What’s the 4711?

I was paging through the February 2012 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine and came across a promotion for 4711 Eau de Cologne. Now for those of you who are too young to remember or know this, 4711 was a popular cologne from yesteryear. It was first launched in Köln, Germany (Cologne in English) in 1792, as a unisex scent, by perfumer Wilhelm Mülhens. The full name on the original bottle says “Echt Kölnish Wasser” (real water from Cologne).

4711 FRONT OF BOTTLE

My grandmother used it as smelling salts though, and I grew up thinking that it was only used to help revive you when you felt faint. I had a bout of panic attacks during my first year of university, and having 4711 in my handbag was de rigueur.

Flash-forward to 2012 and 4711 seems to be making a comeback. The smell is refreshing in the same vein as all the “eau” colognes, and the fact that it costs a mere R60 for 25 ml makes it a real bargain. The citrus smell reminds one of a burst of lemonade on a hot summer’s day.

4711 BACK OF BOTTLE MADE IN WEST GERMANY

Attached is a picture of the original bottle owned by my late grandmother, Audrey Roman (whose 83rd birthday it would have been today, by the way). Proof that it is authentically from the seventies or eighties, is the fact that it says “Made in WEST Germany” on the back label. And it still smells divine, after all of these years.

Frankies vs Woolies: score one to the little guy

Frankies vs Woolies: score one to the little guy.

I’m in an Edgar Allan Poe mood today.

I first heard this poem as a teenager, with an existential crisis, circa 1990. I thought about it today for some reason, and so here is Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee” – a poem which is both beautiful and sad.

Annabel Lee – by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Vintage Lipsticks

My grandmother loved red lipstick, in fact, she always said that red was the only colour she ever wore. But she lied. After her passing, I dug around in her chest of drawers and found some vintage lipsticks…and I do mean vintage, circa 1950’s or 1960’s. (see picture).

Granny's Lipsticks circa 1960

The casing seems to be almost antique looking, brass-like, and very sturdy. Gosh, these lipsticks are older than I am! I also love the side push up lever, a device from yesteryear that is no longer in vogue.

If one were to compare these antiquated lipsticks to the ones of today, of course, the technology inside today’s “lippies” is 100% better and improved, with collagen, SPF and brilliant colour and shine, but I think that the packaging most of the time, leaves a lot do be desired.

In my opinion, a lipstick, which is designed to make a woman look and feel beautiful, should also have stunning packaging, so much so, that you will consider it a work of art, much like perfume bottles. Once it is finished, you won’t want to throw the lipstick case away.

What memories do you have of your mother and grandmother’s lipsticks? Did they also multi-task and use some of it as blush? Do you remember the smell? Thank goodness technology has marched on, and the sometimes horrible lipstick smells have been replaced by fruity flavours or none at all.

WILLIAM & KATE – ROYAL WEDDING FEVER

It was on the 29th of July 1981, when the 19 year old Lady Diana Spencer and the 32 year old Prince Charles, walked down the aisle in St Paul’s Cathedral London, in what was claimed to be the wedding of the 20th century. But as we all know, that fairytale crumbled in divorce. Diana produced two male heirs, Princes William and Harry, and the former takes his walk down the aisle to marry Kate Middleton in two days’ time.

These are my memories of those eventful 1981 nuptials. I was 7 years old and in Grade 2 at the time, or Sub B, as we older generation South Africans used to call it. Good gracious, that was 30 years ago! I was royally mad, a complete royalist, even at that young age. Every picture of Diana that I could find was pasted in my royal scrap book. Sometimes, my mother couldn’t afford to buy me Pritt, so I used grape flavoured bubblegum to stick the pictures down. Come to think of it, every time I opened that scrap book, it reeked of grapes. What a pity that with all the moving I’ve done in my life that my beloved royal scrap book went missing.

Back to that 1981 afternoon… my granny, mother and I gathered around our black and white television to watch a worldwide event that was coming to us live. The anticipation of seeing Diana’s wedding dress was so huge and the gasps of amazement when her elongated train was revealed, as she stepped out of the carriage, could be heard by women globally.

The Emmanuel designed wedding dress was the most beautiful gown I had ever seen in my 7 years of existence. The layers of organza, the frills, the poofy sleeves… Diana really did look like the personification of a fairytale princess.

Diana's wedding dress with long train

Later in the day, the royal public kiss on the balcony concluded what I imagined to be the most watched wedding in history. That is surely to be surpassed on Friday, 29 April 2011, when Kate and William say “I do.” And my now 37 year old self, will be watching just as enthusiastically as I did when I was 7 years old!

Congratulations William and Kate!

ATLAS POEM – LOVE IS A VERB.

I found this poem in a magazine recently. It describes perfectly my notion of “grown-up love.” You show that you love someone, not only by romantic gestures of gift giving (if you are lucky enough to even receive anything). Rather, it is the everyday, mundane things, like taking out the trash, having short showers so that there is enough hot water left for your partner, washing up the dishes or washing clothes – it’s the simple stuff that counts. After all, love is a verb. This poem sums it up nicely, so enjoy, and remember it when your partner seems to be unromantic. His / her idea of caring may just be remembering how you like to take your tea, with 3 spoons of sugar.

The Inbetweeners

My latest television fix is a British sitcom called “The Inbetweeners” (BBC Entertainment channel 120 on DSTV on Tuesday nights at 21h30.) It chronicles the lives of four 16 year olds at a British comprehensive school, and as the name suggests, the group of friends are not exactly what is considered to be “cool” but they are not too nerdy either.

I find it hilarious due to its sometime “toilet humour” but then my sense of humour falls into that department. The show’s writers, Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, have the wonderful ability to take the mundane everyday high school shenanigans of teenage boys and turn it into something outrageously funny. The delivery of each line is done in perfect comic timing, thanks to the acting skills of the main cast, Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison).

More importantly, it brings back all of those high school memories circa 1989 and 1990 especially. I was in Standard 8 and Standard 9 in those years (that’s Grade 10 and 11 to all those older than 35 like me!). My friends and I definitely fell into the nerdy category (do fellow scholars copying your homework fall into the geek compartment?) Despite this fact, I always had aspirations of being on the arm of the hottest combination of athlete and student, for the matric farewell. Sadly, that did not happen (a blog down memory lane for another day), but it was in the style of a true Hollywood teenage movie. No, not “Carrie”.

Anyway, thought you should see some clips of “The Inbetweeners” to tickle your funny bone, and to bring back some of YOUR high school memories. What a pity that they only made 6 episodes in series 1 and 2. Hopefully, we will get to see series 3 shortly (hint, hint DSTV/ BBC Entertainment).