Okay. Here is my pathetic attempt to be creative (see picture -- if you dare). I tried to make one of those apple pomanders like I did in grade school. You can see the result. Nearly an entire bottle of whole cloves, and I did not have enough for one apple. So, here we are.Does anyone know the origin of these clove apples? I mean, aside from being busy work for poor, condemned children in elementary school?
I found one reference that said it was part of the pomander craze of the 17th and 18th centuries (back when they did not bathe enough and needed something to hide the smell). Another reference said it began as a kissing apple that a fair young maiden (whom else?) would offer to some cute young guy she happened across. If he found her comely and appealing, he would bite off a clove and they would kiss. So, it was kind of an ice breaker / breath freshener kind of thing.
Have you heard any other origin of this goofy thing?
4 comments:
Years ago I met a guy who said that science had no answer for the question "How does the brain move the body?" Was he right?
Wow, I've never even heard of clove apples. Only clove-studded oranges, which my great-great grandmother still hung in her closets when I was tiny (and which I assume are classic "air-freshening" pomanders?)
Sarah: I had not heard of clove oranges until I began my research for this entry. Apparently, citrus of all kinds was used. I think a clove lemon would be very nice, indeed.
And use less cloves!!
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