Submarine Nostalgia Inspires New Business
Recapturing the scents of underways past
By LT Shredder
Like most submarine officers, Steve Jacobson left the Navy after his JO tour. However, Jacobson still longs for life on the boat. "I wouldn't have left at all if I could've passed PNEO," he says. "I missed the boat so much that I decided to make my house as much like a submarine as possible. So, I bought a single-wide trailer, put in blackout curtains and the smallest twin bed I could find, and replaced all the lights with red LEDs. I even installed a sound-powered phone circuit. But one thing that I could never get right was the smell."
Determined to solve this problem, Jacobson got to work - and soon, he had a breakthrough. "I realized I could put all of the odors of a submarine into scented candles," Jacobson explains. "And once I did that, I knew that this idea was too big to stay in my trailer." So, Jacobson founded a new company: November Alpha Victor Yankee Candles, or NAVY Candles for short. To get a whiff of what he's offering, I visit the NAVY Candles factory (Jacobson's trailer, which he insists on referring to as "USS Candle City").
"This is our most standard 'submarine' smell," Jacobson says as he lights a candle labeled "Amine." The scent is subtle at first, but over time it becomes increasingly overwhelming and grating. I mention this to Jacobson, who seems pleased. "That's just the effect we're going for," he says. He then lights a few more candles, with names like "Burger Day", "Engine Room Steam", "Diesel Fumes" (this one filled the trailer with thin white smoke), "Sierra Pier" ("Strong overtones of rotting fish and bird shit," says Jacobson), "Aft Crew's Berthing," and "That One A-Ganger Who Refuses to Shower." He also briefly lights a candle labeled "Improper Valve Lineup in the Plumbing System," but I quickly extinguish it. The smell is indescribable. "That one is a little strong for some people," Jacobson admits.
When asked how sales are going, Jacobson does not hesitate to admit that they have been poor. His theory is that the candles aren't doing a good enough job of simulating submarine scents. "At first I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the candles, but eventually I realized that everything smells different when the air actually contains a normal amount of oxygen," says Jacobson. He is yet to figure out a solution to this problem, short of moving to Nepal. However, NAVY Candles does sell a candle that will liberate oxygen when burned. When asked why, Jacobson says that he needs to be ready if USS Candle City becomes stranded on the ocean floor.
LT Shredder separates in May and doesn’t have a job yet.