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Monday, November 19, 2007

Please don't squeeze the Charmin

Sad news from the grocery aisle: Dick Wilson is dead. Folks of a certain age may remember him as Mr. Whipple, the curmudgeonly grocer who in hundreds of television commercials begged shoppers not to squeeze the Charmin.

No cause of death was listed, but one presumes it had nothing to do with his little TP addiction.

I always thought that squeezing the toilet paper somehow violated some sort of unwritten supermarket law, that some things simply didn't fly in the once-genteel grocery stores of a now-forgotten age. Either way, the phrase was a cultural touchstone for much of my childhood.

Here's a peek at the classic franchise:



Additional links of note, because I know you have so much free time to read this:
Mr. Wilson was 91. Shopping won't be the same without him.

Your turn: Do you squeeze it? Come on, be honest!

14 comments:

  1. I don't squeeze. I grab it and run.

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  2. I guess I must have squeezed it since I was told not to. Perhaps a little rebellious.
    Never knew that TP had its own web site. Quite funny when you think about it.

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  3. I don't squeeze it. But I am a creature of habit....once I find one that I like, I stick to it.

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  4. Ah, Mr. Whipple. Being a girl who spent way.too.much. time in front of a TV when I was young, he was much a part of my childhood... as was Morris the cat, Clara Peller and the guy who shuffles along at 3:00 a.m. mumbling "time to make the donuts. time to make the donuts". I saw the notice of his death earlier and it made me feel nostalgic and a bit older all at the same time.

    Oh, and I don't squeeze. I must have been an obedient little shopper.

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  5. What a weird ad campaign. Or maybe people were just weird back then before the world was in color. Maybe I'd be more excited if we just moved up from corn husks.

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  6. We only just got the brand Charmin here the last few years and I've never bought it as I was told it's so think it can clog up your toilet pipes LOL. I don't squeeze toilet rolls though - am I missing something good? .I love these old adverts...

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  7. I don't squeeze... toilet paper is toilet paper.

    But... I remember those commercials and a small smile comes to my face. Nostalgic TV... those golden years are sweet to look back on.

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  8. It was so sad to hear about Mr. Whipple passing on. I know I'm getting old because my kids say.."Who is Mr. Whipple?" lol And, yeah, I did squeeze the Charmin when I was a kid...I thought everybody did that. lol I mean they told us not to, right?

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  9. I remember feeling exactly the same way! To this day I never buy my Charmin or pass it in the store without hearing the refrain and seeing Mr. Whippell in my mind.

    Hugs,
    Holly

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  10. Probably did squeeze it!

    It's sort of sad to see the people I watched on ads, tv shows, and movies passing on. Makes one feel a little more mortal.

    And, the ads on tv today - well, there aren't very many that are very memorable!

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  11. ahah good quality toilet paper is one of life's small luxuries...:)not heard of squeezing it though!

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  12. Mrs. Levy might say, "Please don't squeeze the Carmi".

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  13. How sad about the portayer of Mr. Whipple, though I never felt the urge to squeeze, although the commercials did tempt me to find out if I was missing something.

    I must say, though, that it is my preferred brand, but I have such trouble finding regular sized rolls that fit our old-fashioned regular-sized-roll-holder. Did you know that rolls come in regular, double, triple, mega, super, jumbo, and giant? sigh

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