I suppose all is not lost. A simple $8 transaction would fix all; as they say, anything can be fixed if you have enough money.
Many have wondered to what I was referring when I mentioned the gift from my parents in the mail. I knew that my father had (currently has) a stash of old aftershaves and colognes in his dresser drawer (what we at home referred to as a "bureau" drawer). So, I asked my mother ever so kindly if father had any glass bottles of Old Spice, thinking that I would find a late-1970s bottle of Shulton Old Spice as a kind of treasure. Her reply was a hearty yes with the addition that father had two bottles. I immediately requested they be sent to me by post.
After my father paid the near-$20 shipping fee, I received the bottles in the mail. One was aftershave, and the other, a smaller bottle of Old Spice cologne. When I looked to the back of the bottles for dates and so forth, I noted that they were copyright 1997, well after the purchase of the brand from Shulton. A simple olfactory test suggested that this Old Spice, though probably 15 years old or so, was the same sort of stuff that I could buy--and did buy--in the present.
Nevertheless, I treasure the glass bottles. My sadness at the alum bar incident has nudged me toward purchasing some Indian Old Spice (that is, Old Spice made in India) as it is based on the older Shulton formula, apparently nicer in its smell than the modern North American version. Now on to ebay to see if I can find some...
