The "No Peanut Butter" Rule From: YBMCU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU Newsgroups: alt.folklore.suburban,alt.fandom.cons,alt.folklore.urban Subject: The Turd Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban Date: 24 Jul 1994 22:58:55 -0400 In article , jhawk@yang.cpac.washington.edu (Jane Hawkins) says: > > >Most masquerades these days have what is called the "No Peanut Butter" >rule. Some years ago, I forget when and where, a guy thought it would >make a cool costume to smear himself all over with peanut butter. I >also forget what he was supposed to be, but he forgot that peanut >butter gets drippy at 98.6 degrees F. He put on several pounds of it, >and proceeded to drip it all over the backstage area, on the stage, >and on anyone who happened to brush up against him. > >So, the "No Peanut Butter" rule basically means, "No costumes that >will make a terrible mess and wreck everyone else's costumes". The con in question was LAcon (the 1972 Worldcon), and the costume was called "The Turd". This person was one of the most recognizable members for the rest of the con. It seems that if you spend many hours covered with lots of chunky peanut butter, the oils start to soak into your skin. A bath won't remove them. Being scoured down by your friends after the bath won't remove them. Even if you scrub hard enough so that the skin gets raw and painfully irritatedit won't remove them. So, for the rest of your weekend, you get to walk around the con smelling like peanut butter, and everybody knows who you are, and why you smell like peanut butter. I don't know if it lasted long enough so mundane friends get to wonder why he smelled like peanut butter, but it wouldn't surprise me.