Now seen on tv, commercials for Gold Bond creams. In particular, this remarkable item:
(#1)
Radiance Renewal Whipped Shea Butter. Body Cream: 8 oz. Buttery smooth, ultra-rich hydration moisturizes skin for 24 hours.
Have you ever wished you could have all the benefits of a raw Shea Butter, but with a smooth, easy application? Meet GOLD BOND® Radiance Renewal Whipped Shea Butter.
Oh, honey, I have yearned for raw Shea Butter, but always hoped it could somehow be whipped into smoothness, for I am a sensitive fellow. And I’ve long mused about the fabulous Irishman Shea who gave his name to this remarkable ultra-rich hydrating substance.
Imagine my astonishment when I discovered that Shea was not Irish at all but West African, and that he was a nut-bearing tree. Also that Shea Butter, like Coconut Oil, provides not only moisturization, but also nourishment. Shea is, in a word, eminently edible.
More from the ad copy, which takes us to Africa (not to mention a Forest of Initial Caps):
Containing Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, African Shea Butter and Almond Oil, as well as 7 nourishing moisturizers and 3 vitamins, this luxurious whipped formula provides long-lasting moisture in a lightweight body butter.
I haven’t tried Radiance Renewal myself, but I can only hope it’s the better body butter I’ve always dreamed of. To better the bit of bitter butter that Betty Botter bought.
The butter. From Wikipedia:
Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa). It is usually ivory in color when raw, with more processed versions being white in color. It can be yellow when a root is added to it. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. Shea butter is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries. Occasionally, shea butter is mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is noticeably different.
The English word “shea” comes from s’í, the tree’s name in Bambara.
In the ads, the name is pronounced /ʃe/, like the Irish family name Shea of Shea Stadium; more faithfully to its source, it’s pronounced /ʃi/, like she; or /ˈʃiə/, as in Shia Islam.
[Brief digression on Shea Stadium. From Wikipedia:
Shea Stadium was a stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. Built as a multi-purpose stadium, it was the home park of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets for 45 seasons (1964–2008), as well as the New York Jets football team from 1964 to 1983.
The venue was named in honor of William A. Shea, the man who was most responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left for California in 1957. It was demolished in 2009 to create additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field, the current home of the Mets.
I remember when Shea Stadium was built. Now it’s a parking lot. ]
Meanwhile, back in the plant world, three images:
(#2) A Vitellaria tree, with fruits
(#3) Shea nuts in their shells
(#4) Shea butter and some shelled nuts
The tongue twister. From Wikipedia:
Betty Botter is a tongue-twister written by Carolyn Wells. It was originally titled “The Butter Betty Bought.” By the middle of the 20th century, it had become part of the Mother Goose collection of nursery rhymes.
… When it was first published in “The Jingle Book” in 1899 it read:
Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit o’ better butterWill make my batter better.”
Then she bought a bit o’ butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit o’ better butter.
And now, a better body butter.
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