Absinthe

 
Our dear friend Ros brought this thermometer back for us from her last European trip. I hadn’t thought much about the words on it until I heard a podcast (David Marr, Late Night Live) on the history of absinthe.
 
Absinthe is a fiery green anise-flavoured liquor containing wormwood, other plants and a great deal of alcohol. Called ‘The Green Fairy’, it was associated with nineteenth century French bohemian culture. Some say it was responsible for Van Gogh chopping off his ear.
 
Absinthe was banned in France and a number of European countries at the end of the nineteenth century, because of its hallucinogenic and madness-inducing properties and also perhaps because of its association with dissolute lifestyles. It stayed banned until the twenty first century. Banning had two unintended consequences. Absinthe seems to be virtually indestructible, so bottles of genuine, pre-ban absinthe fetched and still fetch extraordinary prices. There also emerged a successful market in forged pre-ban absinthe.
 
I don’t think Ros was aware of this colourful history when she gave us the thermometer.