One is the Loneliest Number

A couple weeks ago, we sent an order to someone who lived in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Creve Coeur is located in west St. Louis County and is a suburb of the city of St. Louis. Around 16,500 people call Creve Coeur home. The town was incorporated in December of 1949 and got its name from Creve Coeur Lake, which is located nearby. The name Creve Coeur is derived from the French words meaning "broken heart."

Having a broken heart is a terrible feeling. Most people experience a broken heart at times throughout their lives. Coping with a broken heart is hard to do and each person handles it differently. Some people try staying busy. Some people do nothing. Some people stop eating. Some people eat more. Some people exercise. Some people drink. There is no fool-proof plan or a set amount of time that will allow you to heal.

The way I handle a broken heart is to be alone and listen to music. For some reason sad and depressing music helps me deal with heartache. There are certain songs that seem like they were written for you and your situation. Even the cheesy songs from bands like Foreigner, Journey, Air Supply, Poison and Chicago seem to make sense and you lower your standards and actually listen to them. The only thing that seems to cure a broken heart is time. As time goes on the pain decreases and you meet new people, and hopefully you learn from the experience and use it for future relationships.

MAHONEY!

Not too long ago CARSON wrappedhersheys.com sent a package of personalized candy to a customer who lived in Guttenberg, New Jersey. The town of Guttenberg is home to around 11,000 people. That may not sound like much, but when you consider the town has a total area of 0.2 square miles and is only four blocks wide, that is a lot of people in a little space. The population density of Guttenberg is 56,012 people per square mile, making it one of the most densely populated places in the country. Guttenberg is located on the other side of the Hudson River from Manhattan. Thirty six percent of Guttenberg's residents work in New York City. These are all interesting facts about the town.

The most important fact is the town shares its name with the greatest actor of the 1980's, Steve Guttenberg. Has there been a more accomplished actor? What has he not done in movies? He has been a cop (Police Academy 1,2,3 and 4) and a father (Three Men and a Baby and Three Men and a Little Lady). He found the fountain of life (Cocoon 1 and 2). He survived a nuclear holocaust (The Day After). As an actor he has appeared in sixty projects including movies and TV. That is a lot of work. He may not be a big hit with film critics, but I will salute the man who created Johnny 5 in the movie Short Circuit. Seriously, does it get any better than Carey Mahoney playing jokes on Lt. Harris in Police Academy? I think not!

Do geese see God?

Today I shipped an order of three hundred minis to Capac, Michigan. Capac is located in Mussey Township inside St. Clair County. The village of Capac has a population of around 2000. Capac was founded by a group of men led by George R. Funstan and Judge DeWitt C. Walker in 1857. Capac was incorporated as a village in 1873. Most importantly, the word Capac is a palindrome. With my name being Bob, that excites me:

• Bob, level Bob.
• I love me, vol. I.
• I saw I was I.
• Was it a cat I saw? Was it a rat I saw? Was it a bat I saw?
• Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?
• Yawn-Madonna fan? No damn way!
• Yo Bob, mug a gumbo boy.
• Sir, I soon saw Bob was no Osiris.
• Norma is as selfless as I am, Ron.
• Madam in Eden, I'm Adam.
• Lisa Bonet ate no basil.
• God saw I was a dog.
• Dog-- no poop on God.
• Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.
• Dennis sinned.
• Delia saw I was ailed.
• Bob;Did Anna peep? Anna: Did Bob?
• A Toyota's a Toyota.
• A Santa lived as a devil at NASA.
• Gary knits a stinky rag.
• Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog.
• I prefer pi.
• Kay, a red nude, peeped under a yak.
• Lepers repel.
• Mr. owl ate my metal worm.
• So, Ida, adios!

Little Johnnie Sando

Recently, when I shipped an order to Sandwich, Illinois I knew I had a city to write about. There are so many sandwiches in the world today, the possibilities could be endless. Unfortunately I could not come up with anything good to write about for Sandwich, Il. The town did not get its name because the people really liked sandwiches or because they produced a lot of sandwiches. It was named because a congressman wanted to name the town after his hometown of Sandwich, New Hampshire. I was planning to find a new city to write about until I noticed the name of the man who named the town. His name was Long John Wentworth.

