air-balls?

[Marius Hancu]

Hello:

What's an "air-ball" in this context? A balloon?

This is probably British and I couldn't find it anywhere:

----------
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did
not want to be bothered (feeling a little drowsy as he did) by people
asking him the time. An elderly grey nurse, with a baby asleep in its
perambulator--that was the best he could do for himself; sit down at
the far end of the seat by that nurse.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91md/
------------

The only definition I found (failing the context of course) is:
failed shot: a shot in basketball that misses not only the net but the
rim and backboard ( informal )


Thank you.
Marius Hancu

[Donna Richoux]

Post by Marius Hancu
What's an "air-ball" in this context? A balloon?
----------
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other.

[snip]

Post by Marius Hancu
Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91md/
------------
failed shot: a shot in basketball that misses not only the net but the
rim and backboard ( informal )

It was unknown to me, but the only definition I find that makes sense is
that it is, as you suspected, a balloon, one with a particularly round
shape. Here's a page from the trade that speaks of large "air balls" 10
feet or so in diameter:
http://www.adairproducts.com/balls.html

While looking for clues, I found another Virginia Woolf mention of the
term, in a section with a lot of near-nonsense:

'Now you trail away,' said Susan, 'making phrases.
Now you mount like an air-ball's string, higher and
higher through the layers of the leaves, out of
reach. Now you lag. Now you tug at my skirts,
looking back, making phrases. You have escaped me.
Here is the garden. Here is the hedge. Here is Rhoda
on the path rocking petals to and fro in her brown
basin.'

I suspect it was a popular name (perhaps trademark) for the ordinary
personal-size balloons of the time. "Park" fits, "string" fits.

[Gunga Din]

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!

The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.

From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

[Laura F. Spira]

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

The deduction is baffling but I now have this odd image of V Woolf
eating an ice cream cornet. (Wotcha, Gunga - happy anniversary!)

[Prai Jei]

Laura F. Spira (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message

Post by Laura F. Spira
The deduction is baffling but I now have this odd image of V Woolf
eating an ice cream cornet. (Wotcha, Gunga - happy anniversary!)

:),C>

[Gunga Din]

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with
a little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue
further down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

The deduction is baffling but I now have this odd image of V Woolf eating
an ice cream cornet. (Wotcha, Gunga - happy anniversary!)

TA!

[Jim Lawton]

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

Oy!
--
a Yorkshire polymoth

[Jim Lawton]

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

Oy!

Oh damn, sorry, mustn't try to do two things at once. Hope that "Oy!" didn't
hurt, I was aiming elsewhere.
J
--
a Yorkshire polymoth

[Wood Avens]

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

That's interesting. But it makes me think of candy-floss (AmE "cotton
candy") instead.

[Alan Jones]

Post by Wood Avens

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

That's interesting. But it makes me think of candy-floss (AmE "cotton
candy") instead.

That's possible: Google reveals that a machine for making candy-floss /
cotton candy was invented in the late 19th century, and "air-ball" suits the
ball of fluffy sugar better than it does a scoop of ice cream. But NSOED
says that air-ball is an archaic term for a toy balloon.

Alan Jones

[John Holmes]

Post by Alan Jones

Post by Wood Avens

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the
little house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd
statue with an inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an
empty seat. He did

[snip]

Post by Alan Jones

Post by Wood Avens

Post by Gunga Din
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression
for Italian ice-cream.

That's interesting. But it makes me think of candy-floss (AmE
"cotton candy") instead.

That's possible: Google reveals that a machine for making candy-floss
/ cotton candy was invented in the late 19th century, and "air-ball"
suits the ball of fluffy sugar better than it does a scoop of ice
cream. But NSOED says that air-ball is an archaic term for a toy
balloon.

I don't know whether they would have been around in VW's time, but does
anyone else remember a children's novelty that involved solidified
bubbles? There was a clear, sticky solution which smelt strongly of some
organic solvent, maybe acetone. You could blow bubbles with it up to
about the size of a small balloon, and then leave them to dry. The dried
bubble was made of something similar to the stiff celluloid cover that
you find on shirt boxes. No idea what they were called, but air-ball
would be a good description.


--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au

[Sara Lorimer]

Post by John Holmes
I don't know whether they would have been around in VW's time, but does
anyone else remember a children's novelty that involved solidified
bubbles? There was a clear, sticky solution which smelt strongly of some
organic solvent, maybe acetone. You could blow bubbles with it up to
about the size of a small balloon, and then leave them to dry. The dried
bubble was made of something similar to the stiff celluloid cover that
you find on shirt boxes. No idea what they were called, but air-ball
would be a good description.

Ooh, yes, I had a tube of that stuff. So smelly, so excellent. Searching
the Interweb Machine reveals that at least one brand of it was was
"Super Elastic Bubble Plastic," although I doubt that's the one I had.

[Maria Conlon]

Post by Sara Lorimer

Post by John Holmes
I don't know whether they would have been around in VW's time, but
does anyone else remember a children's novelty that involved
solidified bubbles? There was a clear, sticky solution which smelt
strongly of some organic solvent, maybe acetone. You could blow
bubbles with it up to about the size of a small balloon, and then
leave them to dry. The dried bubble was made of something similar to
the stiff celluloid cover that you find on shirt boxes. No idea what
they were called, but air-ball would be a good description.

