Author has 4 questions for you

[clamato8]

I have the strange job of answering mysteries sent in to me by readers. I was wondering if any of you had thoughts about 4 questions sent in to me:

1. Why do many bars/nightclubs put ice in urinals?

2. Why are there mirrors behind the liquor display in most bars?

3. Why do so many bars have television sets with the picture on and the sound off?

4. Why did so many bars used to have sawdust on the floor, and why don't you see it as much anymore?

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm especially interested in hearing from those of you who actually work in places that do the above.

Thanks,

Dave Feldman

[soundguy_99]

Hi,
About your first question "ICE"?, I am unaware of the use of ice in urinels, however I am aware that people put those Hockey Puck/cakes in uranels to help reduce the urine smell as well as to try and help keep the urinels clean and sanatized.
For you second question about the mirrors, I think that one should be a bit more obvious, like in other situation the idea is to make the bottle more apealing by spicing up presentation of the bottels as well as to make it appear that there are more bottles than there really are, its fairly impressive when you walk into a bar and see a huge shelf full of Liqure bottles behind the bar, this way you get the same effect with less bottles. The same trick is used in the catering business for veggie trays, and other food presentaions.
For your third question concerning TV'S, theres lots of reasons, It gives people something else to watch while they drink, epecially sport games (ie, hockey, Basketball, football, baseball, even Wresling), Also a bar may use them for advertising (drink specials, special events, The club Logo), as well as some clubs have camereas installed through out the club, so that people can see what happening on the dance floor or the band playing onstage, from anywhere through out the room, watching it on the in house tv's.
As for your forth question about the sawdust, you have got me there, I can`t say I have ever seen it done, possibly to cut down on broken glass, or cleanup. Although I have seen places fill the dance floor up with sand or foam, but that was for a promotional, beach/foam party.
Hope This helps.
Soundguy_99

[djhush]

he covered the first few no prob, ive never heard of ICE being used.

Sawdust was used before AC was mainstream, it took the moisture off the floor so people dident slide from one end of the club to another, and was less harmfull to the floor then useing any sort of sand, we still use sawdust when we have foam parties. Also now they have high polymer wax, im not sure if they had it 'back then' witch reduces slipage

another reason why TV's have sound off is obvious, because there is bumping music in the background, when a club\bar has a 10,000 sound system they do not want to have their customers glued to a TV when they have a dance floor

the only thing that i could think of in the club, when it gets REALY hot in our club, i mean really hot, when you use the urinal 'steam' comes off from your piss. Could be they would put ice in there to 'chill' the piss so it dident release steam, but that is a total guess, i have never heard of this before

[David]

A few clubs will discard their "old" or tainted ice throughout the day. If they don't have an extra sink to dump the ice into, they will dump it into a urinal.

I actually had to laugh at the question. Sorry.

The mirrors have two effects. They bounce the lighting above and around the bottles through them and they help add depth and vision to the wall.

The sound on most TV's isn't very good. IF they are playing music, well this is self explanatory. TV's are just another one of those things that bars use to keep you amused. You really don't need the audio to watch the game.

Saw dust was really a gimmick in the days gone by. Mostly country and western bars used this ruse to add to the ambiance. It wouldn't pass the Health Department inspection today. It also made a big mess everywhere.

Dave, please explain your job a little more. I'd like to visit the website if there is one.

[clamato8]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by David
Dave, please explain your job a little more. I'd like to visit the website if there is one.

Fair enough! I write a series of books called "Imponderables." Folks write to me with little mysteries of everyday life, the kind that can't be answered in books. I go to experts to try to find out the answers. Some of the titles of the books will give you some idea of what I do: "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?" "When Do Fish Sleep?" and "How Do Astronauts Scratch an Itch?"

Thanks to all of you for your responses so far. I'm particularly interested in the "ice in urinals" question. To give you some idea of how I research, I've contacted bartenders, bar owners, bar managers, urinal manufacturers, and bar/nightclub designers to answer the questions I posed. I've got a list of several bars that put ice in their urinals, and I'll call them.

I don't think there's one answer to any of these questions, actually.

I do have a website, but I've been dreadful about updating it -- it's been four years! I've been spending some of my time working on board games (one of them is out) and writing for magazines. But I'll be updating it in the next few months.
The site is http://www.imponderables.com

Thanks to all for your responses. I don't want to make any responses to your comments right now, to give others a chance.

