I had 24 slices of pumpkin pie between Christmas and New Years, and used one entire 14-ounce can of Reddi Wip. Obviously, I love pumpkin pie, and I have a very special fondness for Reddi Wip.
This love affair dates back to Thanksgiving day 1948. Just a few days earlier, a brand new, whiz-bang product hit the grocery shelves. It was called Reddi Wip, and everybody wanted it. We were among the lucky ones to get a can.
Bear in mind, this was new technology. No one before had tried to put whipped cream into an aerosol can.
My uncle was visiting from Indiana that year and was seated at the head of the table where he had the honor of carving the turkey, passing the green beans and dispensing the Reddi Wip onto slices of pumpkin pie.
Since it was such a special occasion, he actually stood up and took a bow before flipping off the cap and pointing the nozzle toward the first slice of pie.
Nothing happened. He tried again and still nothing happened. That was when, as he recalled it later, he departed from common sense and turned the nozzle toward his face so he could see what was wrong.
This time when he pressed the nozzle, it broke off inside the can and a giant whipped cream volcano erupted into his face, up across the ceiling, down the wall on the other side of the room, and ultimately onto the floor where our unsuspecting dog was napping.
I don’t remember what happened after that, but I know we found traces of whipped cream throughout the room for weeks afterward.
A couple months later, Dad saw an item in the newspaper that said Reddi Wip had introduced a redesigned nozzle on its cans of whipped cream.