Alpine symbol in jars
Last week I strolled through Fiss, our favorite winter sports resort in Tyrol. Outside the photo shop, which also doubles as a toy shop, souvenir shop, and so on, stood an advertising sign. An advertisement for Marmot cream. A Marmot is a AlpenmarmotOne of the approximately 18 marmot species that exist (or existed) worldwide. A genus from the squirrel family. Would these funny, endearing little creatures really be killed to make cream? I asked that Fraulein in the shop. Fully aware of the naivety of my question. A question against better judgment. A question with a very unrealistically small glimmer of hope. Hope that they can make that cream without killing the animals. 'Well,' nodded that Fraulein, then I sort of squeaked, 'but then those marmots have to be slaughtered…' 'Well, that is indeed sad. But it is also necessary. The marmots have almost no natural enemies left, like the eagle. So culling is also necessary to prevent massive plagues.' And then that Fraulein launched into a whole rant about the amazing effectiveness of the cream against muscle pain and the like. 'That may all be true,' I thought, 'but *I* am not buying it.' Indeed, that is perhaps hypocritical. After all, I also eat meat and fish and wear leather shoes, but I find it a nasty idea.
The fat of Alpine marmots is incorporated into the cream. In addition to numerous high-quality fatty acids, trace elements, and steroids, this fat also contains various corticosteroids, such as glucocorticoid. The latter is used, among other things, in the treatment of rheumatism. The Alpine marmot itself uses its thick layer of fat as a food reserve and blanket during hibernation.
There are many stamps to be found depicting marmots. However, there are not many stamps featuring the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota). Quite strange, because the marmot is, after all, a symbol of the Alps.
Germany 1982
Alpine marmots are also found in the Pyrenees. That is why Andorra issued the beautiful stamp at the very top of the article. Romania and Poland also issued beautiful stamps featuring the Marmota marmota. After all, these animals also live in the Carpathians.
Romania 1985 Poland 1984
I just hope that the Marmot Cream doesn't become so popular that the Alpine marmot is an endangered species in a few years. Perhaps that would lead to more stamps being issued featuring Alpine marmots. But if that is the reason, I would rather settle for fewer stamps. I prefer to admire the little animals in real life.
NOOOOOOO, don't buy that marmot cream! Four of the 18 marmot species have already gone extinct, and if things continue like this with that cream, another one will be added soon.
Creams and ointments are something I have looked into quite often, and I say: DO NOT BUY anything containing even a single animal. If they weren't killed specifically for it, cruel tricks are played on them. Fear sweat, for example, is used in perfumes; other 'tricks' are pulled to obtain a specific substance—truly disgusting.
@Jacqueline, I think your shoes and piece of meat are different from a cream, though.
To be honest, I must say that that nasty “cod liver oil ointment” was also frequently used at my house in the past. That has since been replaced by Calendula (marigold) ointment, which works perfectly!
And the well-known Vaseline, I'm not really sure how it is with that.
Anything labeled "plant-based": check it, because with just a small percentage (3, or 5, or something like that) plant-based, it can already be called "natural." There are good plant-based brands that also involve a bit of development cooperation and nature conservation. As for anything containing mineral oils (petroleum!), that's up to you; I'd suffocate with something like that on my head.
Cute little animal and nice stamps, even though it seems to be undermining many a mountain at the moment, judging by what I’ve read; that seems to me more a matter for a nature conservation organization than for the cosmetics industry. Another very nice subject on a stamp is the Squirrel! There are beautiful stamps of that too.
‘@Dolores
From Wiki:
Vaseline was discovered by the chemist Robert Chesebrough. Robert Chesebrough worked in the lamp oil industry in the mid-19th century. This lamp oil was produced by processing fat from sperm whales. By 1859, this was no longer profitable because the first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, went into production. Robert Chesebrough traveled to Titusville and heard about the so-called "rod wax," a viscous black substance that clung to drilling rigs and oil drills. This was a major annoyance to the workers, who viewed it as waste. Robert Chesebrough extracted the yellowish-white Vaseline from this substance. To do this, the crude Vaseline was distilled under vacuum and decolorized using bone charcoal. This process was patented by Chesebrough in 1872.
Aaah so!
Bone charcoal, animal “charcoal”, is a granular material made by heating bones in the absence of oxygen. It consists primarily of calcium phosphate and a small amount of carbon. Bone charcoal has a very large surface area per gram and therefore has a very high absorption capacity for lead, mercury, and arsenic.
[edit] Use
Bone charcoal is used in a similar way to activated charcoal, for example to remove fluoride from aquarium water and to decolorize cane sugar. Because the bone charcoal is not present in the final product, it is considered parve/Kosher. It is also used in the production of Vaseline, here to purify and bleach crude oil.
Bone charcoal is also used as a black pigment. Sometimes in paint for use in paintings because it produces the deepest black available. Usually, however, ordinary charcoal is considered black enough. 'Ivory black' was historically obtained by grinding charred ivory and mixing it with oil. Nowadays, ivory is not used for this purpose because it is too expensive and because the animals used to extract ivory are protected.
Mmm, it completely clogs your pores, but it is reasonably effective, especially in cold weather. Although the Weleda cold cream is also really good.
I think living without animal material will become very difficult; after all, we are not rabbits. But only where necessary and concerning those basic things: food, footwear, and the like 🙁
‘@Dolores
If Irene van Lippe-Bisterfeld talks to the trees, then surely the plants must also have developed an emotional life over the centuries….
Maybe we can limit ourselves to raw materials of human origin 😉
Yes, that's true.:-( And soon there won't be a single plant left standing.
Human origin? Aaah gross!!! But that is already happening: cortisol or something like that is an adrenal cortex hormone or something like that (not to be confused with salsify).
Nice subject for a stamp: cruelty-free. (because all those creams and ointments have to be tested too) They surely exist.