Best,

Dave

[Tyler]

I just know that upscale venues have a bathroom attendent and they keep them with fresh ice maybe to be more upscale. The mirrors just look cool and they make it look like there are more bottles than there actually are.

[Baudtender]

I'm going to give my answers first before I read the others so
that I can see how much we agree and differ.

ICE IN URINALS
They put ice in urinals because it stops odors - the steadily
melting ice moves the standing urine beyond the gas trap,
and whether true or not, many bar owners think that cold pee
smells less than warm. Some owners feel it also stops the
attraction of drain flies and other beasties that do buzzing when
you're whizzing. Finally, after a place has been in business for a
long time, the septic lines coming from the urinals get caked with
a yeast/mineral scale from the beer drinkers. It's similar to
hardening of the arteries and it's hard to describe the odor that
comes from breaking open a septic line in a place that's been
open for a few decades - the melting ice keeps the gas trap from
evaporating dry and those horrid smells from escaping. You don't
see it too much any more (unless someone forgot to order
more "urinal mints" - those pink or white paradichlorobenzene
cakes used for the same purpose) because it also has the
unfortunate side effect of causing "splashback" on the visitor.
Some fellows, like myself, always consider it a personal challenge
to melt all of the ice in a single presentation when we come
across the rare dives that still do this.

MIRRORS ON THE BACK BAR
It's mostly a hold-over from long ago, but there are at least
four reasons why this was done. The first, and most popular
reason given was so that customers could see who was coming
up behind them when seated at the bar. The second reason
stems from the fact that many of the old bars had the bartender's
"make station" (where they prepared mixed drinks) right below
the liquor storage shelves. With the mirrors, they could keep
an eye on the customers while their back was turned - before
Dram Shop laws, it was a common thing to give a customer an
entire bottle of liquor and charge them by measurement (ruler)
or eyeball estimation for what they consumed. Contrary to
popular opinion, bar owners weren't the only rogues to water
down the liquor, if you see what I mean. In the old traditional
Brunswick-style backbars, mirrors were placed not just in the
open areas, but also behind the liquor shelves. This was done
because the available products were few and it made the bar
appear to be better stocked. Finally, unlike what you see in most
western movies, most bars and saloons were rather narrow and
cramped. Mirrors gave an illusion of spaciousness - an interior
designer's trick still used today - and carried forward by tradition
to many modern beer and liquor advertising mirrors.

PICTURE ON/SOUND OFF TV'S
Because TV's play music, and it clashes with the jukebox or
ambient sound system, and they basically quash socializing and
conversation. If you walk into an empty bar and the you see TV's
like this and there's no music playing, it's probably because
1) they have a jukebox that isn't being played at the moment,
2) the lazy-ass bartender hasn't got around to turning on the
house sound system, or 3) the bartender muted the TV when
they took or made a phone call and forgot to turn it back up, or
4) the daytime bartender just got yelled at by the owner for
watching soap operas.

SAWDUST ON FLOOR
Sawdust is a sweeping compound - it wasn't just used in
bars, but in the finest homes. The natural resin in the sawdust
adheres dust. You can still see higher-tech versions of this used
today to soak up oil spills in auto garages. At any rate, remember
that most of what got spilled in bars is slippery when wet, and
a sticky mess when dry. The sawdust served dual purposes -
it gave traction over a spill to prevent slip-and-fall injuries, and
it soaked up the gook so that it could be easily swept up later.
But it wasn't just thrown all over the floor, it was kept in a bucket
behind the bar and put onto spills as they occured. You could
imagine it getting kicked around a bit as a busy night wore on.
It's not used anymore because it was found to be a breeding
ground for bacteria and, as such, is a public health hazard. If
it's impregnated with wax or some other lubricant, wax is also
used on dancefloors (and shuffleboard tables,) but it loses its
sweeping and absorbancy properties when treated like this.

Here are some toughies for the crowd:

1) Why does a bartender's mixing spoon always have a twisted
shaft?
2) What does the initials "V.O." stand for on a bottle of Seagrams
Canadian whisky?
3) What common type of liquor (type, not brand) is almost always
mispronounced by bartenders and customers alike?
4) The majority of Canadian whiskys are blended with something
that isn't whisky at all in order to mellow the flavor - what is it?
5) What drink is traditionally served with a twist of lime?
6) What is the highest possible alcohol proof?

Baudtender

[ministry]

i have put dry ice in urinals before to produce smoke when you pee on it. usually around halloween. the sugestion about keeping the pipes wet does make sense, but maybe it is as simple as you used the bathroom right after someone just dumped out there empty glass :D

[Tyler]

I like the dry ice idea, that's cool!

