Topical Guide 32
Mark Dorset
Mercenaria mercenaria, Sizes of; Mercenaria mercenaria, Uses of
There are four sizes of Mercenaria mercenaria in the wild: seeds, littlenecks, cherrystones, and chowder clams.
Little Follies, “Do Clams Bite?”
Chowder Clams
The shells of chowder clams are widely used as ashtrays.
Little Follies, “Do Clams Bite?”
I am not authorized to alter the text, but if I were authorized to alter the text, I would revise that statement to make it “The shells of chowder clams are widely used as ashtrays and driveway topping.”
Cherrystone Clams
Most cherrystone shells end up as driveway topping, but quite a few are made into knickknacks and whatnots by people who have somewhat larger knickknack or whatnot shelves than the people who make their knickknacks and whatnots from littleneck shells.
Little Follies, “Do Clams Bite?”
Littleneck Clams
The shells of littlenecks have few practical uses, but they are perfect for crafting handsome whatnots to fill the shelves in your living room, and they make nice jewelry.
Little Follies, “Do Clams Bite?”
Seed Clams
Anything smaller than a littleneck is a seed, a clam too young to take.
Little Follies, “Do Clams Bite?”
“You know, they’re a lot like women, clams. The older ones are kinda tough and wily, but they have real flavor. Those in their prime are sort of the standard, the ideal, but since they’re what most people want, the real connoisseur generally wants something else. Now the younger ones, well, they are tenderer, and there are times when tenderness is all, but after a few you find yourself wanting something that you can chew on. And the ones that are too young are a guilty pleasure; you know that you shouldn’t even consider them, but every once in a while, when no one’s looking—”
Porky White in Little Follies, “Do Clams Bite?”
“Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as ‘nymphets.’”
Humbert Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
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