By J.D. Olson
When nineteen hundred and forty-nine was fading away, and we were
stepping into the second half of the twentieth century, I was living
on the San Carlos Indian Reservation with my four brothers, a
brand new baby sister, and my missionary parents.
For the Christmas that had just passed, a produce wholesaler had donated cartons
full of apples and wooden crates full of oranges. The five little pale-faces
of the Olson household, now living on Indian land, would each help to wrap
one apple, one orange, a candy bar, and some popcorn for each of the little
Apaches in the mission. As each of the orange crates was emptied, it was
stacked out behind the church.
I can still remember the wonderful aroma of the oranges as we removed them
from their crates, but I especially remember how the aroma stayed with the
wooden crates after the oranges had been removed. I can also remember that
when summer would come to the Arizona desert, the Olson boys would be out of school.
With no school to interfere with our creative genius, we would head for the pile
of orange crates we knew would still be out behind the church. The wood
that had been rubbed by the oranges had absorbed some of the oranges' oil, and was still in good
condition. We would use this wood to make our toys. Some darn nice toys, I might add.
It was my childhood memory of wooden crates rubbed with oranges, and my desire
to care for the really fine clocks that I have collected, that led to the development of Whatiuse.
It is designed to penetrate into the wood, replacing the oils that time has
removed from your fine furniture. It is also blended to have a wonderful orange
fragrance that makes it a pleasure to use. it has no silicone, no solvents have been added, and it
has a natural cleaner built right in. It leaves a beautiful finish,
it's not expensive, and it's what I use.