Long John is such a cool and weird nickname. Long John is a style of underwear, a kind of bike, a donut and a nickname for people named John. Famous Long Johns are Long John Silver (both a fictional pirate and a restaurant) golfer Long John Daly, radio host Long John Nebel and blues legend Long John Baldry. I personally do not call anyone Long John or know anyone who goes by Long John, although I know plenty of Johns. Maybe that is because a common nickname for John is Jack. That nickname I do not understand at all. Johnnie or John John I understand. My name is Robert so I can be called Bob, Rob, Bobby, Robbie, Bobert or Bob-O. All of those are a variation of my original name. Jack only shares one letter with John and is the same amount of letters. I think people should stop calling Johns Jack and start calling them Long John.

Change is Good

I know I have said this before, but I find how towns pick their names to be fascinating. There are so many things you could name your city after; and recently we at CARSON wrappedhersheys.com shipped an order to a town with an interesting name. I love when a town gets creative or does something out of the ordinary. That is definitely the case with Hot Springs, New Mexico. In 1950, the town of around 7000 people decided their city's name needed a change. The name Hot Springs was given to the town to describe the geological hot springs that exist in the town. There are several spas that utilize these natural hot springs to soothe spa guests. There are other places in the country that use the words hot springs in the name of their town.

In 1950 an opportunity arose. The host of the popular radio show Truth or Consequences, Ralph Edwards, wished a city would change its name to Truth or Consequences out of respect and love for the show. The town of Hot Springs, New Mexico learned of this news from the New Mexico State Tourist Bureau. The idea spread around and the town held an election to change their name. The name change won. The name also survived two challenges to change the name back. After the name change, Ralph Edwards hosted the show live from Truth or Consequences. Ralph would show up during the first weekend of May for the next fifty years to celebrate the change.

I would love to change my city's name to a title of a radio or TV show. I would like to change the name to ALF. If you have never seen ALF you are missing out. The premise of the show is as follows: An alien, ALF stands for Alien Life Form, lands on the garage of a family. ALF's spaceship was beyond repair. The Tanners decided to make ALF part of their family. ALF loved to eat cats and he was always starting trouble. The best part about changing the name is the fact that I have a friend named Chris who looks exactly like Max Wright who played the dad on the show. The tourism in this area of Southwest Ohio would shoot off the charts with the name ALF. It would always be a conversation piece and the merchandising would be great. What would you name your city?

ZZZ....zzz...zzz

CARSON recently shipped an order to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, a city which is located in Brown County. The town was named after Chief Sleepy Eye who was known as a compassionate man with droopy eyelids. The Chief's real name was Ishtakhaba. There are around 3500 people who call Sleepy Eye home. The thing I like best about Sleepy Eye is the name. I love sleep. I don't seem to get much of it these days. It is weird to like something that you are not conscious for, but I do. There are so many good forms of sleep: sleeping after an extra long day at work; sleep after driving all night to get home; the first nights of sleep on a new mattress; the extra hour of sleep you get when you move the clocks back an hour from daylight savings time; an afternoon nap on a cold winter day; sleeping during the day after staying up all night writing a paper for school. On average, Americans are sleeping an hour less a night than they did twenty years ago. This is very troubling to me. Aside from the health risks, loss of production at work and increase in automobile accidents, being lost is the fun of sleep. The fun of waking up before your alarm clock beeps and knowing you can sleep more. The comfort of a favorite blanket. The warmth and fun of a water bed. I advise everyone to sleep more. Take a nap, sleep late on Sunday, enjoy a hammock. Whatever you do GET SOME SLEEP.

What's in a Name?

