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If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream.

I've seen this quote floating around, attributed to Barry Goldwater, but only on those unsourced quote websites (Brainy Quote, All Great Quotes, Motivational Quotes). Did he actually say this?

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    The title doesn't seem to match the quote: "If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream" is saying that it's BAD shaving cream because of that huge drawback.
    – Owen Reynolds
    Jan 25, 2021 at 2:36
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    So ... at what SE site can we ask the question, if that's actually a true fact? Personal hygiene SE? 🙄
    – s1lv3r
    Jan 25, 2021 at 11:59
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    @OwenReynolds whether or not it's a major drawback seems personal opinion. Some people don't mind smelling of peanut butter. I can think of more offensive scents and some of those are marketed as perfumes...
    – Erik
    Jan 25, 2021 at 15:10
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    @s1lv3r: Do not assume that there is a guarantee that a question has a place in the SE network. It isn't the case.
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Jan 26, 2021 at 6:36

1 Answer 1

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Yes, according to The San Francisco Examiner, the source of the quote is a 1972 poll of people of interest done by that year’s “Georgia Peanut Princess”, Paulette Brown:

This year's Georgia Peanut Princess Paulette Brown has taken a poll to end all polls among a variety of presidential candidates and public figures she wanted to know how they stand on peanut butter. Working with Peanut Associates Inc., Miss Brown found out that Sen. Hubert Humphrey's favorite sandwich is a staggering combination of "peanut butter, bologne, cheddar cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise, on toasted bread with lots of catsup on the side." But if you think Humphrey is crazy about peanut butter Sen. Barry Goldwater, past presidential candidate, informed Miss Brown that the Arizona Republican once on a dare used smooth style peanut butter to shave one morning. "And if you don't mind smelling like a peanut for two or three days it's a darn good shaving cream," Goldwater said.

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    It needs to be noted that Goldwater was a bit of a jokester. Hard to tell if his story was true or made up.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Jan 26, 2021 at 14:14
  • @DanielRHicks That's a good point but at the same time we aren't trying to verify if he shaved using peanut butter, we're trying to verify if he said the quote.
    – Captain Man
    Jan 26, 2021 at 18:55
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    @CaptainMan: The question is titled with whether he "claim"ed it. So it does matter whether it's a serious claim, or whether it was actually said as a joke, in a context that most readers would understand as not being a real claim. But you're right the question body only asks whether he "said" it. (Semi-related meta that happens to be in the sidebar currently: Should we distinguish between "Did a person make a claim?" and "Is the claim true?" But here we're not even sure he really meant it as a claim)
    – Peter Cordes
    Jan 26, 2021 at 21:31
  • @PeterCordes interesting, thanks for making that clear. So a comedian during a standup routine that says something, for instance "I'm a good athlete", they "said" it but because of the context we cannot say they "claimed" it -- am I understanding right?
    – Captain Man
    Jan 28, 2021 at 19:36
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    @CaptainMan: Yes, that's the same distinction I was making. Sarcasm, or even deadpan humour, is different from a real claim.
    – Peter Cordes
    Jan 28, 2021 at 19:38

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