Did you ever wonder about my business name, Volar\u00e9 Products?\u00a0 Where did I get it?\u00a0 What does it mean?\u00a0 How in the world do you pronounce it?\u00a0 Well, I will explain.<\/p>\n

This morning, while doing research, I stumbled across the FAC Newsletter Archive<\/a>, compiled by Lincoln Ross. (What an effort he has done!)\u00a0 I scrolled and found mention of the Durham Mystery Plan<\/a> that I did (Tom Nallen I design) that was in the newsletter.\u00a0 He made the following comment: “…Volare Products (couldn’t he have called his company something else? That car was a traumatic memory, but what did I expect for $400? How does George expect a model airplane burdened with fine “Corinthian” leather to fly well?)<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Who doesn’t remember Ricardo Montelban’s commercial<\/a>?\u00a0 It is a cultural classic!\u00a0 But – OOPS! – that was for the Chrysler Cordoba, not the Plymouth Volare.\u00a0 Of course, Lincoln’s comment is tongue-in-cheek (I think?), but it got me to thinking about the name and why it is difficult for people?<\/p>\n

First, the pronunciation.\u00a0 It seems that nearly everyone mispronounces this – and I don’t know why. The most grating (and somewhat common) mispronunciation I get is “vol-AIR” – what?\u00a0 Well, I guess it follows the “rules of English pronunciation” with the long vowel sound that precedes the silent E – but it is clearly wrong.\u00a0 I don’t know how anyone that says it that way feels that the fingernails-on-a-chalkboard sound is right.<\/p>\n

Those of us of a certain age – and even older – will remember the song “Volare” (or “Nel blu dipinto di blu”) from the late 50s, 60s, and 70s.\u00a0 I grew up near Toledo, Ohio and we listened to WJR out of Detroit.\u00a0 I thought (at the time) it was pop music, but it was really much more staid.\u00a0 That song would occasionally play and it is catchy.\u00a0 That pronunciation is “vo-LAR-ay” – it is Italian and means “to fly” (now we are getting closer to why I picked the name).\u00a0 While this is not the correct pronunciation of my business name – it is the one that I use.\u00a0 It is also the way the Plymouth car name is pronounced (so people should know?)\u00a0 By the way, here is Dean Martin singing “Volare”.<\/p>\n