira Bella (born in a home nearby, 2021).

Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names, and how did you choose them? Please comment below!

Left to Right: Allegra, Andromeda, Mira

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May 23, 2024 · 3:59 PM

When It Rains, It Pours

You’ve probably heard the saying, “When it rains, it pours” (or the British version, “It never rains but it pours”). The idiom refers to a series of unfortunate events occurring within a short amount of time.

I wouldn’t necessarily limit it to unfortunate events; sometimes they’re just inevitable occurrences or busy times. The latter two would describe my past few months: From mid-January to last weekend, one of our nephews was staying with us every weekend when he had time off from his basic military training; this 18-week period is mandatory here in Switzerland, but our nephew is half-Swiss, half-Mexican, and is currently living in South Africa, so he actually volunteered. Not only did he want to be near Swiss family and have the experience of being away from his home and in a camaraderie, but when he returns next autumn to begin university studies here, it would be easier for him to be accepted if he did so.

What that meant for us is that, though we really enjoyed having him here and spending time with him, the things that normally happen on weekends simply had no room, and the weeks were ultra-busy, leaving little time to tackle those things. When our nephew was here, the focus was on him; “Tia” (Spanish for “aunt”; Tio is “uncle”) was frequently heard. Laundry (tons of it!), cooking, shopping, meal-planning… they all happened much more frequently – he was a bottomless pit, as most teenage boys are. The first month or two were most intensive, as he had grown up with a maid – which he rapidly learned I am NOT. He learned a lot of “life lessons”, and about family house rules – things he’ll need to know when he finds a student flat-share; he learned to cook a few new meals, clean up the kitchen after himself, and how to cut his own hair. He learned that if he put his socks into the laundry bunched up into a ball, that’s exactly how he’d get them back – that, and we have no clothes dryer (only drying racks) – so timing on getting his clothes back clean and dry for the following week was a crash course. He learned to think about and change habits to reduce his environmental footprint.

My weekends were usually when I could plan, write and edit blogs. Because that time was either reduced or swallowed up entirely every weekend, some tasks took precedence; when I had time, focus and energy for writing, it went into getting my five books prepped for paperback release, and gradually getting them sent off for proof copies. So far, I’ve been able to release two of the five novels. The printer (who is either in England or in France) doesn’t ship to Switzerland (why do companies frequently act as if Switzerland is on another planet?!); it’s been a challenge getting the books to me – fortunately, some of our family lives in France, so they can receive it. Sometimes the packages are sent, sometimes carried by hand to closer family, sometimes handed off in car parks!

Two weeks before our nephew’s time here came to an end, we accidentally discovered that we’ve got a huge problem in our flat: Water damage coming from somewhere that will now require walls, floors, balcony tiles, windows and downstairs ceiling to be ripped out and repaired! Raining, pouring… For the past four years, repairmen have come and gone but none of them have gotten to the root cause. So this time, I’ll be watching them like a hawk and pestering them to push beyond their nose to find the actual cause, repairing that first! And that all begins this week.

After the past few intensive months, I’ve been trying to catch up on those things that, of necessity, were neglected, and those things I need to prepare for when our home is invaded by an army of repairmen – at least that’s what I’m imagining, though it will more likely be a steady stream of comings and goings, appointments, and cleaning up the aftermath of dust and debris…

And now that my schedule can resume a partial semblance of normal, I want to get back into creative writing – my next novel, as well as this blog! So many projects, so little time! But if a day had 40 hours, it would still not be enough to accommodate everything I’d like to do. Maybe it’s God’s mercy that we don’t have 40-hour days!

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April 26, 2024 · 11:17 AM

The Humble but Mighty Dandelion

This past week, I’ve been knee-deep in my craft room making flowers. I’ve made crepe paper flowers before, but these are on a whole new level: Giants, to be precise. So far, I’ve made three giant daisies that stand about two metres tall and two of four dandelions in different phases or similar size.

Dandelions are something everyone knows – you’ve seen them, you may have been irritated by their invasiveness in a garden, but honestly, have you ever stopped to look at them? In this project, I’ve needed to look at them in detail – where do the leaves sit on the stem? What colour is the stem? How do the bud leaves fall from the bloom? When does the yellow turn into white fuzzy parachutes?