[happybaboon]

Mmmmmmmm.... pee-fog...

:rolleyes: :D

Thats a well-cool idea dude -

I think regular ice in a urinal could look good too - and it would totally reduce the smell - Because the odor would be carried on the warm air up to the patrons from regular non-iced urinals, but a cool urinal would keep the odors at a lower level.

There's no reason why having a piss shouldn't be fun - I support any and all attempts to make it more enjoyable :)

[djhush]

i only know # 6, its 200, but they dont actually make 200, isent b191 the stronges they make at like 90.5%?

[ministry]

huh?:(

[ZEN]

HEY
I HAVE MY DOORMEN PUT ICE IN THE URINALS EVERY WED AND SAT NIGHT. MY BROTHER-IN-LAW IS A PLUMBER AND EXPLAINED IT TO ME. AS FELLOW BAR OWNERS I'M SURE YOU'VE HAD A URINAL THAT HAS BECOME PLUGGED, SMELLS AND NEEDS TO BE SNAKED OUT. THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR PEE HAS SULFERS IN IT AND IT BUILDS UP AROUND THE PIPES. WHEN YOU ADD ICE TO A URINAL IT SLOWLY DRIPS WATER DOWN THE PIPES AND ERODES THE SULFER BUILD UP.
ZEN

PS FLUSH ALL YOUR URINALS ONCE AT THE END OF THE NIGHT OR GET AUTO FLUSHERS.

[Baudtender]

Answers to my challenge questions:

1) Because the shaft is long and narrow - if it wasn't twisted,
it would bend rather than stir. Restrain your dirty jokes, now.

2) "Very Own" - not "Very Old" like many folks believe.

3) Curaçao (go to www.dictionary.com to see how close your pronunciation is.)

4) Sherry wine.

5) None. Trick question, there's no such thing as a twist of lime.
A twist is always made from the rind of lemon, with no pith. If
a customer asks for a twist of lime, bartenders should be allowed
to poke them in the eye.

6) 190 proof (95% alcohol by volume.) At any higher pecentage,
the solution becomes hygroscopic - it draws moisture from the
air and self-dilutes to 190 proof.

Baudtender

P.S. were we the only bar that put laminated photos of Saddam
Hussein in our urinals?

[grachuss]

I think the saw dust thing is to help clean up the aftermath of the patrons who had to much to drink. I wish they would do that today but instead my boss gives me a towel at the beginning of every shift.

[clamato8]

Loving the discussion. One follow-up:

3. Why do so many bars have television sets with the picture on and the sound off?

I think we have a consensus on why the sound is off. Do we have a theory on why the TV is on in the first place (let's assume, for the sake of this discussion, that there isn't an important sports or news event on). What purpose does a mute TV serve for patrons, bartenders, or ???

[Andrew]

Unwatched TV's with the sound up creates a "homely" ambience.

So to do watched TV's with the sound down. It's a distraction and almost everyone can identify with it, again I think "homely"

But in nightclubs? Not appropriate.

[ZEN]

greetings
i turn the tv's off in the club. i find that guys will stare at a soundless sportscenter the whole time rather then having the eggs to go talk to the females. if their not staring at a tv, they have to do something.
zen

[clamato8]

Originally posted by ZEN
greetings
i turn the tv's off in the club. i find that guys will stare at a soundless sportscenter the whole time rather then having the eggs to go talk to the females. if their not staring at a tv, they have to do something.
zen

Zen,

I think you have something here. From the customer's point of view, the tV is a little like a security blanket -- especially if they are alone, they don't feel as awkward if they have a place to put their eyes, and most of all, an excuse for where to rest their eyes.

[club125]

As far a the ice theory goes, I believe that you would see it done in a venue that was on well water and/or septic. No need to flush after each use. Although in later years it may have been used under the assumption that it helped control the odors, it doesn't.

[Milk]

That actually started in America during the days of the wild west. They were placed behind the bar so patrons and bartenders when getting drinks could keep an eye on their backs.

[Andrew]

Ahh..., the wild west. It's hard for us aussies to relate to this but here goes another attempt at humour..

This dog walks into a crowded saloon with a loaded shotgun. Crowd goes quiet; surprised at the very least.

Bartender: "Dog, what brings you back here?"

Dog: "I'm looking for the dude that shot my paw!" :D