I remember the days of Halloween past when you couldn't just walk into a grocery store and buy dry ice. We had to go to a refrigeration supply company that was a 45 minute drive, one way. Now, Meijer keeps the stuff in a special cooler by the door.
Or. If you happen to order any kind of meat by mail. Not that I would ever advocate mail-meat, we had a box of buffalo parts come in the mail. Totally had forgotten about it, and as much as I love eating buffalo, I was excited to remember that the stuff always comes packed in dry ice.
Now, I have no way of saving the stuff until Halloween, and even if I did there isn't anything that I would do with it that I couldn't do with my fogger. Or my diffuser (where the hell is that, anyway?). It's just fun to "play" with. The problem, and I even remembered from 22 years ago, is that it doesn't last long. To keep a small-ish cauldron going, you had to constantly feed it dry ice. It also helped to change out the water every 25 minutes or so.
None of this could be done when trying to keep a porch setup looking creepy. Especially in the late 80s when most decorations were paper or cardboard that you'd tape up year after year. If you were lucky, you'd have a fake tombstone or two. Maybe some of those pumpkin (or spider!) leaf bags that finally seem to be making a comeback. Surely your bubbling cauldron centerpiece couldn't be down for maintenance every half an hour. What would the neighbor with the real coffin think?
Nothing about dry ice made it practical to use. It was expensive, it had to be replenished often, you could seriously damage your own skin with it (prolonged contact can lead to horrific frostbite), and improper ventilation can lead to extremely rapid suffocation.
But, it's still a classic. So here's a salute to dry ice and all the fun it can bring.
Cheers!
0 comments:
Post a Comment