I found a year-long timelapse of the growth of a dandelion, from seed to seedhead; click on the image below to watch the 3:46-minute video. What I find fascinating is the animation of plants that are only seen when we view them sped up; they stretch, move and grow – the movement is coming from the plant itself as this video was made in a controlled environment (no wind involved).

The edible plant has been used for centuries as a leafy green, leaf, flower or root tea, medicine, and as a source of nutrition for animals such as horses or ruminates (herbivorous grazing animals, such as cattle or deer). It’s an important plant for pollinators as it’s often the earliest flowering plant. For more information about its many uses, check out the Wikipedia article linked here. For a short but informative (and entertaining) video about the lion’s tooth, dent de lion, click here.

The next time you’re outside enjoying nature, stop and moment and appreciate the humble, often overlooked flower! And make yourself a dandelion salad.

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April 19, 2024 · 2:25 AM

Second-Hand Thoughts

Today, I went with a friend to a large second-hand warehouse; it’s an organized treasure hunt of sorts. Every section is well-defined, so you know where to look if you’re looking for something specific, and don’t need to waste time scanning isles of glass dishes when you’re looking for office supplies. But it got me thinking about the whole topic and the cultural differences around the world.

When I first came to Switzerland, “Brockenhäuser” (or Brocki, as they’re called here) were few and far between; Swiss people weren’t usually found in such shops. I think Swiss people (and I can only really compare this to the Zürich area – perhaps in other areas of Switzerland the sentiments were different) used to have a sense of embarrassment, as if one wasn’t successful enough to buy new. But nowadays the importance of recycling has grown, and people have discovered the fun of treasure hunting.

I grew up in a region of America where garage sales were every Thursday through Sunday during summer months; my father and I were the most frequent hunters in our family, searching for treasures amongst the junk. I once found a 1920s white gold, 24-diamond dinner ring for 10¢! Someone had cleaned out grandma’s house and had no idea what they had; I took it to a jeweller to have it examined, so I knew that what I’d found was the real deal. I once took my Swiss husband along on the cultural experience when we were in the States on holiday, and he found a stack of pristine Life magazines of the first moon landing. They now grace our library shelves among the astronomy books.

In Britain, I know of some roads where nearly every other shop is a charity shop; one had a sign in the window asking for books, because they were selling nearly a thousand a week. Whenever I’m in Britain, I fly with as empty a bag as I can manage to leave room for charity shop treasures.

Fraktur Script

Today when I was at the shop, I was looking for specific things, mostly to do with crafts; I got a few antique German books (with the Fraktur script, often generically referred to as “Gothic text”); I’m fluent in German, but even I have to really concentrate to decipher the old type-text, especially as spelling has shifted or become more standardised. So honestly, I’m fine with using them in crafts, though the antique book lover in me fights to preserve them! I also bought sheet music for the same purpose. I kept an eye out for things I could use to make gigantic flowers with – that’s the next prop I’ll be making for our church stage area for the spring/summer season. In this particular shop, by the way, there are very few items with prices; once you get to the register, they assess what you’ve got, and calculate the set prices (such as the antique books, which ran from 3.- to 8.-); usually the end price for everything is quite reasonable – after all, they need to make room for the new inventory being restocked every 30 minutes!

What is the culture of second-hand shops in your region? Even within a country, it can vary wildly. Do you have boot sales, garage sales, thrift stores, charity shops, meet & swaps, buy-sell-trade shops, street markets, or another variety? I’d love to hear about your experiences! And if you’ve done any of the above, what was your best treasure find? Please comment below!

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April 3, 2024 · 2:35 PM

History Undusted: Crossword Puzzles

Maybe this is something you’ve never stopped to think about, but everything we use on a daily basis was, at some point, invented, discovered or developed by someone. Before shoes, people walked barefoot, or wrapped leather around their feet in colder climates; before plastic, well, the world was far better off. But no matter where they lived in the world, or what their climate was like, people found ways to entertain themselves, or to have fun social interaction with board games, or with simple stones, sticks and rocks.

Even prehistoric people developed games to pass the time: The Mesopotamians had the Royal Game of Ur; in Egypt and across the Middle East, they played a game referred to as Fifty-eight Holes. A game that goes back thousands of years, with many different simultaneous versions across the world, is Mancala / Sungka / Congkak, played with hollowed dips (which could be made in dirt, wood, or stone) which players fill sequentially with stones or shells or nuts (whatever was readily available in their region of the world). As reading and writing became more widespread, word games and written riddles became popular.

