blazo

I had a co-worker who often used the term, “Now we’re cookin’ with Skelgas!” Ralph Gorder is several years older than me, and I often wondered where he got this unusual statement.

Research shows that the majority of Americans didn’t use gas for cooking until around the 1930s. Wood and coal were most common, with electricity coming along about the same time as gas.

The term “cooking with Skelgas” refers to cooking with bottled or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), rather than other fuels such as coal or wood. “Skelgas” is a brand name that became synonymous with bottled gas used in homes and businesses. Skelly Oil Company was their parent company.

Over time, the phrase has also come to mean that things are operating efficiently or progressing quickly, similar to saying, “now we’re cooking with gas.” Ralph Gorder used the statement to indicate progress was being made on a job he was doing.

On a side note, years ago, I began using a pseudonym, calling myself “Blazo.” The name was used in conjunction with an avatar to make incendiary or inflammatory comments on columns contradictory to my political beliefs. To have done so using my real name ran the risk of physical harm. Some of those people are crazy enough to track a person down.

I was able to get my point across and then leave the building like Elvis would, with those in disagreement cursing and seemingly going into mental breakdowns because they hated what I’d just left behind. Blazo was the perfect moniker.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Blazo is actually a type of fuel, specifically a refined kerosene, that was commonly used in lamps and stoves before the widespread adoption of bottled gas like Skelgas. It was favored for its clean-burning properties and was often sold in tins for household use.

The transition from Blazo to LPG marked a significant improvement in home cooking, lighting, convenience, and efficiency. These days, we have an electric stove and oven in our home only because natural gas isn’t available in the neighborhood.

Another form of canned heat is called Sterno. A portable heat source for cooking or warming food, Sterno is often used for camping, buffet lines, and emergency preparedness. Caterers use Sterno all the time.

It comes in small, sealed cans that can be easily ignited to produce a steady flame, making it convenient for keeping dishes warm or cooking when other fuel sources are not available. Because Sterno burns cleanly and is relatively safe to handle, it has been a popular choice for chafing dishes and portable stoves for many decades.

I used Sterno while camping in Alaska when rain made it impossible to keep a campfire going. It was relatively safe to use in a tent if everything around it was cleared and flat rocks were placed beneath the can.

Many a can of Campbell’s Soup or Dinty Moore beef stew was heated right in the container this way. Since that time, propane stoves do the same thing, though I believe they can be more dangerous if not used properly, especially inside a tent.

I’ve recently come up with another canned product specifically for creating heat while camping, and I call it just that, “Canned Heat.” Searching for a proper place to store the pallet wood that I’ve been harvesting, placing it outside in the elements runs the risk of brown recluse spiders, centipedes, and scorpions seeking refuge within.

For those not knowing what pallet wood is, it’s the boards from wooden pallets used to ship items on. I have a special tool that easily separates them, while I still have to manually remove the nails with a hammer. No responsible camper should leave pallet nails behind in a fire pit.

The pallet wood is cut to fit inside 39-gallon garbage cans, and when they’re full, the lids are popped back on. This way, it’ll stay dry, and no insects can crawl inside. Before leaving for a trip, a can or two is placed in back of the truck.

Eventually filling up garbage can number three, and having no more pallets to harvest, I couldn’t help but culminate the job by saying out loud, as Ralph Gorder would do, “Now we’re cookin’ with Skelgas!”

I’ll make sure to pass Ralph’s catchy phrase on to my grandchildren for posterity’s sake.

Over the past 40 years, I’ve written many “letters to the editor” for various newspapers. It wasn’t worth my time to sit down and write one unless it was somewhat controversial and would elicit a response.

I learned a lot about how to write newspaper letters by emulating a fellow named, Edward Boyd. The late Ed Boyd was a successful Anchorage businessman and a prolific writer. I decided to take the time and copy a few of my favorites just for grins.

Looking them over, after all these years, I still think pretty much the same as I did back then. I named this blog “Blazo” for a specific reason. Toss a can of Blazo on a fire and you have an instant inferno. I’ve learned that words can do the same where emotions are concerned.

I added a few rebuttals to make things interesting. The last letter of mine concerns welfare. Two people reading it in Homer and Talkeetna, quickly responded back, with them seemingly lacking reading comprehension skills.

I’ll be adding more to this fun project as time permits.