Thanks for the history and the photos, gents.
Aqua Velva History
- Thread starter christopherh
- Start date
There is an actual cocktail named an Aqua Velva that probably was inspired to remember/forget/honor the WWII history of drinking the after shave. The color is bright blue and was made (somewhat) famous in the movie Zodiac. I have never tried one, but might sometime if I attend the annual B&B convention. I understand they are a featured cocktail at those. Where is the convention this year again?
This is one of my all time favorite misnomers. It is amazing how something so false can get so ingrained into our psyche that we use it no matter how preposterous without a second thought. I can tell you that the reality is we have no choice but to buy from the lowest bidder, always! If anything we take it too far to this extreme. There are times we are forced to buy cheap when what we really need is reliable. There are processes in place to prevent such a thing. Just my .02
Sure, whatever you want to believe, pirate man.
And just for your information it's Czar, not Tsar. Tsardom of Cheddar lacks a certain alliteration. And before you say anything, Tsardom of Theddar would just sound bad.
Sure, whatever you want to believe, pirate man.
And just for your information it's Czar, not Tsar. Tsardom of Cheddar lacks a certain alliteration. And before you say anything, Tsardom of Theddar would just sound bad.
It may sound funny but it would be more accurate. Historically speaking it is Tsar. Czar is an English bastardization of the both the word and the title.
So what you're telling us is that the government doesn't waste money?
Anyway, nice history lesson Clubman.
Rob, thank you for the post. It is interesting that it used to be a mouthwash. Hmm...
So what you're telling us is that the government doesn't waste money?
Anyway, nice history lesson Clubman.
Oh I'm not saying that the goverment doesn't waste money. What I was saying was:
In other words we (the military) don't have the luxury of buying the most expensive or always the best. The system is very restrictive. Spending at least for the AF is very regulated. There is no such thing as the $1K hammer or $2K toilet seat.
Like pirates care about bastardizing words, titles and such...
I do. I consider myself and my friends and associates be they Tsarists or Pirates to be gentlemen. When your avatar becomes your measure as a person you have concerns. All who know me know that I am a consummate gentlemen and only associate with others who fit the bill. If a pirate proved himself to be anything less than a gentleman I'd quickly relieve him of his hat as I would hope the Tsar himself would do with those who cannot remain gentlemanly.
I'm sure there's some documentation somewhere, but all I have is my handwritten notes that I culled over the years. My sources include Williams/Combe, old books, old ads, military records, personal recollections, oral history, and teh interweb. That's why I never submit anything to Wikipedia, because every other line I wrote would have a [citation needed] box next to it.
It's not very scientific, I know, but then again I only ever research things like this for personal enjoyment, not scholarly peer review.
I edited my post to delete it. Perhaps the military processes have changed since my time of service in the 80s, but I personally saw many thousands of dollars wasted. Totally unnecessary work was done to our ship, and then all of it was ripped out again 6 months later. The only excuse I heard was that "they send us the money; we have to spend it on something." And I'll never forget seeing the listing for tap water in a government book:
Water, Fresh- Work center provide.
DUH!
Actually, it was originally Czar (corruption of Cesar) and in Slavic tongue was spelled Tsar.
If you try using it as such, let us know how it works out for you, Matt!
Pretty bitter, but almost on par with Listerine.
Pretty bitter, but almost on par with Listerine.
So you've tried it as mouthwash? What about the other flavors of AV?
Never tried the other flavors. It was a dare at another forum. Someone suggested that it would be potentially deadly if used as a mouthwash now, which I pretty much disproved by experimenting on myself.
I figured if old drunk Smitty up the street (the neighborhood drunk from my childhood) could drink a couple of bottles a day and live to his nineties, I could use it as a mouthwash and not keel over.
I figured if old drunk Smitty up the street (the neighborhood drunk from my childhood) could drink a couple of bottles a day and live to his nineties, I could use it as a mouthwash and not keel over.
I was just going to ask if this might be the case. I remember it was in the '80s when all the reports of military overspending came to the fore. Perhaps that is the very reason for all the safeguards in place now.
I would have loved to serve in the 80's. The Air force was nearly 5 times larger during the Reagan era. I think that big spending is precisely why things are the way they are.
In the Navy, it was no picnic. They crammed more guys on our ship than it was designed to carry. This was so we would have the personnel to man our rapidly-expanding fleet. Many of these ships were later scrapped, at a cost of many more millions. My "old" ship, the USS Mississippi, a nuclear-powered cruiser built in the 70s, is now on this very expensive scrap heap.
Wow, it is always cool to me to get insight from other military men and women. That is just crazy.