In 1913, the journalist Arthur Wynne, working for the New York World newspaper, submitted the world’s first Crossword Puzzle (image below), which appeared in the Sunday paper on 21 December. An immigrant from England, Wynne based his idea on the magic square (in recreational mathematics, this is a square arrangement of numbers in which the sum of numbers in each row, column and both main diagonals is the same). In this concept, a given set of words would need to be arranged so that they form a square; but in Wynne’s version, the words had to be discovered first. The first puzzle contained 31 terms, with the word “fun” already filled in as an example.

In the beginning, crosswords (originally called Word-Cross Puzzles) were in a diamond shape; within a few years, the crossword craze had taken off, and eventually, the shape morphed into a square grid with blank or black cells where voids occur.

Today, crosswords have more competition: word search puzzles, scrabble, anagrams, ciphers, and various forms of Sudoku are the strongest contenders for puzzlers’ free time.

What is your favourite word puzzle type? Please comment below!

For the solution, please click here.

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March 28, 2024 · 3:07 PM

10 Everyday Phrases with Nautical Origins #4

Picking up from where I left off in February, here are a few more everyday phrases that have been gleaned from the times when ships at sail were the most influential source of importing new ideas, foreign words and catchy tunes (such as shanties). The first of these phrases might be recognized by Star Trek fans, as the captain usually used this term or something similar to hand over the authority of the ship whenever he left the bridge.

Take the Conn: A term used to take over navigational duties on the bridge of a ship (this comes from the mid-1800s, during the age of iron-clad warships). Idiomatically, it means to take control of a situation. The word conn is either a noun or a verb and comes from conning tower – a raised platform from which the entire deck and surrounding environment can be observed.

Sailing Close to the Wind: Strong winds can be just as problematic at sea as no wind; strong winds can unexpectedly shift and take control of a boat’s direction, and many sailors will lower their sails until more favourable conditions exist. To use strong winds for sailing is risky and unpredictable but sometimes necessary; the modern term refers to taking risks that may be unreasonable, being close to breaking the law or going too far.

All Hands on Deck: A call to action – everyone must assist in resolving a problem or addressing a situation. During inspection or trouble, all hands were called to the deck; everyone needed to be present or accounted for, and working as directed.

On the Right Tack/Track: The correct course while sailing requires you to tack or move the sail to catch the wind to keep you on course. To take the wrong tack means to be off course, heading in the wrong direction. Tack has changed to track in a more modern language. Today it refers to Taking the line/course of action that leads to the correct conclusion.

Overboard: If cargo or people went overboard when sailing, the call “overboard” would be yelled out to draw attention to the event. With luck, the items or people could be recovered, but unfortunately, this was not often the case.

Abandon Ship: When a ship was sinking or being overrun by an enemy ship, sailors would need to abandon their posts and escape. The call to abandon the ship was considered a last resort.

As the Crow Flies: After crossing the oceans, sailors would watch for birds to detect nearby land. Following the direction of birds, such as a crow or seagulls, got them closer to shore to follow it to a port. Crows fly straight, and so it refers to the shortest distance between two points.

Tide Over: When a ship could not get under sail due to poor winds, they would ride the tide until the winds returned. If something tides one over, it will last until new provisions can be obtained or until conditions change.

High and Dry: If a ship was caught in low tide or ran up on the shoals, it might end up being stranded with no hope of recovery. The term was to be caught high and dry, as in up out of the water. It’s used today to describe the feeling of being abandoned, stranded, or helpless.

Sink or Swim: Tossing a person overboard resulted either in them sinking or swimming. The term was made popular in swashbuckling movies featuring pirates deciding on whether they should spare their captives or not. Today, it refers to either failing (sinking) or succeeding (swimming) in a task or an endeavour.

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March 23, 2024 · 1:50 PM

History Undusted: Burma-Shave

For those outside of the US and/or Millennials, the term “Burma-Shave” might be new to you – which is why I’d like to “undust” this fascinating little piece of history.

The 1920s was a time of change; World War 1 was over, and the following Spanish flu had wiped out more people than the war itself; the survivors just wanted to celebrate life. Out went the starchy mentality of Victorian dresses and in came the flappers; innovations and scientific breakthroughs fed the hunger for the new and anything that made life easier.

