Remember at the beach, you stepped on some TAR and had to use mineral spirits to take it off

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Remember at the beach, you stepped on some TAR and had to use mineral spirits to take it off

Posted: 3/20/2006 10:03:44 PM EDT

Whatever happened to all the old tar that used to wash up on the beach. You used to have to scrub it off the bottom of your foot with mineral spirits. I guess it came from oil spills or something but it used to be something you watched out for. Now these kids have it easy

Posted: 3/20/2006 10:04:32 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
Whatever happened to all the old tar that used to wash up on the beach. You used to have to scrub it off the bottom of your foot with mineral spirits. I guess it came from oil spills or something but it used to be something you watched out for. Now these kids have it easy

very true...never even crossed my mind until right now.

Posted: 3/20/2006 10:05:27 PM EDT

[#2]

I've never seen such a thing. You must be old

Posted: 3/20/2006 10:06:31 PM EDT

[#3]

What sort of tar is this? Never heard of it.

Posted: 3/20/2006 10:07:00 PM EDT

[#4]

i got some on my foot on key biscane beach last week. it was the first time in a long time actually.

probably ended up getting washed out to sea after FIVE hurricanes in 2 years. now the beaches are just full of broken glass/nails/other shit

Posted: 3/20/2006 10:07:56 PM EDT

[#5]

It's my understanding that we paid a bunch of Mexicans to pick it up (because Americans didn't want to), and shipped it all to the middle east....so they could break it down into oil, and sell it back to us.

Posted: 3/20/2006 11:28:07 PM EDT

[#6]

I remember getting that stuff on my feet in Miami Beach back in the late 70s. They had spirits to clean your feet off at the pool/beach showers at the Fontainebleau Hilton and Sheraton bal Harbor.

The beaches on the Gulf Coast didn't have any tar. I guess it was a treat reserved for the rich folks visiting on the eastern side of the state to remind them of oil fields back home.

Posted: 3/21/2006 12:31:17 AM EDT

[#7]

That brings back flashbacks.

We used to have "tar fights"

We also used to paint ourselves with it and play "Chocka Zulu' flinging the hypodermic needles at each other.

NJ back in the 70's and 80's

I'm sure it was from oils spills. Carciogenic neurotoxins Ahh, the good old days.................

Posted: 3/21/2006 12:36:40 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
It's my understanding that we paid a bunch of Mexicans to pick it up (because Americans didn't want to), and shipped it all to the middle east....so they could break it down into oil, and sell it back to us.

You have solved our energy "problems".

Posted: 3/21/2006 12:47:51 AM EDT

[#9]

When I was a little kid the family would go to Torrance Beach, south of
Redondo Beach, in California. I thought it was named Torrance because of all the tar.

Posted: 3/21/2006 1:23:43 AM EDT

[#10]

I always thought that those were blobs of crudeoil. Man, this post brings back some memories.

Posted: 3/21/2006 2:31:21 AM EDT

[#11]

It's natural occurring tar:

What is the black gooey stuff on the sand at the beach?
The black, thick deposits that we often see on the beach and floating on the ocean are caused by a naturally-occurring seepage from the ocean bottom called tar. The tar rises to the surface of the ocean and is carried ashore by currents, tides and wind. Geologists believe this tar seepage has been occurring for thousands of years.

Eric

Posted: 3/21/2006 2:43:23 AM EDT

[#12]

Wasn't that tar's tendency to get on the feet of people the reason the British started calling the North Carolina soldiers Tarheels in the War for Independence? And that's where we get the college team name?

Posted: 3/21/2006 3:00:33 AM EDT

[#13]

Growing-up, I spent a lot of time at New Smyrna Beach, FL. I remember the was the whole tar/mineral spirits ritual at the end of the day

Posted: 3/21/2006 3:04:27 AM EDT

[#14]

Naturally happens? i dunno. to lazy to google it. I always thought it was from all the wood that was used back in the day that had to be "saltwater proofed" by tar to make it rot proof and water tight. now they treat it with other chemicals and use more cement and plastics. They also used the tar on telephone polls and railroad wood.

