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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
I wanna again welcome you to The 04:05 Coffee Break. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottle of water, the weekend's coming. Let's see what's happening out there.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.70 a bushel. 550lb steer calf $5.05 per pound. A butcher hog in Iowa 61ยข a pound, and a 100lb lamb that's fat in Billing will fetch you $2.72 a pound. But guys, there's more much more.
OK Solberg:Okay, guys. You remember back way back? Did you always enjoy it as much as I did after a long week in school and the teacher would say, students, it's Friday. I'm letting you out early. Well, it is Friday and for that matter, we have a good Friday coming up in about 4 weeks and I loved it when the teacher let us out early.
OK Solberg:And here's a Friday bible verse and it's a good one for Good Friday and I'm a month early. And Jesus said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Luke 23:35.
OK Solberg:Okay. I've got another sweet tooth today. So today, what's it gonna be? Jelly Belly, the White House, and the Cold War. What about that heading?
OK Solberg:Listen now. In the 1960's a young California Californian politician named Ronald Reagan was trying to quit smoking. He replaced cigarettes with jelly beans. Not just casually, he reportedly ate them constantly during his time as governor of California. Now the candy company, which was later rebranded as Jelly Belly, noticed the publicity and quietly sent him regular shipments.
OK Solberg:When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, things escalated. Jelly Belly created a custom jar for the Oval Office bearing a presidential seal. Now at its peak, the White House, listen guys, was ordering 3.5 tons of jelly beans a year. They were placed in meeting rooms aboard air force one and in diplomatic settings. It even got more interesting.
OK Solberg:For Reagan's inauguration, Jelly Belly created a brand new flavor, blueberry. Now why'd they do that? I'll tell you why. To match the red, white, and blue theme. They reportedly experimented with about 40 formulations before getting the color right.
OK Solberg:This wasn't just candy branding, it was public diplomacy. Jelly beans became part of the visual imagery of the Ronald Reagan White House. Understand this, jelly beans were sometimes sometimes offered to foreign diplomats visiting during, dun dun dun dun dun, cold war negotiations. Think about it. In meetings involving nuclear arms discussions between The United States and The Soviet Union, there was what?
OK Solberg:A bowl of jelly beans on the table. Now it sounds small, but soft touches matter and diplomacy. Food lowers defenses. It humanizes rooms full of people negotiating weapons and their policies. Candy became a subtle soft power tool.
OK Solberg:So always remember and never forget a small colorful candy helped a future president quit smoking, and that candy became an Oval Office fixture. Jelly beans were present during cold war diplomacy and became part of American political symbolism. Not bad. Not bad for a sugar bean. The weekend's near. Go out and enjoy. I'm gonna let you out early.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.