At the time, men shaved themselves with shaving cream applied to the face with a brush and a straight razor blade (still common into the 1950s, when the double-edged safety razor began to gradually take over).

Enter, the Burma-shave brushless shaving cream: Introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it was purported to have come from “the Malay Peninsula and Burma.” It was, in fact, a result of chemical experiments by chemist Carl Noren. The monicker was a marketing gimmick, much like products touting to be “Swiss” that are unknown here (even “Swiss cheese” – which one of the hundreds is meant?). The cream didn’t really take off, and while other similar products were coming out of larger companies such as Barbasol and Gilette, Burma-Shave managed to beat the odds when their clever advertising campaign was hit upon.

Around this time, the Ford Model T had become a huge success, with millions of new automobiles on ever-expanding road systems. Roadside signage was taking off, and the advertising gimmick was destined to go down in history as one of the quirkiest success stories.

Burma-Shave ads were a series of signs along the road that concluded in the sign saying “Burma-Shave”. The first couple of years, the signs were rather prosaic ads for the company; but as they began bringing in repeat customers, the signs became bolder and more experimental. They became more humorous rhymes – usually five signs, with a sixth ending the series as “Burma-Shave”.

Here are a few examples:

  • Shaving brushes / you’ll soon see ’em / on the shelf / in some / museum / Burma-Shave (1943)
  • Uncle Rube / buys tube / one week / looks sleek / like sheik / Burma-Shave (1930)
  • A shave / that’s real / no cuts to heal / a soothing / velvet after-feel / Burma-Shave (1932)
  • Shaving brush / and soapy smear / went out of / style with / hoops my dear / Burma-Shave (1936)
  • The Burma girls / in Mandalay / dunk bearded lovers / in the bay / who don’t use / Burma-Shave (1937)

As cars began to speed up, safety messages increased around 1939:

  • Hardly a driver / Is now alive / Who passed / On hills / At 75 / Burma-Shave (1939)
  • If you dislike / big traffic fines / slow down / ‘till you / can read these signs / Burma-Shave (1939)
  • At crossroads / don’t just / trust to luck / the other car / may be a truck / Burma-Shave (1939)
  • Don’t pass cars / on curve or hill / if the cops / don’t get you / morticians will / Burma-Shave (1940)
  • At intersections / look each way / a harp sounds nice / but it’s / hard to play / Burma-Shave (1941)

When World War 2 came around, the signs reflected the social conscience:

  • Maybe you can’t / shoulder a gun / but you can shoulder / the cost of one / buy defence bonds / Burma-Shave (1942)
  • Shaving brush / in army pack / was straw that broke / the rookie’s back / use brushless / Burma-Shave (1942)
  • Slap / the Jap / with / iron / scrap / Burma-Shave (1943)
  • Tho tough / and rough / from wind and wave / your cheek grows sleek / with / Burma-Shave (1943)

A few humorous signs:

  • She kissed / the hairbrush / by mistake / she thought it was / her husband Jake / Burma-Shave (1941)
  • We know / how much / you love that gal / but use both hands / for driving pal / Burma-Shave (1947)
  • I use it too / the bald man said / it keeps my chin / just like / my head / Burma-Shave (1947)
  • Road was slippery / curve was sharp / white robe, halo / wings and harp / Burma-Shave (1948)
  • If you think / she likes / your bristles / walk bare-footed / through some thistles / Burma-Shave (1948)
  • A man / a miss / a car – a curve / he kissed the miss / and missed the curve / Burma-Shave (1948)
  • Our fortune / is your / shaven face / it’s our best / advertising space / Burma-Shave (1963)

Toward the latter part of the signage, they began recycling earlier messages. Road signs and maintenance became increasingly expensive, and cars sped by faster than ever. The signs disappeared from the roads in 1963 when the company was sold to Phillip Morris and they discontinued the marketing campaign, which turned out to be a mistake; sold once again, the product eventually disappeared, but the term “Burma-Shave” can still be heard, referring to short, quirky rhymes.

To read more about this topic:

Route Magazine: Defining the American Dream, One Sign at a Time

I hate to end / this fun article / but time is short / so here’s what’s possible / Burma-Shave examples from Pinterest:

This illustration is from “A History of the Burma-Vita Company”, written by Frank Rowsome Jr. and illustrated by Carl Rose (published by the Stephen Greene Press in 1963).

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