Want to try an Experiment??

Posted By: Nancy
Date: Thursday, 31 August 2000, at 3:55 p.m.

THE GLOWING PICKLE

WARNING: (for you adult kids out there!)

What You Need (besides having your head examined!! )

* Wire cutters
* 6-foot extension cord
* Two large nails
* Large dill pickle
* Paper towels

What to Do

With adult supervision, cut off the outlet at the end of the extension cord, separate the two wires for 1 foot, expose the two wires, and wrap each wire around its own nail, just below the head.
Insert the nails into opposite ends of the pickle, without letting the nails touch each other inside the pickle. Hang the cord from a hook or string so it hangs in the air. The electric pickle will smell, so allow plenty of ventilation. Lie paper towels on the floor under the pickle to absorb drips.
Plug the extension cord into an electrical outlet.

What Happens

After sputtering, hissing, and smoking briefly, the pickle glows like a bright green electric light (sometimes at just one end).

Why It Works

The glow purportedly results from the sodium in the salt used to cure the pickle.

BIZARRE FACTS

* All Heinz products are identified with the keystone label (symbolizing Pennsylvania, the Keystone State), the pickle logo (representing the Heinz specialty in pickles), and the "57 Varieties" slogan (inspired by a sign company founder Henry J. Heinz spotted in New York City for a shoe store, announcing "21 Styles" of shoes).

* At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Heinz gave away thousands of bright green plaster pins in the shape of a tiny pickle embossed with the Heinz keystone.

* In 1900, New York City's first electric sign—rising six stories high and lit with twelve hundred lights—advertised the 57 Varieties with the Heinz pickle at the top.

* A pretty pickle is slang for "a sorry plight" or "a state of disorder," while pickled is a slang for "inebriated."

* In the Tempest, Shakespeare wrote: "How camest thou in this pickle?"

* In Firesign Theatre's classic comedy routine "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger," Rocky Rococo yells, "I ought to beat your brains out." Nancy replies, "No! Put down that pickle!"

* The animated television series Rugrats centers on the Pickle family: Tommy, Dil, Angelica, Didi, Stu, Drew, Charlotte, and Grandpa Louis.

* John Lennon's first girlfriend was Thelma Pickles

Nancy (oh, and put down that pickle )

 

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