An association can mean a few different things.
“A group of people organized for a joint purpose.”
Or.
“A connection or cooperative link between people or organization.”
Or.
“A mental connection between ideas or things: the word bureaucracy has unpleasant associations.”
One item to prove such a thing happened on this date, February 9, 1882, when Thomas Campbell was born in South Africa. He grew up to become a cricket wicket-keeper, to which he played five “Tests” between 1909-12.
He was probably no relation to the Campbell’s of soup fame. But how would we ever know? I doubt they ever played Cricket, but the chicken noodle Campbells really had it going on. Their business started in 1869 as a jelly company.
Well, kind of. Joseph Campbell, the founder, was a fruit vendor. And lucky for him, his business partner was Abraham Anderson. Abraham was in the canning business. So those two guys started off selling “canned veggies, fruit preserves and butters, mincemeat, ketchup, and other condiments.” A fruit vendor and a canning guy. Magic was born, but soup wasn’t in the picture.
The soup part started with John T. Dorrance, the nephew of the then-president of Campbell’s. He was also a chemist, tinkering in food, and it was he who invented condensed soup in 1897. It is mostly just plain old soup but with half the water. All people had to do was add water at home, in the comfort of their lovely little kitchens, and they were eating split pea soup like crazy.
Okay, that was the Campbell association. But what about cricket wicket-keeper?
Cricket? Well, we probably hear crickets more than we see them. They sing little cricket songs with their wings, like playing little violins. Actually, their wings have these tiny teeth on them, anywhere from 50 to 300 teeth. When they rub them together, it makes the chirp, the song, the ditty. Here is the thing about their music — it is unique. There are over 900 species of crickets in the world, and every single one of these species has its own unique chirp.
Crickets are built in a quirky kind of way. Not just their wings but their legs too. They can hear each other’s chirps through a special auditory organ located on their forelegs. Ear shins. Also. Those legs allow them to leap far — around two feet at a time.
The other thing they do is search for food with their long antennae. Those two protrusions sprouting from their heads, waving back and forth in the air. I suppose they are sending out food vibes.
Oh, but the cricket. To eat or be eaten. Ounce for ounce they are higher in protein than beef or salmon. In many parts of the world, they are considered a delicacy. In Thailand, fried crickets are commonly served with beer. And one of the most popular foods in the country is called “Jing Leed.” It is a deep-fried cricket seasoned with sauce and pepper. I love Thai food, but I’ve never had a cricket.
I don’t know if I would eat a cricket, though. Not because of the aesthetic, but because crickets are a symbol of good luck. Yes, in China, crickets are a traditional symbol of good luck. In the imperial era, crickets were a popular pet for the nobles as well as the everyday folk. They were often kept in bamboo or even golden cages.
So. That’s the cricket. And the wicket? From its definition, the wicket is a small door or gate, especially one inside a larger one. And I suppose a sticky wicket is when one of those gates won’t open.
And last but not least, Campell was from South Africa. So are the earliest ancestors. The oldest remains of modern humans were found in South Africa and are more than 160,000 years old.
Finally? Thomas Campbell, our South African cricket wicket-keeper, died when he was only 42 years old. He was riding a train in Natal, South Africa, and it crashed.
And those are the tracks of association.
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“Association with other people corrupts our character; especially when we have none.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
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“A tiny bit of brilliance rubs off on you every time you interact with someone brilliant.”
― Hrishikesh Agnihotri
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“Too much association with visionless people will blur your vision until you finally lose sight of your true identity.”
― Ogedegbe Clement
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“As we are, so we associate. The good, by affinity, seek the good; the vile, by affinity, the vile. Thus of their own volition, souls proceed into Heaven, into Hell.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“The environment is changing and by association, so are the humans.”
― Steven Magee
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Cricket Wicket Keeper of soup, and chirps, and such.
