Midnight Smack BY FU

or device

or saver

With lake beaches opening up and July 4th just around the corner, I started putting together my summer display in the shop.

Down came one of my favorite finds from an antique store just last year. A bright orange life saver. Or at least that’s what I always called it.

A life saver.

Except apparently it isn’t called that.

Somewhere along the way I discovered that the official name is a ring buoy, lifebuoy, or Kisby Ring, named after Thomas Kisby, who developed the circular flotation device in the 1840s.

I have to admit I was slightly annoyed or should I say embarrassed.

I had spent my entire childhood calling them life savers.

Then again, don’t we all do that, hang on to names from childhood and never question them until one day we discover we’ve been confidently wrong for decades.

Naturally, this sent me down a rabbit hole. Several actually. 

The flotation device came first.

Then candy came later.

In 1912, candy maker Clarence Crane was looking for something that wouldn’t melt during summer the way chocolate did. He punched a hole in a hard mint and thought it looked like one of those life preservers hanging on ships and docks.

Thus, Life Savers candy was born. Well wait now. Clarence was calling them life savers. So it was a thing for a bit. But I’d say a few years before I was born. 

Now here’s where my brain completely left the dock.

Nineteen twelve. 1912. 

The same year as the Titanic.

I immediately wondered what they used for flotation devices on board. I read The Other Mrs Astor and it there were several paragraphs dedicated to Mr Astor and his decision of wether he should put the life jacket on or not. He was adamant his pregnant wife did. The life jackets were cork-filled. And likely like the life boats there were not enough for everyone, as history painfully reminds us. And John Jacob Astor IV did not make it.

I’ve told you before every time through my obsessive podcasts and books I always hope that Titanic story will turn out different but it never does. 

Which probably should have ended my research. But food has a way of working its way into almost every rabbit hole I fall into.

Do I have a pantry life saver in my shop? I’ve been asked this before and thought what item in my store do I truly consider a life saver? 

I’d have to say Lemon Agumato Olive Oil. It’s a beautiful olive oil from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Whole lemons crushed with the olives. Resulting in a bright, vivacious full of pure lemon flavor. Drizzle it over oven roasted fish or chicken,  vegetables. Salads of course, but try it on ice cream with a sprinkle of flaky salt. Trust us, it’s insane how good it is. 

The once again I came full circle to the life saver and not the floatation device, the candy. 

I found myself thinking about the original Life Savers flavors: cherry, lemon, lime, orange, and pineapple.

I can still rank them.

Cherry first.

Lemon close behind.

Orange somewhere in the middle.

Pineapple near the bottom. Well the bottom.

Still ahead of those grapes they insisted on putting in fruit cocktail.

And then there was Butter Rum not in the variety pack but a whole roll of them.

Butter Rum was my very favorite.

Maybe it was because it was my Auntie Margaret’s favorite.

They seemed to be tucked away here and there. Purse. Pencil drawer. Glove box. She always gave them up for Lent so if there were any found then, that’s when we scored.

So while I put together my display I thought how objects do that.

You drag out an old summer decoration and think you’re refreshing a display.

Instead, you’re suddenly remembering beaches, candy counters, antique stores, lemon olive oil, family members, and things you haven’t thought about in years.

As for my antique-store life saver, I’m no longer convinced it ever saved anyone.

In fact, when purchasing after looking at it more closely, I think it may have spent most of its life advertising a liquor store.

Which somehow makes me like it even more.