Florida Water

The label on commercial Florida Water bottles says that it is a cologne. I took a look at a recipe for it, and it looks like it is more of an aftershave. Is it really a cologne?

I am also curious about it "keeping away bad spirits."

Mad Prophet said:

I am also curious about it "keeping away bad spirits."

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It is used in Santeria/Voodoo and other related Caribbean religious rites. In Miami you can find it for sale in Botanicas (Cuban/Hatian herb shops).

Whenever I use it no bad spirits pester me for the entire day.

Whilst technically an EDC, it's more of what we today would consider a "splash" or an EDT. Back around 1800 "Florida Water" was one of the first popular signature scent styles here in the US, and the original (trademarked) version is still sold today http://www.lanman-and-kemp.com/florida.htm

The history of Florida Water in general is spotty at best, but it's pretty well accepted that it referred to the mythical "Fountain of Youth" that many believed Ponce DeLeon discovered in Florida before anyone had began to settle there. What probably happened is that in the late 1700's some huckster went from town to town in a covered wagon selling this perfumed tonic that he claimed was made from the waters of the Fountain of Youth, and the popularity grew until a lot of tonic makers had their very own "Florida Water" concoction.

Murray and Lanman were the first to legitimately sell it on store shelves, and it became a popular, inexpensive "toilet water"- that is, people actually poured it in bath water to clean and disinfect rather than use it as a real cologne.

The Voodoo (and subsequent) Santeria connection comes from the slave trade that brought trans-continental trade from southeastern US to the Caribbean, where the practitioners of Voodoo believed this water to genuinely come from the sacred fountain of youth, and thus started putting it to use in religious practices and ceremonies. It's still regarded as "holy water" to these practitioners, and the cheap price and easy availability in these poor regions make it an easy buy.

I personally have tried several different varieties, and am not crazy about them in general. The Murray and Lanman, which is the most common, smells like a bathroom deodorizer to me.

florida water was my daily use a/s until last year when all the local sources dried up.i'll have to order some online one of these days.i like it,but the scent only lasts a few hours or less on most people.starts off citrusy and dries down to a clove scent.i wish the citrus had more staying power.murray and lanmans is the most common but there are a few others out there that change the proportion of ingredients.i am going to have to try them one of these days.

I Don't know where you guys are located, but if there is a fair sized Hispanic community in your area, you'll probably find that the local
rite-aide, cvs, or equivalent carries this.

I actually found mine at a local gas station . It caught me totally by surprise. I paid about $3 I believe. I use it as an aftershave and it works OK for that. I wouldn't use it as a cologne considering it lasts all of one minute on me.

ClubmanRob said:

Whilst technically an EDC, it's more of what we today would consider a "splash" or an EDT. Back around 1800 "Florida Water" was one of the first popular signature scent styles here in the US, and the original (trademarked) version is still sold today http://www.lanman-and-kemp.com/florida.htm

The history of Florida Water in general is spotty at best, but it's pretty well accepted that it referred to the mythical "Fountain of Youth" that many believed Ponce DeLeon discovered in Florida before anyone had began to settle there. What probably happened is that in the late 1700's some huckster went from town to town in a covered wagon selling this perfumed tonic that he claimed was made from the waters of the Fountain of Youth, and the popularity grew until a lot of tonic makers had their very own "Florida Water" concoction.

Murray and Lanman were the first to legitimately sell it on store shelves, and it became a popular, inexpensive "toilet water"- that is, people actually poured it in bath water to clean and disinfect rather than use it as a real cologne.

The Voodoo (and subsequent) Santeria connection comes from the slave trade that brought trans-continental trade from southeastern US to the Caribbean, where the practitioners of Voodoo believed this water to genuinely come from the sacred fountain of youth, and thus started putting it to use in religious practices and ceremonies. It's still regarded as "holy water" to these practitioners, and the cheap price and easy availability in these poor regions make it an easy buy.

I personally have tried several different varieties, and am not crazy about them in general. The Murray and Lanman, which is the most common, smells like a bathroom deodorizer to me.

