Thursday, August 14, 2008

Your Mother Won't Know You: Goodbye Mr. Bubble

Bad corporate decision making sends another childhood icon down the drain. From the New York Times Dealbook (http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/pop-goes-mr-bubble/?hp):
Ascendia Brands filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday evening, with hopes of finding a buyer for the company, whose brands include Mr. Bubble and the breath freshener Binaca.

The last time I used Mr. Bubble was sometime in the 60s, I would have been about 8 years old. I remember pleading with my mother for months to buy a box of Mr. Bubble. When she finally agreed I couldn't wait to get home and jump in the tub. And jump I did. And frolic. And play. And get a nose bleed and a skin rash. Whatever they were putting in this stuff in the late 60s was apparently too harsh for my still hairless and tender skin. I, of course, didn't want to believe it was Mr. Bubble--it was probably that stupid washcloth; maybe the tooth powder (yes, tooth powder). Yes, I was quite sure it was the tooth powder. I cried like a baby when my mother dumped the rest of the box of Mr. Bubble down the sink (I don't know why she didn't just toss it in the trash, but my mother was all about dumping things down the sink or the toliet--like my deceased pet turtle).

Anyway, here's to Mr. Bubble, we hardly knew ye....

3 comments:

valerie walsh said...

i loved Mr. Bubble! My favourite commercial was the one where the little boy makes a beard and mustache with the bubbles and his mom or grandma comes in and says: There's a man in my bathtub!!! Do you remember this? Thanks for the memories Tony :)

Shano said...

Hello Gen x'er! I wasn't allowed Mr. Bubble either. Guess I won't know what I was missing . . .

Oh, Pshaw said...

I begged for Mr. Bubbles, too. I was terribly disappointed after talking my grandma into getting some. I guess I expected something magical to happen - like talking bubbles.

I can empathize. I only used it once. It caused a great deal of itching and redness to my little girl parts and plumbing. Not a good time.

I remember some sort of bath foam after that. I want to say it had Superman or the Super Friends on the cylinder containers. Basically colored shaving cream.