At 08:33 -0500 on 11/08/2011, Bonno, Tuco wrote about Re: units (was:
Out damn'd GMT ...):
my query ( " ..... do any of the ...." ) was purely rhetorical; I
do know what they (aces of spades) were used for in vietnam; but
the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%26M%27s#1970s_and_1980s
has me puzzled ..... what do M&M-s have to do with it ??? other
than c-ration chocolate patties, I never saw ANY chocolate in
viet-nam, much less M&M-s ....
That has to do with another of my comments in my original message. I
mentioned the time in the 70's when Red M&Ms were withdrawn due to
the fear of Red Dye#2 (which was NOT the dye in Red M&Ms) causing
cancer. I mentioned that Mars Canada which not only kept that color
in that mix but produced large Red-Only bags which were stocked
primarily on the US/Canada Border near the border crossings and
supposedly were intended to be sold to US tourists. I jokingly
referred to their being brought into the US as smuggling contraband.
Since they did not use Red Dye#2 there was nothing illegal about them
(the withdrawal was voluntary to avoid confusion with the suspect
dye) and I was once at a Science Fiction Convention were some of our
Canadian members brought lots of them for the Hospitality Suite
(where they were a hit).
Since I am the one that made the comment about the Ace of Spade
Decks, I might as well expand on the origin of the decks and the
Wikipedia article (at least to the best of my understanding). There
was a large spike in requests for playing card decks from the
soldiers in Viet Nam. Upon investigation it was discovered that they
were opening the decks, removing the Ace of Spades and throwing the
rest of the cards away. This triggered the creation of the decks so
there would be no wastage and they could be efficiently used.
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