Knowing that, it should come as no surprise to you that when my pink dish rag went missing 32 years ago, I went a little crazy.
Let me set the stage for you.
This was no ordinary dish rag, this was the pink stripped Handi-Wipe reusable cloth dish rag. When I met my future Mother-in-law in 1978, she introduced me to Handi-Wipes. She only used Handi-Wipes as her dish rag. They were thin and durable and easy to clean inside glasses. I was hooked and have been using them every single day for the past 39 years. Check out this old commercial from the 70's.
Just so you know, the Hands-Wipes back in the 70's & 80's were much larger than the current Handi-Wipes. Seriously, no comparison. And don't get me started on the quality. The old ones were 100% rayon and totally reusable. I could launder an 80's Handi-Wipe several times before it started to fall apart. These days when you put the Clorox brand wipes through the wash they become a weird, puffy mess of uselessness.
Ok, back to the story. It was 1986. My husband Randy was the youth pastor at our church. The day before the dishrag went missing, his youth group held a car wash to raise money for summer camp. He came home with $300.00 in one dollar bills inside a blue Valley National Bank bag.
I noticed the dish rag was missing immediately upon entering my kitchen the next morning. I always have it draped over the sink. But this particular morning, no dish rag. I looked everywhere. I asked my husband, our 5 year old son Shawn and 2 year old daughter Miranda. No one had seen it. That's when the OCD kicked in and I become a tad bit obsessed with solving the mystery of the missing Handi-Wipe.
Well, I eventually went out to the back patio... and there was a chair... under our kitchen window... with the Handi-Wipe on the chair.
That's when it hit me... someone had used the Handi-Wipe to wipe down their prints while climbing out our window.
Which meant... they had climbed through that window... and ENTERED OUT HOME!
WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING DOWN THE HALL!
OH. MY. GOSH!!!
Sure enough, the Valley National Bank bag was gone. Randy had left it on the kitchen table.
I quickly surmised a horrifying scenario and thanked God he had left it on the kitchen table!
You see, I am a light sleeper. And because the bank bag was on the table, they took the money and ran. Had Randy not left the money on the table, they would have most likely wandered further on through the house, waking me up, and God only knows what would have happened. Thank you Jesus!
Which is why you should leave a $100 bill on the table when you go on vacation, because they will more than likely take the money and leave, thus protecting your home from being ransacked while looking for money and valuables.
Well, I was recently reminded of the dish rag story, when I came upon a fabulous vintage find while thrifting with my friend Kathy.
I seriously gasped! Ok, I screamed... in my head. I had never even seen these dispenser packs back in the day, but these are the actual vintage Colgate-Palmolive Handi-wipes!
In fact, these vintage boxes are selling right now for $35.00 a box HERE!
I found these at Goodwill for $1.99 a box.
This is the packaging I purchased back in the day. Notice the 14"x24" size. The new ones are 11"x19". Yes, the new ones made by Clorox are packaged very similar, but that's where the similarities end. So sad.
You may be wondering if I have plans to use those vintage Handi-Wipes. Maybe the yellow ones. I do have plans to gift the pink ones to my daughter Miranda when she has a daughter some day... and now I'm all weepy just imagining my granddaughter with a pink stripped Handi-Wipe draped over her head.
7 comments:
I gasped when I got to the part about someone climbing out your window!!
The scariest of all is the cheap quality no pride work going into making them today. And the almost embarrassing price. Thank you for the trip down memory lane. Haven’t heard that commercial in years.
We have been using Handi Wipes for years, and then they became garbage. Trying out a couple of new brands. We use them as kitchen wipes. I used to wash dishes with them, but when the quality plummeted, we switched to Trader Joe’s kitchen cloths. As the HandiWipes would get torn, etc., I would cycle their use down the food chain, so to speak, and toss them when they were mostly shredded. The lower quality HWs were being tossed after a few weeks of washing dishes. BTW, the Mr Clean brand is rayon and polyester; the other brand doesn’t say. We shall see how they hold up.
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I am driving myself crazy trying to remember other types and other brands of "handi wipes" like this used like this in the past. If anyone can answer this for me, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nicky
I too have been using hands wipes for over 50 years- I love them. I knew something was different but I thought it was where I purchased them. I thought proctor n gamble made them. What happened to them. They really are the best and sanitary. Especially compared to sponges, n sink rag. I don’t know what happened. But I have been looking for a replacement! I enjoyed your story ! What are you using in lieu of the handiwipes? I keep on trying them. I see them at walmart, Amazon, wherever I see them.
Thank you!
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