Winding Up the Yarn: Bubbling mothball centerpiece

COLFAX — Helen Reed, co-owner of the Colfax Messenger along with her husband, Kenneth Reed, used to write a column called “Winding Up the Yarn.”

Here are the directions for a bubbling mothball centerpiece in the December 14, 1967, edition of the Colfax Messenger:

Want to have a pretty centerpiece for your dining table during this holiday season? A friend of ours who wishes to be nameless gave us these directions which she had heard over the radio. It’s called a “Bubbling Mothball Centerpiece.”

A plastic ornamental object may first be placed in a fishbowl. Then two pounds of mothballs, 1 teaspoon of citric acid, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda for each quart of water used to fill the bowl.

One may use two pounds of mothballs, which can be colored with a bit of food coloring or not. Also the water may have a little coloring in it. The amount of mothballs would depend on the size of the bowl used.

The balls will slowly bob up and down for days or weeks.

There is a warning, too. Mothballs are deadly poison if eaten, and the centerpiece should not be placed where children could reach it.