There are many names of many towns. Some towns are named after people. Some towns are named after saints. Some towns are named after other towns. Sometimes a name describes the landscape. For a town in Pennsylvania that we shipped to the name comes from a number. Eighty Four, Pennsylvania is a town of around 5000 people located approximately 25 miles from Pittsburgh. Why would a town name itself after a number? A number of theories exist. The most likely theory is that the name was given to commemorate the election of Grover Cleveland as President. Other theories exist such as the town being mail drop number 84 or being 80 degrees and 4 minutes west longitude. Another is 84 soldiers and a man named General David "Crazy Legs" Hamilton (I love the name by the way) held off an attack of outlaws at the location of the town. I personally think it is weird to name your town a number. Then I began to think of what I would name a city if I had the power. Would I pay homage to a family member? Would I name it after an early settler? Would I steal the name of another city? Would I describe the landscape? I would want it to be exciting, memorable, distinguished and fun. I think I would name it.......

Silent in Texas

We sent a package to Pflugerville, a city in Central Texas located about 15 miles north of the Colorado River. The town was founded by William Bohls in 1860 when he established a general store and post office in his residence. He named the town after Henry Pfluger, who owned land in the area. Pflugerville is home to around 35,000 residents. More importantly, the city has a silent letter in its name. The P in Pflugerville is silent.

I love silent letters. There are so many words that incorporate silent letters. A lot of times you do not think about them unless you are reading them. I will demonstrate some of my favorites in the following sentences. I was eating a gherkin I had retrieved from the cupboard when I began to cough. A crumb was lodged in my throat. I began to kneel and a gnome appeared and put pressure on my diaphragm. Crisis averted. I was in serious debt and started looking at my receipts. Oprah was on TV and it was a week before Christmas. There was no doubt she would be talking to the "psychiatrist" Dr. Phil. I decided to see what my neighbor was doing. He was planning a trip to Ghana. I needed something different and comfortable. A documentary would do. I grabbed my favorite beverage and headed out into the night. I took a wrong turn and ended up in the ghetto. I was looking for a sign but saw a ghost instead. The bright light behind the ghost was a foreigner with a flashlight. I asked him where Lincoln Road was located. He wrote the answer on his wrist. The road was right past those folks. I turned onto Lincoln and headed home to my castle. I took off my clothes and climbed into bed. Tomorrow will be a solemn, autumn night.

Welcome to Manchester

In early December, we sent an order to Manchester, New Hampshire. The population of Manchester is close to 110,000 people. That makes Manchester the largest city in New Hampshire. It is also the largest city in northern New England. Manchester was incorporated as a city in 1846. The name Manchester comes from the city of Manchester in England.

In the early 1800's a man by the name of Samuel Blodgett opened a canal and lock system to allow ships into the New Jersey city. He wanted the city to become an industrial center and to create the Manchester of America. In the 1840's a number of mills opened including the largest cotton mill in the world. The mill was 900 feet long and 103 feet wide. The number of mills that opened required workers, and these people settled in Manchester. Many residents today are descended from the immigrants who settled in the 1800's.

Today Manchester has the fastest growing metropolitan area in New England. Actor and comedian Adam Sandler moved to Manchester when he was five years old and grew up in Manchester.

A Sac Full...

Last month, we sent a package to Sac City, Iowa. Sac City is a rural town in Northwest Iowa. In 1855 Judge Eugene Criss erected the first log cabin in Sac City. This helped establish him in the hotel business. He is known as the father of Sac City. The city was incorporated in 1874. More importantly, the city has the word sac in its name. The word sac is a glorious word. So many good things have the word sac (or sack) in them. There are potato sacks, which are good for transporting the delicious tuber and for racing in. You can sack the quarterback. You can get a sack of fries from White Castle. When you are tired you can hit the sack. The U.S. dollar coin is named after Sacagawea. You can live on a cul-de-sac. The bursa sac serves many functions inside your body. A woman's ovary is known as an egg sac. Spiders carry all of their eggs in an egg sac. Virtually any bag can be called a sack. You can take a sack lunch somewhere. The sound of the word is cool too. It is one syllable. It has power when you say it. Santa Claus carries a sack full of goodies to deliver to children on Christmas every year. I would have to say that sack is one of my top 5 favorite words. If you examine it yourself, I think it will be in your top 5 as well.