People of Darkness (1980)

A brand of shaving cream that was popular in the U.S. from the 1920s to the early 1960s. The product was one of the first brushless shaving creams to enter the market, and it became a cultural icon after a long advertising campaign in which signs erected along highways created a series of humorous rhymes designed to capture the driver's attention. For example, in the following verse, each line was posted on a separate sign, leading to the final sign carrying the brand name:

Within this vale
of toil
and sin
your head grows bald
but not your chin
Burma Shave

The innovative advertising technique became known as "burmashaving" and is still imitated still today in various marketing and political campaigns.

In airports, there are security machines that use x-ray technology to scan both passengers and luggage in order to make sure no weapons or drugs are going to be taken on board. After the tragedy of September 11, 2011, air traffic security tightened significantly. Now, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security officers use x-ray stations to scan for items that used to be considered innocuous but which are now considered potentially lethal, such as flammable items, items with sharp edges, and even liquids in excess of 3 ounces.

A detonator is a small explosive device that activates a larger bomb while ensuring a time delay for safety. Detonators can be electrical, chemical, mechanical, or wireless, meaning that a cellphone can be used to trigger the electrical charge necessary to initiate the larger explosion. In most detonating mechanisms, a fuse that is inserted into the larger explosive device is set off by connected chords that run an electrical charge from the detonator to the bomb itself.

A cylindrical device that attaches to the end of a barrel of a gun and muffles the loud noise of a fired shot. A silencer works by adding volume to the short, narrow barrel, thereby reducing the pressure created by the hot gas that is released when the gunpowder is activated.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was one of the leading American producers of steam trains in the 19th century. The company was founded in the 1830s in Philadelphia, and by the late 1800s rose to the top of the train building industry. With the transition from steam engines into diesel-electric locomotive technology in the early 19th century, however, the company failed to compete successfully, and eventually, in 1956, stopped all operations. A large variety of Baldwin model trains is available and are popular with expert model builders and collectors.

A trademark name for a smooth, hard plastic top surface made of sheets of special paper laminated in synthetic resins. Formica was invented in 1912 in New Zealand and due to its durability, ease of cleaning, and heat-resistance, it quickly became a successful product that was in high demand all over the world, especially in the furniture industry.

A clear, savory jelly typically derived from the preparation of fish or meat. Aspic consists of the fat and other juices released by meat during its heated preparation. As these liquids cool, they congeal and can be collected and used as garnish, in molds, or as flavor enrichments in other dishes. Especially if the liquids are further clarified, the finished product will consist of a relatively clear, relatively firm jelly in which eggs, fruits, and vegetables can be suspended in a visually decorative, usually savory mold. Jell-o and Spam are examples of aspic dishes.

An American magazine dedicated to upscale food and wine that was published monthly between the years 1941-2009. The magazine targeted professional and amateur chefs, and its contents were comprised of cooking advice, recipes submitted or requested by readers, and articles related to high-class "good living" in general.

Joe Leaphorn, a fictional character created by Tony Hillerman, a Navajo detective for the Navajo Tribal Police and is typically stationed in Window Rock, Arizona. Leaphorn’s last name is a reference to the ancient Minoan practice of bull jumping, about which Hillerman was reading as he wrote THE BLESSING WAY. At the time of his first appearance Hillerman’s 1970 Navajo detective novel THE BLESSING WAY, Leaphorn is already a veteran detective. Because Leaphorn was educated in a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school during high school and then completed a bachelors and master’s degree in anthropology at Arizona State University, his extended time off reservation leaves Leaphorn negotiating between traditional Navajo as well as white ways. Despite his lack of complete knowledge of Navajo rituals, Leaphorn is cognizant that Navajo beliefs are often important aspects of cases. In the early novels Leaphorn works alone; however, in later novels, he and, the much younger and more traditional Navajo policeman, Jim Chee, are tasked to be partners and solve cases together. Unlike Leaphorn, Chee is studying to be a Navajo singer, or hataali, and is much more sensitive to Navajo lifeways. Their very different temperaments often cause tension between the two, but together they are able to solve cases.

Leaphorn was first introduced as a supporting character in THE BLESSING WAY. He then becomes the main character for Hillerman’s Navajo mystery series with Hillerman's next two books in the series, DANCE HALL OF THE DEAD, published in 1973, and LISTENING WOMAN, published in 1978. In the mid-1970s, Hillerman sold the rights to Joe Leaphorn to a Los Angeles-based agency called Bob Banner Associates to produce a movie version of DANCE HALL OF THE DEAD and, possibly, a serial television program based on the life of Joe Leaphorn. Hillerman was unable to use Leaphorn as a character in subsequent novels, even though neither the film nor television options proposed by Banner Associates were ever realized, until Hillerman was able to buy back the rights to his character. Leaphorn returns to Hillerman’s writing in 1986 in the novel SKINWALKERS.

A large evergreen tree, native to New Mexico and other mountainous areas of the Southwest, common at elevations between 7,000-12,000 feet. Spruce tends to grow in dense stands but can also be found in more open mixed stands along with other evergreens such as ponderosa pines and firs. The lumber of spruce has been used for building materials, railroad ties, mine timbers, and poles. Spruce also has cultural significance for the indigenous peoples of the Southwest and is utilized in various Pueblo ceremonial customs, architecture, and ritual enactments.