My two year old grandson likes to put on a little manly cologne now and again. If he can talk Bebe into a small dab of mine, he runs into my office immediately with a big smile on his face and says, " 'mell me". Someone wrote something about after shave in a post the other day that got me thinking about those early days when the object of smelling good was to impress the young ladies. Early on in my awakening years, money was hard to come by and I had to borrow whatever dad was using at the time. Old Spice was a favorite of his, along with Mennen, Aqua Velva and occasionally Bay Rum. I know now it has more effect if you are actually old enough to shave. I remember going on a band trip out of town as an older teen just after the Beatles invaded, probably around 1964, and having one of the group tell us about a cologne that was sure to work, English Leather. Since none of us had much over two dollars in extra cash, we went as a group to find this sure fire elixir. We decided to pool our cash and buy one bottle for the whole gang. We rushed back to the hotel and splashed on a generous portion. Dressed in the latest fashion and sporting the hottest cologne on the market we set out for the evening. When we got on the elevator, it was almost impossible to breath because the fumes were so heavy. I don't recall getting anymore attention because of the expensive smell goody, unless it was giggles when bystanders were hit with the collective strength of the cologne emanating from a gaggle of hormonal teens. My grown daughters and my wife make sure I wear the latest in olfactory pleasing splashes these days.