Ooh, yes, I had a tube of that stuff. So smelly, so excellent.
Searching the Interweb Machine reveals that at least one brand of it
was was "Super Elastic Bubble Plastic," although I doubt that's the
one I had.

I was recently thinking about those exact bubbles, which I referred to,
in my mind, as "plastic bubbles." So what? Well, that is just one of
many recent incidents ("incidences" in news reporterese) of my thinking
about something being followed by that very topic appearing in someone
else's post in aue.

Should I be worried? I mean, think about it: it's not like plastic
bubbles were an item in the News of the World lately. (Or were they, and
is my subconscious merely doing what it does best?)

[Laura F. Spira]

Post by Maria Conlon

Post by Sara Lorimer

Post by John Holmes
I don't know whether they would have been around in VW's time, but
does anyone else remember a children's novelty that involved
solidified bubbles? There was a clear, sticky solution which smelt
strongly of some organic solvent, maybe acetone. You could blow
bubbles with it up to about the size of a small balloon, and then
leave them to dry. The dried bubble was made of something similar to
the stiff celluloid cover that you find on shirt boxes. No idea what
they were called, but air-ball would be a good description.

Ooh, yes, I had a tube of that stuff. So smelly, so excellent.
Searching the Interweb Machine reveals that at least one brand of it
was was "Super Elastic Bubble Plastic," although I doubt that's the
one I had.

I was recently thinking about those exact bubbles, which I referred to,
in my mind, as "plastic bubbles." So what? Well, that is just one of
many recent incidents ("incidences" in news reporterese) of my thinking
about something being followed by that very topic appearing in someone
else's post in aue.
Should I be worried? I mean, think about it: it's not like plastic
bubbles were an item in the News of the World lately. (Or were they, and
is my subconscious merely doing what it does best?)

I think you should begin to worry if you recognise the babies, the shirt
or the brooch...

[JF]

X-No-Archive: yes

Post by John Holmes
I don't know whether they would have been around in VW's time, but does
anyone else remember a children's novelty that involved solidified
bubbles? There was a clear, sticky solution which smelt strongly of some
organic solvent, maybe acetone. You could blow bubbles with it up to
about the size of a small balloon, and then leave them to dry. The dried
bubble was made of something similar to the stiff celluloid cover that
you find on shirt boxes. No idea what they were called, but air-ball
would be a good description.

I remember them, John, although I'd forgotten all about them until I
read your post. They were sad things, made of some sort of brownish,
sticky, gum-like material. They didn't burst with a satisfying bang but
deflated in a someone obscene manner, going wrinkled and flaccid in the
process.

[Wood Avens]

Post by JF
X-No-Archive: yes

Post by John Holmes
I don't know whether they would have been around in VW's time, but does
anyone else remember a children's novelty that involved solidified
bubbles? There was a clear, sticky solution which smelt strongly of some
organic solvent, maybe acetone. You could blow bubbles with it up to
about the size of a small balloon, and then leave them to dry. The dried
bubble was made of something similar to the stiff celluloid cover that
you find on shirt boxes. No idea what they were called, but air-ball
would be a good description.

I remember them, John, although I'd forgotten all about them until I
read your post. They were sad things, made of some sort of brownish,
sticky, gum-like material. They didn't burst with a satisfying bang but
deflated in a someone obscene manner, going wrinkled and flaccid in the
process.

Still sold by the splendid Hawkin's Bazaar:
http://www.hawkin.com/rkmain.asp?PAGEID=20670&STK_PROD_CODE=04542
or
http://tinyurl.com/aj79m

[John Holmes]

Post by Wood Avens

Post by JF
I remember them, John, although I'd forgotten all about them until I
read your post. They were sad things, made of some sort of brownish,
sticky, gum-like material. They didn't burst with a satisfying bang
but deflated in a someone obscene manner, going wrinkled and flaccid
in the process.

They used to last better if made on a fine day when the barometer was
high.

Post by Wood Avens
http://www.hawkin.com/rkmain.asp?PAGEID=20670&STK_PROD_CODE=04542
or
http://tinyurl.com/aj79m

That's surprising; I expected they would have been banned by now. Have
the glue sniffers not yet discovered them?

--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au

[Alan]

Post by JF
I remember them, John, although I'd forgotten all about them until I
read your post. They were sad things, made of some sort of brownish,
sticky, gum-like material. They didn't burst with a satisfying bang
but deflated in a someone obscene manner, going wrinkled and flaccid
in the process.

I guess there were probably several brands of the stuff --- when I was a kid
(in California), the brand we were disappointed with was a rather pretty,
deep, dark almost purplish blue

[Nate Branscom]

Post by Gunga Din

Post by Marius Hancu
Yes, he remembered Regent's Park; the long straight walk; the little
house where one bought air-balls to the left; an absurd statue with an
inscription somewhere or other. He looked for an empty seat. He did

Ooops. Somebody's asking about Marylebone!
The only locale in Regent's Park fitting both a 'long straight walk' with a
little house on the left that sells something and an 'absurd' statue further
down is the so-called 'Broad Walk'.
From this we can easily deduce that 'air-balls' is their expression for
Italian ice-cream.

How long has gelato been sold at the little house? Would Woolf had
been able to purchase from there?

-- Nate

[Marius Hancu]

Thank you all for your assumptions:-)
Marius Hancu