Hatrack River Forum: Popcicle disaster (Link included)

This is topic Popcicle disaster (Link included) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Void (Member # 8259) on :

Scary!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050622/ap_on_fe_st/popsicle_disaster

[ June 22, 2005, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: Void ]

Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :

quote:
The 25-foot-tall, 17 1/2-ton treat of frozen Snapple juice melted faster than expected Tuesday, flooding Union Square in downtown Manhattan with kiwi-strawberry-flavored fluid that sent pedestrians scurrying for higher ground.

The Onion could not have written a funnier paragraph! [ROFL]

Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :

[ROFL]

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

Yep, this is one reason I love HatCrack! [ROFL]

Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :

[Big Grin]

Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :

Ah this reminds me of the molasses disaster in Boston (was it?) a long time ago when some molasses storage tank burst, sending out a snail paced tsunami of sticky stuff that engulfed everything in its path. It is said that you can still smell molasses when it's damp in that area of town.

Now I must google for the true facts of the case. My memory is too bad!

Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :

Ah, here it is! <marvels anew at the wonders of google> Apparently it was an explosion, too, and not a slow wave.

"How fast is molasses in January? That day the wave moved at an estimated 35 miles per hour." From the Smithsonian article about it posted here.

[ June 23, 2005, 03:04 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Informative quote from the Molasses Disaster page:

quote:
Hours after the explosion, a company lawyer was on the scene falsely blaming others for the disaster.

<insert favorite lawyer joke here>

[ June 23, 2005, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]

Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :

It's really too bad they used pink Snapple for the popsicle. Just think!

Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :

Yes, sndrake, the company had previously responded to warnings about the unsafe condition of the tank by painting it brown so you couldn't see the molasses leaking out so easily. [Smile]

It's good to know some things haven't changed. Sometimes I'm tempted to think stuff like that is new to our times.

Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :

It's weird how many things that have come to my notice lately happened in 1918-1919. Richard P. Feynman was born in 1918, I just read in the book of his letters that's just come out. No mention of the influenza pandemic in the year of his birth. Thank goodness it didn't take him! I guess we'd never know what we lost if it had, but anyway I'm glad it didn't.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

Ah, the best-laid plans of idiots. A giant popsicle in the summer heat? No one figured that melting MIGHT be an issue?

Oy! [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

If they try it again, how about trying in December? Or even Sept? [Big Grin]

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

How on earth did I miss your comments on the Great Molasses Disaster, Tatiana? It's my favorite!

Thanks for bringing it up!