Like you see at many shopping malls there are quite a number of free-standing stalls at the Royal Garden Mall in Pattaya. On one visit there was a stand where you could have a wax casting made of your hand by repeatedly dipping it into a heated container of tolerably hot liquefied paraffin, building up a coating of five or six layers of wax. Once the wax had cooled the vendor carefully removed it and you could take it home with you, I guess; I didn’t stick around to see what happened after it was removed, so maybe it was used to make a more permanent casting afterward. I’m of an age to remember a group known as the “Plaster Casters” - groupies who followed rock and roll stars and casting similar things, but we won’t go there.
As warm as it gets in Thailand I suspect it looked more like a discarded glove not long after it had been set down and forgotten for a few days, but who knows – it may have become quite a conversation piece:
“Hey, Sek – what’s this thing in your refrigerator? It looks like a ghost hand”
“Oh, that’s a casting I had done over at Royal Garden a few weeks ago.”
“Well, it gives me the creeps... can I move it?”
Anyway, this young boy was more than tickled by the whole process, his family enjoyed the experience with him... and that was probably enough.
2 comments:
The wax was then filled with a plaster-like substance, which when hardened was taken home.
That should have been my guess, based on the heat in Thailand... it certainly makes more sense! As I said, I didn't see what happened after the dipping, and your comment completes the story. Thanks for joining in.
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