Posted: 3/21/2006 3:16:54 AM EDT

[#15]

They still have tar at Cocoa Beach.

Posted: 3/21/2006 3:49:54 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
I've never seen such a thing. You must be old

I remember it and I"m only 28. Maybe your parents just kept you in the kiddie pools and threw sand outside of it to keep you sheltered from the hot teen girls on the beach.

Posted: 3/21/2006 3:51:19 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
I've never seen such a thing. You must be old

Same here...
Then again I've only been to an American beach once...

Posted: 3/21/2006 3:51:59 AM EDT

[#18]

Had that happen to me in Spain, once.

Posted: 3/21/2006 5:17:16 AM EDT

[#19]

that is the proverbal "whale shit" that you steped in.

I remember it well. NJ shore, tar, needles and millions of dead jelly fish.

We used to throw the jelly fish at each other

Posted: 3/21/2006 6:01:19 AM EDT

[#20]

wow, my whole life, I've never experienced tar on the East coast. On the West coast, yes. I'm in the water alot more than the usual person, too.

Posted: 3/21/2006 6:13:25 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Wasn't that tar's tendency to get on the feet of people the reason the British started calling the North Carolina soldiers Tarheels in the War for Independence? And that's where we get the college team name?

I thought it came from the Revolution or the Civil War and was a complement to them because they rarely retreated and held firm like thir heels were stuck in tar.

Posted: 3/21/2006 6:22:05 AM EDT

[#22]

In Southern Californistan there was often tar on the beaches from about 1968 until the late '70s. It came from several major oil spills off the coast around Santa Barbara.

When I was a kid we used to use Zippo lighter fluid to take it off our feet before we were allowed back in the house.

Posted: 3/21/2006 6:22:25 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
That brings back flashbacks.

We used to have "tar fights"

We also used to paint ourselves with it and play "Chocka Zulu' flinging the hypodermic needles at each other.

NJ back in the 70's and 80's

I'm sure it was from oils spills. Carciogenic neurotoxins Ahh, the good old days.................

NO WAY! We did too!

Posted: 3/21/2006 6:26:41 AM EDT

[#24]

The same thing would occur in the Mediterranean off the coast of Greece. I was on an island and everyday that crap and also trash would wash ashore in the morning. Not only that, sharks would follow it in and everyday in the newspaper there would be a picture of a one caught the previous day. Ahh, the nice clean Med.

Posted: 3/21/2006 6:32:21 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I've never seen such a thing. You must be old

I remember it and I"m only 28. Maybe your parents just kept you in the kiddie pools and threw sand outside of it to keep you sheltered from the hot teen girls on the beach.

Hey man, I was KING of the kiddie pool. I had all of the girls in there eating out of my hand

Posted: 3/21/2006 7:38:14 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
They still have tar at Cocoa Beach.

Ah, memories of the tar.

That's where I grew up surfing. Merritt Island/Cocoa Beach

Posted: 3/21/2006 7:38:36 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
I remember getting that stuff on my feet in Miami Beach back in the late 70s. They had spirits to clean your feet off at the pool/beach showers at the Fontainebleau Hilton and Sheraton bal Harbor.

The beaches on the Gulf Coast didn't have any tar. I guess it was a treat reserved for the rich folks visiting on the eastern side of the state to remind them of oil fields back home.

We had tons of tar over here on the Gulf up until the late 80's/early 90's, then it all disappeared.

My granddad used to tell me it was made from oil leaking out of the ships that the German U-boats sank off the Florida gulf coast during WWII.

Posted: 3/21/2006 7:39:41 AM EDT

[#28]

.

Posted: 3/21/2006 10:16:20 AM EDT

[#29]

Got it on my feet in 1972 while visiting Miami Beach. Also got a sun burn so bad I couldn't sleep at night. I never have been much of a fan of "ocean beaches" since then.