Whatever Happened to Sen-Sen?

 I woke up the other day thinking about something I hadn’t thought of in years.  What, I asked myself, ever happened to Sen-Sen?  I checked around, asking a few friends, and only those my age or older remembered the little paper packets of the 1/8” square licorice flakes. They were popular as breath mints as far back as the late 19th century, and were in all the stores during the Great Depression years.

 Not really thinking I would find much about Sen-Sen, I checked the internet.  Lo and behold, there’s a whole lot of information on the little breath freshener.  Just before the beginning of the 20th century, a fellow named Kerschner, working for T.B. Dunn and Co., perfume dealers in Rochester, NY, developed a formula for an effective breath perfume that for years was sold as a cosmetic.  Nobody seems to know exactly where the name Sen-Sen originated.  It’s thought to be a Japanese name meaning glistening, shiny or bright, which really doesn’t relate to the little anise-flavored squares.  The ingredients are also foreign in origin.  Some are imported from Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and France, and some from hard to reach areas of Asia.  So the little flakes are truly an international commodity.

 To quote the F & F Foods site on the internet, “The product is still made on some of the original equipment that manufactured the product in the late 1800s.  A production batch,” it goes on to say,”of 2,000 pounds is done in batches of 150 pounds each.  The process starts by blending the ‘secret’ ingredients in a vat like mixer, run through an extruder, heated in an oven for 10 hours, and then the scored sheets are broken up into the familiar tiny squares.  The bulk product is then packaged into the final selling unit.”

 Back during the 1930s, Sen-Sen was sold in just about every drug store and market in Los Angeles, and I’m sure throughout the country.  When I was a kid, the saying was going around that whenever you smelled Sen-Sen on anyone they probably had been hitting the bottle.  Of course, on Pop’s bedroom dresser, along with his watch and keys, his wallet and change and gold penknife, and the framed photo of Dorothy Lamour (Pop’s favorite movie star), there was always a half-empty packet of the breath freshener.  I know, because along with swiping a couple of his Camel cigarettes from time to time, I would steal a few flakes to hide my smoker’s breath from Mom.  Looking back, I don’t think I fooled anybody, especially Mom.  Sen-Sen smelled, well, like Sen-Sen, and Mom knew what I was trying to cover up.  Like father, like son, I suppose is a truism, because all during my 40-plus years wedded to the weed, I smoked nothing but Camels and Pall Malls.  No filters for me, thanks to Pop.

 I asked in the beginning of this expose’, whatever happened to Sen-Sen? And I’m here to tell you it has had a very long and fruitful life.  Not only can you order the original stuff on the internet, you can also get Sen-Sen in rolls like Tums, and also for you weight conscious folks, it’s available sugar free.   The stigma of smokers or boozers doesn’t apply to today’s Sen-Sen afficianados, I’m sure.  It occurs to me, however, it might be a good way to identify the drunks before they get behind the wheel by the sweet smell of anise hovering around them.  Nome sain?