500 Proof Liqueur

These Poloroids are snapshots in time that illustrated the everyday lives of the people of Kinshasa, in Zaire (now the Democratic of the Congo). The first, an image of a smiling, seated woman, seems mundane. In fact, the photographer told me that she was the famous "Maman GOODYEAR." That wasn't her real name, of course.

Goodyear was her nickname, given in respect for her ability to, like the tire commercial, "Goodyear tires go everywhere." Maman GOODYEAR made her living bringing farm and forest products from the village to sale in Kinshasa. With the money made, she would purchase supplies, like soap, salt, matches, and cigarettes that could, in turn, be transported back and sold in the interior.

The upper right picture shows another business, run by a woman from West Africa. In this case, the brightly colored, stripped plastic sacks hold manioc tubers for sale. She also sold "magic" and medicine -- one popular product was a grey clay sought by pregnant women to ease their huger for minerals lacking in the diet.

The lower two images were of a home-made factory that made the local strong liqueur called "lotoko." The boy in front of the corn and manioc mash covered barrels is helping mind the fire. The last image is of the actual still, with the middle barrel over the fire and the pipes running through the water-cooled end barrel to drip into the white plastic bottle. A plastic tub floating in the water is used to pour water over the pipes to help in the distillation.

"Lotoko" was a bitter, dirty-tasting, strong alcohol, called "500-proof." Local advice was that it contained dangerous trace elements from the barrels, because the metal was not certified for food preparation. However, it was cheap and easy to make.