aluminum shower

English

Alternative forms

• aluminium shower

Noun

aluminum shower (plural aluminum showers)

1. (figuratively, aviation) The result of a midair collision of two aircraft.
   • 1978 October 9, “Nation: Death over San Diego”, in Time:

     As his screen displayed the falling and fragmenting wreckage of two aircraft that had collided at 2,650 ft. three miles northeast of Lindbergh Field, he muttered, "Jesus Christ, an aluminum shower."

   • 1981, Richard M. Steers, Introduction to Organizational Behavior‎^[1], →ISBN, page 348:

     Certainly one of the most stressful jobs in contemporary society is that of the air traffic controller. . . . This pressure, combined with the ever-present fear of causing a crash or collision (known with studied casualness as an "aluminum shower"), places controllers under tremendous stress on the job.

   • 1999 April 22, Roger Ebert, "Pushing Tin" (film review), Chicago Sun Times (retrieved 20 Oct 2011):

     John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton play two air-traffic controllers who are prickly and complex. . . . They use cynicism to protect themselves from the terrors of the job. One guy "has an aluminum shower in his future".

   • 2001, Frisco Rose et al., "Avoiding the Aluminum Shower," Eastern Oregon Science Journal, vol. 16 (Millennium Issue), p. 32:

     [W]e must be able to determine when airplanes are too close for comfort.

   • 2007 August 26, Nelson D. Schwartz, “It’s Bird Eat Bird in a Cluttered Sky”, in The New York Times:

     But he agrees that corporate jets are increasing the strain on air traffic controllers trying to prevent what’s known in the industry as an “aluminum shower,” a midair collision.

   • 2009 August 30, Charlie Hough, “Last One Out is a Rotten Crewdog!”, in crewdogwarstories.blogspot.com, retrieved 20 October 2011:

     SAC made a big deal about getting everywhere the B-52's flew exactly on time. . . . [I]f you were late and the next aircraft scheduled in was early there was an increased possibility of an aluminum shower.

2. (literally) A party or similar event at which aluminum household items are given, as for a wedding.
   • 1914, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Pacific service magazine, volume 6, page 22:

     A delightful evening was spent Wednesday, May 27th, when an aluminum shower was given to Miss Alice Strycker at her home, 1907 Baker Street, San Francisco, to celebrate her approaching marriage.

   • 1924, Lillian Eichler Watson, The customs of mankind: with notes on modern etiquette and ...:

     The aluminum shower appears to be very popular, but one should ascertain first whether or not the bride-to-be wants aluminum in her kitchen.

   • 1935, Michigan Bell Telephone Company, Michigan State Telephone Company, The Michigan bell:

     A lovely kitchen show was given her by her sister, Evelyn Van Dyke, and an aluminum shower by Dorothy Kroone and Alice Parks Messmore. She received many lovely gifts and a good time is reported by all.

3. (figuratively, dated) An event at which people give household items made of aluminum to the war effort.
   • c 1940, United States. Office of Production Management, Press releases:

     The Office of Production Management, the OPM, has directed the Office of Civilian Defense to conduct an "Aluminum Shower". In other words, we are to collect all the available old aluminum in order to turn it over to the Government.

   • 1940, Minneapolis, volumes 8-10:

     William S. Knudsen, director-general of O. P. M., has advised General R. B. Rathbun, director of the Minneapolis aluminum shower committee, to leave no possible source of scrap aluminum untouched because of the "critical shortage"

   • 1942, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's magazine, volumes 112-113:

     Most of you remember the "aluminum shower" which the American housewives gave Uncle Sam about eight months ago. Well, the Office of Emergency Management has been trying to find out what happened to all the pots and pans

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see aluminum,‎ shower.
   • 1990, Joseph Appiah, Joe Appiah: the autobiography of an African patriot:

     Five o'clock the next morning found T. B. and myself already in the bathroom. For the whole school of some three hundred boarders, there were only about thirteen open standing aluminum showers and about eight buckets to be used in turns

   • 2001, Keller Easterling, Organization Space: Landscapes, Highways, and Houses in America, page 165:

     The houses also fashioned a folksy modernity out of new and old materials, including brick, plywood paneling, aluminum showers, and steel windows

   • 2005, International Association of Assessing Officers. Southeast Michigan Chapter, Michigan Assessors Association, Oakland County Assessors' Association, The Michigan assessor, volume 46, numbers 1-6:

     There was no clubhouse or pool, the bathing facilities were residential utility buildings with toilets and aluminum showers.

Translations

a shower stall and associated hardware made partially of aluminum

metaphorically, mid-air collision

party at which aluminum household items are given

events for donations of aluminum for war