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I had been under the impression that the use in voodoo and the like had more to do with the ingredients. Another favorite among occult practioners is Hoyt's Cologne which started out in Lowell, Massachusetts right after the Civil War. It's supposed to bring a person luck. It's use by occultists seems to a function of its recipe. It's now made by a company in Memphis that caters to African-Americans. I never knew this until I googled Hoyt's Cologne. I was looking for it because the Vermont County Store no longer had it in its catalogue. Googling led me all sorts of bizarre sites for occultists. All of them sold both Florida Water, Hoyt's and other scents for all sorts of occasions. As a lawyer, I thought about ordering the one to be worn when going to court.

I grew up in a fairly rural area of the south, and the older black community still hung onto a lot of voodoo superstitions and practices. My dad owned a store and had a variety of "classic" budget products that was used a lot like Florida Water- the two most popular being Old Spice and Hoyt's. One older woman said that they splashed Old Spice around after they came back from visiting deceased relatives at the Graveyard so that evil spirits (or "haints") wouldn't follow them home. Another said that if a black cat (a harbinger of death) ever came into your yard, you splashed Hoyt's all around the perimeter of your yard to keep the cats away.

I think that originally Florida Water, because of its supposedly holy origin, was the main "spirit water" like it still is on the Islands, but here in the states where blacks were cut off from the main body of practitioners, other "budget" colognes became interchangeable with Florida Water. The same thing happened with birds- in traditional Voodoo practice each different type of bird has its own use in rituals, but here in the US this has been supplanted with the use of any bird for any spell or ritual, most commonly a crow.

As a lawyer, you should be more concerned with "goofer powder" or "gopher dust". A couple of years back, in Fayetteville NC, an elderly black man had been arrested for domestic abuse. When his day in court came one of the people sitting next to him informed the guard that he had some sort of white powder in a baggie, and the guard pulled him out of the courtroom where it was found that he indeed had a bag of powder.

It was later determined that he had a mojo bag full of goofer dust, a quasi-voodoo concoction that is cooked over the stove and prayed over by a holy woman or holy man. When sprinkled in a subjects food, or blown into their face, it allegedly causes the subject to become disoriented and submissive to the commands of the maker of the mojo bag. The old man planned on putting it in the judges chair and sprinkling some on his wifes lawyer. He was fined 100.00 for contempt of court.

Make sure no one sprinkles any in your coffee or you may become a mind slave and end up losing your case!

ClubmanRob, what a great story!

As a Floridian, I feel somewhat obligated to get some of that Florida water, just to have.

FLTiger said:

ClubmanRob, what a great story!

As a Floridian, I feel somewhat obligated to get some of that Florida water, just to have.

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I have to say that, even though I do not care for the scent of Florida Water it smells MUCH better than the 'fountain of youth' water it is supposed to be made from. I live in the Oldest City (St. Augustine) and have visited the fountain many times. (It's quite a tourist attraction.) I don't think there is ANY scent that can cover up the intense sulfer smell!

waterbear said:

I have to say that, even though I do not care for the scent of Florida Water it smells MUCH better than the 'fountain of youth' water it is supposed to be made from. I live in the Oldest City (St. Augustine) and have visited the fountain many times. (It's quite a tourist attraction.) I don't think there is ANY scent that can cover up the intense sulfer smell!

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Ah... St. Augustine is my favorite city in FL - lucky you! (and as of a few years ago there were some GOOD used bookstores in the city!).

In your honor, I used Florida Water as an AS this morning - as a result, not an evil spirit to be seen [locally, anyway].

I just found an unopened bottle of Murray and Lanman Florida Water I forgot I had. I'm willing to PIF to anyone that hasn't tried it yet.

I'd love to give it a go - I have not tried many of the standards yet.

It's yours, PM me.

PM sent!

FWIW, I believe the "florida" refers to florals...like flowers (not the state). It smells to me a lot like the "bay rum" part of SCS's Bay rum w/ a twist. In other words, it smells a lot like cola or ginger ale to me...

Lasts about as long as 4711 (maybe 2 minutes longer), but it is very cheap. I don't use it as an aftershave, but rather as a splash (as others have mentioned).

I did, however, have to stop using it when it scared away all of the evil spirits I have been culturing under my bed.

I can get Florida Water at the grocery store here. I don't care for it as an after shave, but I do love the way it smells and will splash it on sometimes after a shower.

if you look at the ingredients of florida water most have occult symbology of cleansing ,protection and purification.thus it was a "souped up" holy water that also smelled good.

i use the M&L florida water. makes a great a/s.