Making scents of Austin
Why shouldn’t Austin have its own array of perfumes identified with it? New York has a company (Bond No. 9) paying olfactory tribute to the Big Apple with such scents as New Haarlem, Nuits de Noho, and Broadway Nite. Some of ours might be:
Main Library: essence of cheap tobacco and vending-machine coffee
Armadillo: essence of stale beer
Austin Dawn: essence of ditchweed
Cue: essence of woodsmoke and temptations for carnivores (vegetarians will be repelled)
Hippie Hollow: essence of coconut oil and olive oil
Sixth Street: essence of the night before
South First: essence of onions and jalapenos (when you wear this, those around you will suddenly suffer hunger pangs and suggest a food foray; don’t be stuck with the bill)
West Pecan: essence of fresh baked goods
Main Library tops the list because this is where the idea came to me, day before yesterday, when the weather was damp and chilly and brought indoors all those who customarily spend lots of time in the open air. Austin Dawn is the herbal aroma that emanates from rolled-down windows of passing pickups to delight the early-morning pedestrian. After the first, all are in alphabetical order. Shouldn’t there be a Zilker? Should it be in some way floral, with a touch of soccer-ball leather? Waterloo? Hints of hot sauce and Spam (permission to use the trademark might be required)? If these are heavy on the foody aspects of life, that’s just because Austin is a calorie-consuming kind of town. What other aspects of Austin should receive perfumed tribute and what should the ingredients convey?
Austin Natural Soap has a variety a soapy scents of Austin and vicinity: Barton Springs, Sixth Street, 78704 (a mix of other soaps), chili, cowboy, and bluebonnets. We sent a bar of Austin scent to all our relatives abroad this Christmas and saved a bar of cowboy-scented soap for ourselves. (Mmm. Manly.) You can find Austin Natural Soaps at People’s Pharmacy, Central Market, or cut a slice of soap at Whole Foods Market.
I don’t see a Faulk Library scent, though. So you still can corner the niche.
see: the soap with its own ZIP code, December 2004— you confirm my supposition that the 78704 soap is made from scraps of the rest of Austin, saponically speaking. I think for a while that somebody was selling a Bluebonnet scent, which is kind of icky in large amounts. There should be something out there, though, for cedar after rain (or should we say Ashe juniper after rain); this perhaps should be called Big Stacy.
My sister used to make soaps like yours, I LOVED them!! They are the best in the world and last a long time. I will remember your site so I can come back and order later.